The Hard Work Begins!

"So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Mt 10:29

Vision first!

These two quotes by theologian Walter Brueggemann come to mind today.  The Gospel today speaks fundamentally about the value of each human being.  Years ago I was promoting Saint Martin de Porres High School in a church near E. 105th and St. Clair.  Rev. Toby led the service and had me stand (I was already standing out!) and everyone welcomed me.  Then she told the congregation how much God loves each and every one of us.  She called on us to do the same and asked us to turn to our neighbor in the pew and say, "I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Driving around a month ago planting lawn signs I saw the result of the 2008 financial crisis had on many of the neighborhoods of our city.  In fact, one neighborhood had the dubious honor of being called the epicenter of the crisis for the whole world!  I said to myself this is not what God had in mind.  This was created by people and therefore it can be corrected by people.  Brueggemann's quote on compassion is eye-opening.

“Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.”

Unacceptable!  So that brings me to the next quote.  We need to bring God's vision to our world.  So many people have reacted with great surprise when Partnership Schools continued its drive to become part of these two schools in the face of a global pandemic and economic crisis.  One of our donors was very interested in what our plans would be given COVID-19.  My answer was we are trying to be as agile and thoughtful about what to do, but one thing he said was, "Well the kids still have to be educated."  Yes, that is it--the mission has not changed at all.  The methods will be different and ever-changing, which has actually always been true; perhaps amplified by our present situation for sure.  Someone envisioned derivative mortgages, so we certainly can envision the celebration and growth of our neighborhoods through a loving educational community. 

“The prophet engages in futuring fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined. The imagination must come before the implementation. Our culture is competent to implement almost anything and to imagine almost nothing. The same royal consciousness that makes it possible to implement anything and everything is the one that shrinks imagination because imagination is a danger. Thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing futures alternative to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.”
― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

So, the vision has been imagined!  We are keeping the vision of a strong, vibrant Catholic school in a neighborhood that embraces it.  The hard work is ahead of us.  So, please know that we may be calling people to help in many ways.  Also, know that "I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!"