Day 17: Master Dreamers

BY JUSTIN WHITE | March 13, 2020
Today’s Readings

Around any major holiday you can find on almost every news or pop-culture website or blog a list entitled, “How to Survive [Holiday] Dinner.” The lists usually poke fun at the phenomenon of the dinner table becoming a microcosm of the current public discourse. Close or distant relatives may deliver their rhetoric and dish out opinions as they pass around the mac and cheese.  

However, the scene is not always humorous. 

College students may face the overwhelming anxiety of telling their parents, who have been funding their education, that they want to do a year of service with an organization such as the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Questions about financial and job security may fill the conversation as parents try to better understand their “master dreamer” of a child. 

For someone working directly with marginalized populations, hearing a family member disparage a group of people based on biased information can make any sweet potato lose its taste. Last but not least, the power to cast a vote also serves as the power to declare to the world what ideologies you stand for and the ones you do not. After four years of suffering through this administration, the thought of someone I deeply love continuing this fear-mongering tremendously dampens my overall hope. 

As I write this reflection, a group of middle school students is sitting in our campus ministry conference room discussing the dynamics of politics in their families: “My so-and-so hates Republicans, my so-and-so hates Democrats…” 

So what are we to do?  

We are called to wear our long tunic loud and proud! We do not let those who are blinded by fear, greed, or hate to strip us of our mission. Our voices and presence will not be locked up in a cistern of disrespect and intolerance. Harassment may come in the form of verbal criticism, as it does for many in our Ignatian family, or in the form of physical harm. Our prayers and actions are and will always be extended to those who bring to fruition the Beatitude…”Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

There are times when the work becomes overwhelming, when our hearts cannot break open another time, when our spirits feel like they just want to give up. It is in these moments that we are invited to throw off despair and put on radical hope. We come from a long line of master dreamers who have changed the world in big and small ways. It is in those times of distress that we rise from that feeling of hopelessness, take our steps in faith, and “remember the marvels the Lord has done.”

6 replies
  1. Dr.Cajetan Coelho
    Dr.Cajetan Coelho says:

    Persecution comes and persecution goes. It lacks stamina to go on forever and ever. Amen. Praise the Lord.

    Reply
  2. Elaine
    Elaine says:

    Justin, your compassion for others is heartwarming and needed but you lost me when I read your words “after four years of suffering through this administration…..”. The respect for all life-“made in the image and likeness” of God has strongly been upheld in the current administration. The propensity to the right and desire to end life in abortion, contraception and even after birth is abhorrent and is what is party platform in “non current administration.” None of us is perfect but the respect for ALL life must never be lost. We take one issue at a time but what good is it to attack the most basic life issue? We can start there and build. There is a lot of evil out there trying to attack our common sense. Life is short but let us not be the judge of who can have life! The administration of the past 4years supports life.
    Anger, hurt, pride rear their ugly heads in sly and ugly ways desirous of getting things our way. Surrender to Our Lord and prayer are the powerful weapons we have to use.
    On a closing note I want to tell you of a yard/street sign I saw recently. It reads Vote Pro-Life—Like your mother did.”
    I am thankful for your life and words you share in this posted message. Come Holy Spirit!

    Reply
  3. Bob Pedretti
    Bob Pedretti says:

    I can’t believe the latest Pew report regarding Catholic views on Trump, this administration and current election attitudes. White Catholics support for Trump just doesn’t align with the teachings of the church and evidence of his contempt for others.

    Reply
    • Elaine
      Elaine says:

      Mr. Pedretti, why do you judge others, label people by race, and speak of the teachings of the Church without demonstrating the “proof” of what you say? Do you not understand “Thou shalt not kill?”

      Reply
  4. Dennis Duffell
    Dennis Duffell says:

    As an ex-JV myself, I can say that most of those folks who heard what I was doing thought I was crazy, but but mostly thought it was harmless. My dad did not – he was concerned that I was throwing away my talents and the hard-earned money he spent for my education. But he came around, eventually. My mom, though, was very proud of me.

    Reply

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