Many people [in authority] oppose us, persecute us, and would like even to destroy us, but we must be patient. As long as their commands are not against our conscience, let us obey them, but when the case is otherwise, let us uphold the rights of God and of the Church, for those are superior to all earthly authority.
John Bosco (1815-1888)
We look back on those who publicly stood up for the civil rights movement during this period with respect and admiration, precisely because of their sacrifice. If we want to emulate that kind of love, it goes beyond merely quoting them in the safety of historical retrospect but to speaking out on the same issues, which often remain unpopular today.
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. (…) There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.
It was said by Mordecai to Queen Esther. Her people were about to be exterminated and she could have sat quietly and comfortably protected by title and privilege. Mordecai challenged her, “What if you were born for a such a time as this? You can speak up and use your privilege to help your people… OR God will cause help to come from another source.” (See the book of Esther in the Bible). What about today? When things get hot and volatile and risky, do you hide behind your privilege and pretend you cannot see or hear… or do you go all in, knowing ‘you were born for such a time as this!’
If we want to be Christians, we must have some share in Christ’s large-heartedness by acting with responsibility and in freedom when the hour of danger comes, and by showing a real sympathy that springs, not from fear, but from the liberating and redeeming love of Christ for all who suffer. Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behaviour. The Christian is called to sympathy and action, not in the first place by his own sufferings, but by the sufferings of his brethren, for whose sake Christ suffered.
Most of my secular friends … view the church not as a change agent that can affect all of society but as a place where like-minded people go to feel better about themselves. That image of the church stands in sharp contrast to the vision of Jesus, who said little about how believers should behave when we gather together and much about how we can affect the world around us.
The “least of my brethren” are the hungry and the lonely, not only for food, but for the Word of God; the thirsty and the ignorant not only for water, but also for knowledge, peace, truth, justice and love; the naked and the unloved, not only for clothes but also for human dignity; the unwanted; the unborn child; the racially discriminated against; the homeless and abandoned, not only for a shelter made of bricks, but for a heart that understands, that covers, that loves; the sick, the dying destitutes, and the captives, not only in body, but also in mind and spirit; all those who have lost all hope and faith in life; the alcoholics and dying addicts and all those who have lost God (for them God was but God is) and who have lost all hope in the power of the Spirit.
If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice when we give all human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the righting of wrongs but generosity and social concern, especially toward the poor and vulnerable.