Liberation Theology, the Gospel, and Glenn Beck

I posted an earlier post asking the question -- what is Liberation Theology?  The answer to the question is important, because it is being misused by Glenn Beck for political purposes.  As we ponder the question, which isn't just about President Obama, but about how we understand the Christian faith, I want to recommend an excellent Huffngton Post article by Jesuit theologian James Martin, SJ that carries the title:  Glenn Beck vs. Christ the Liberator."

Before getting to the question of Liberation Theology, I must confess my discomfort in even giving attention to Glenn Beck, who is little more than a snake-oil salesman and panderer in cheap conspiracy theories that hearken back to the John Birch Society, a group of crazed right wingers that the Republican Party beat back in the 1960s, and which is making a comeback in a new guise.  That said, it is important that we try to understand the nature and purpose of Liberation Theology.  Martin gives an excellent discussion of this movement that emerged out of a Latin American context in the 1950s and 1960s.  He writes:

A little history: Liberation theology began in Latin America in the 1950s and 1960s, and was later developed more systematically by Catholic theologians who reflected on experiences of the poor there. The term was coined by the Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian priest, in his landmark book A Theology of Liberation, published in 1971. Briefly put, liberation theology (there are many definitions, by the way) is a Gospel-based critique of the world through the eyes of the poor. Contrary to what Beck implies, the liberation theologian doesn't see himself or herself as victim; rather proponents call us to see how the poor are marginalized by society, to work among them, to advocate on their behalf, and to help them advocate for themselves. It has nothing to do with seeing yourself as victim. It is, like all authentic Christian practices, "other-directed."

It also sees the figure of Jesus Christ as the "liberator," who frees people from bondage and slavery of all kinds. So, as he does in the Gospels, Christ not only frees people from sin and illness, Christ also desires to free our fellow human beings from the social structures that keep them impoverished. This is this kind of "liberation" that is held out. Liberation theologians meditate on Gospel stories that show Christ upending the social structures of the day, in order to bring more--uh oh--social justice into the world. Christians are also asked to make, as the saying goes, a "preferential option for the poor."

Since Beck, who infamously told Christians to run from churches that preached social justice, wants to call us back to God (I do find it ironic that evangelicals who consider Mormonism a cult seem to ignore Beck's off-beat version of Mormonism), and wants to tell us that Jesus didn't preach social justice, but only salvation, I want to leave you with the words of the Savior himself -- Jesus the Christ.  

 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’  (Luke 4:16-21 NRSV)

Sunday or Sabbath?

A couple of years back, I tried to make each Sunday a chance to post on some topic of Faith, and with this posting I will be going back to that effort. It's appropriate to start here on a summer Sunday with a two-part theme: 1) When should you go to Church in the first place?; and 2) Why do many drift away as summer comes? Let's start with an effort to answer that first question. These days, many churches celebrate their weekly obligation services of the Mass on Saturday evening, then have a full compliment of Sunday morning services, and some even offer a Sunday evening service. There are some religious organizations, including Seventh-Day Adventists, who claim that Christians must worship on Saturdays, not on Sundays, because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, and they believe that at some point through the years the Church arbitrarily changed things to Sundays. The fact is that Sundays were the day of worship for Christian believers as far back as New Testament times. Many passages of scripture indicate this practice as more desirable, worshiping on 'The Lord's Day', as Sunday was known to them. As just one of many examples, St. Ignatius of Antioch describes in a letter to the Magnesians written in 110 A.D. that: "Those who were brought up in the ancient order of things [the Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death." During the first three centuries, the practice and tradition of consecrating Sunday to the worship of God by the hearing of the Mass and by resting from work first took root, and has remained established ever since, with slight modifications over the years. Of course, as all know, the obligation to retain a day to honor the Lord comes directly from God's very Commandments. In the book of Exodus, we see the terms "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy...the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God...in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth...and rested the seventh day." The tradition of the Church developed this as the 3rd Commandment, or "Remember to keep holy the Lord's day." The Church itself began the tradition of a Saturday evening 'Vigil Mass' in order for those who simply could not, due to work or other constraints, make a genuine effort to attend Sunday services. These Saturday evening services are not intended for everyday convenience, or to 'get it out of the way'. People should still be going to Church on Sundays, and setting that day aside as a day of rest as much as is possible. However, again the Vigil on Saturday evenings is there as an outlet for those who simply cannot make the Sunday services. In any event, it is clear that we should all be setting aside a time during our busy week to worship the Lord together as a community, and that includes the summer time. Many people become more spiritual and involved in the Church as Christmas approaches, and then vow to continue this into the new year. They seem to do well in the early months, and are reinspired by the coming of Easter in the spring. But as spring rolls into summer, and the joys of living outside and enjoying more recreational activities takes over, many drift away from regular attendance at Church. This is exactly the time to not drift away. It is when we are most distracted, when we are lured by worldly things away from the Lord and his house, away from one another as a Church community, that we should fight back against this urge. Summer time is a great time indeed, but it is nothing more than an excuse to say that because the weather is nicer you cannot find one hour to give specifically to the Lord each week. All year, through all seasons, attending Mass is a wonderfully refreshing chance to spend an hour in God's house with others directly worshiping Him, receiving Jesus' body and blood in the Eucharist, hearing the Word of God preached, and letting God know that He has a place of importance in our long list of activities in our busy lives. It's summer time right now, and it's also Sunday. Get to Church today.