By living the Gospel, we can change the social order by changing the lives we touch. Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin wrote: “In the first centuries of Christianity the hungry were fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a personal sacrifice, the homeless were sheltered at a person sacrifice. And because the poor were fed, clothed and sheltered at a personal sacrifice, the pagans used to say about the Christians, ‘See how they love each other.’”
Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin wrote: “In the first centuries of Christianity the hungry were fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a personal sacrifice, the homeless were sheltered at a person sacrifice. And because the poor were fed, clothed and sheltered at a personal sacrifice, the pagans used to say about the Christians, ‘See how they love each other.’”
We tend to look to governmental policies to create social change. Perhaps we should be looking to the corporal works of mercy whose roots can be traced to the 25th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. You don’t change the world by trying to change the world; you change the world by changing yourself. Change comes from within, moving from internal to external. Slowly, I’m learning that change is constant. Moreover, the task of transformation is infinitely difficult, requiring endless time and dedication. Every day I must surrender more. When surrender becomes a way of life, and every day graces you with many opportunities to die to yourself so others may live.
In making my poverty films, I was graced with the chance to be around so many people who give without measure and without hope of reward, which forced me to look at love in an entirely different way. In their presence, I learned that each of us has a far greater and more generous heart with which to love God than we realize. It takes time, but we can learn to see that everyone, especially the poor, has value because each and every person is made in the image and likeness of God. When you spend time in place of chronic impoverishment, you are eventually shaken out of your sense of self-assurance, your destructive habits, and – most important – your egocentric torpor.
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