Hey friends!
I’ve been speaking to a few classes at Xavier this week about social justice. I call the talk ‘todos, todos, todos’, after the Pope’s (Spanish) mantra at World Youth Day - “everyone, everyone, everyone.”
I start with an image of Rio de Janeiro, luxe apartments directly next door to a favela (slum). It’s a jarring image, the rich and poor so close together, yet so far apart.
Next I show them two images much closer to home. One is quite literally my home. The other other is St Mary’s House of Welcome, a soup kitchen on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.
Last April, I supervised four Xavier students who were volunteering there. It’s a tradition that Year 11s spend the last week of Term 1 helping out service organisations (op shops, soup kitchens, nursing homes, special needs schools etc…), to give them a sense of what life is like outside of the private school bubble.
People often talk about the buzz you get from helping people in need, a feeling of purpose and connection, but I left St Mary’s feeling totally shattered. I’d chosen it off a list because I lived within walking distance. But how close really was I? What proximity did I actually have to any of these people, dozens of my neighbours? What, ultimately, is the difference between this…
And this?
I ask this not to self-flagellate, or to flagellate any of you by implication, but to illustrate a vital point about social justice, and the importance of real, intimate generosity.
It’s not enough for our response to be impersonal - signing the odd petition, voting for a righteous political party, throwing some money towards a good cause.
Money is a wonderful gift, but we mustn't underestimate the importance of our presence, the value of a smile, a nod, a handshake, a question. Real social justice relies on real social encounter, because justice is not an abstract concept but a human one. It’s about living in communion with one another, investing time into relationships with todos, todos, todos, everyone, everyone everyone.
Ultimately, it’s about opening up our neighbourhoods. Because if we’re honest, we all live behind fences. I wonder where yours are built?