An Expansive Vision
BY COLIN MARTINEZ LONGMORE | September 5, 2022
Sunday’s Readings
During my time working in youth ministry, I was blessed to meet many remarkable young people. However, one of my favorites was a teen who I’ll call “J.”
J grew up in a low-income neighborhood across the street from the parish where I used to work. He is from a large mixed-status family*, the second youngest out of six siblings who all lived in a two bedroom apartment. But despite the difficult aspects of his upbringing, what made J stand out to me most were his innate leadership qualities. He was a natural servant leader, volunteering his time in youth ministry and the parish community food pantry, all while going to school and working a part-time job to support the household expenses. His ultimate goal was to become a social worker to help address the big issues that hurt neighborhoods like his. He loved his community and they loved him back.
During his senior year of high school, J achieved another remarkable milestone: he was going to be the first person in his family to attend college. However that also meant moving hundreds of miles away from his beloved community to continue pursuing his goals. It was a difficult choice for him; he said that it almost felt selfish to leave. But ultimately, he made the courageous decision to step out in faith, trusting in God’s plan for his community and for himself.
I think of J a lot in my current work at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. When the opportunity to pass transformative and just federal policies is within reach, compromise can feel like a loss sometimes. But it’s helpful to step back and recognize that our vision is limited. A slowdown of our work is not a slowdown of Gospel justice. Thankfully, God always has a more expansive vision than we do, and we can trust in God’s ultimate Kin-dom.
*A mixed-status family is a family whose members include people with different citizenship or immigration statuses.
Colin is the Communications Coordinator at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington D.C. He has served as the Advocacy Chair for the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice and taught classes at Georgetown University’s Capitol Applied Learning Lab. Previously, he worked for seven years as a youth minister in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange leading bilingual faith formation programs, hosting retreats, and speaking at various Diocesan youth events.
I’ve belonged to two unions that were helpful to others who belonged. One was a teacher’s union where we strove for just wages. A woman with 3 children and $40K could barely survive. The union argued and fought for better wages – including those who were getting very high wages. There were concessions made and some improvement happened but eventually the union was dissolved. People sought other places to work and a more just work place. The other union was the electrician’s union in which I taught and empowered people to realize their gifts and talents to use in service to others. Many of them changed to become better workers at the same time receiving better pay. The Church’s documents: Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno were documents I am always proud of as they paid attention to those in need. The Catholic Chuch continually provides us with ways to help those who are econically poor or in need of physical or spiritual support. Thank you Mother Church for your assistance in moving forward.
“A slowdown of our work is not a slowdown of Gospel justice. Thankfully, God always has a more expansive vision than we do, and we can trust in God’s ultimate Kin-dom.” – Well said Colin.
A mixed status family is also quite common here in Austria. One person in a family receives permission to stay in Austria. And the rest are denied the right to work here, but also not allowed to leave Austria. Often the only one granted permission to stay is the one, who cannot work. They get permission to stay because they are receiving very expensive drugs, which are not available in their homeland, to combat traumatic symptoms. Wouldn’t it be better to allow those who are able to work to be given permission to work, so they can afford to pay for alternative trauma treatment which is far more effective and does not require the use of drugs to partially sedate symptoms?