2 Kings 4:42-44 A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat." But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD: They shall eat and have some left." He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD. John 6:1-21 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. Have you ever wondered what happened to the extra bread and fish collected after the feeding of the 5,000? Did the people wrap it up and take it with them for the journey home? Did it disappear after one night like the manna did? Why have extra left over and not just enough for one meal?
This miracle of Jesus clearly alludes to Elisha's miraculous feeding of the 100, where some was left over. In both stories, God provided not just enough, but in abundance. However, Jesus didn’t just feed 100 people; he fed 5,000. Jesus was not just a prophet but God, who is Lord over the dry land. Our God is not only the God who provides but also the God gives in abundance because, in God’s Kingdom, all of Creation exists to give life in overflow, like their Creator. Jesus shows in this miracle, that all who come, whether on time or a straggler hours later, will be filled and can take some home. The feeding of the 5,000 reflects the imagery of the wedding feast, where there is abundance for all who are in the Kingdom, and the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples to pray: give us this day our daily bread. It is both an image of the Kingdom to come and the Kingdom here now, with lines blurry between the spiritual and the physical, both becoming one. After feeding the five thousand, Jesus walked on the raging sea as if it were dry land, showing His Lordship not only over the earth but also the sea. The words used to describe the LORD ring out in this passage from John to describe Jesus: the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Imagining this is mind-blowing and awe-inspiring. The God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, became part of Creation as a human. God has never rejected Creation or left it for the heavens but loved it so much that God became human. Not only as the Creator but as the Creator who let Himself become created through a woman. One who knows our sorrows, knows of being hungry, knows of being afraid, and yet is without sin. Jesus is both the bread of life and also chose to be sustained by physical bread. He is the living water and yet gets thirsty and asks for a drink. In the divine mystery of Jesus, the Church becomes His body, each member playing their part. Naturally, as creatures work through their bodies, Jesus works through His body to abundantly provide. In the feeding of the five thousand, He asked his disciples to find the food, honored the gift of the young boy, and had the disciples distribute and retrieve the food. Through the acts of faith done by the disciples and the young boy, Jesus made them miraculous. In the Church, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is working through His body to provide the daily bread and abundance to the community. Just as our God did, we too can live within Creation, helping others experience the God who loves them. Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries.
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Molly Johnson (MJ) spoke with Kristina J Peterson (KP) of the Lowlander Center about building collaboratives to address climate justice challenges facing communities.
MJ: Tell us about who you serve or work with? We link together communities who have raised questions or concerns about similar challenges, in order to form collaboratives, networks, and partnerships. For example, one collaborative of several coastal, Indigenous communities in Alaska and several Tribal communities in Louisiana worked together on a report submitted to the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. Also, after the BP oil spill disaster, we worked with oiled communities across the Southeast, and connected them with the communities that were in Prince William Sound to learn from and guide each other. It included faith communities, government entities, health communities, fishers and subsistence fishers and more. We are also involved in a National Science Foundation grant through Haskell Indian Nations University that is connecting groups from Indigenous communities in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Alaska. They are sharing types of Indigenous wisdom and knowledge to be able to counter climate stressors. The collaborative digs into both historical knowledge and wisdom, and spiritual practice, to see how we can move forward in a healthy, good way. Additionally, one of the leaders from a Tribal community of Grand Bayou just returned from a meeting with the UN Rapporteur and the UN Human Rights Commission in Brasil. It's imperative on us to find the resources and opportunities to get people to these different types of gatherings. This way, their voices become part of the larger conversation, and not just a sidebar or a passthrough. MJ: Tell us about your climate resilience project(s)? In particular, can you discuss how it connects to climate displacement? The communities that are part of our collective are adamant that they do not want anyone to decide for them about “managed retreat”. It brings with it huge baggage - the trail of tears, the trail of death, of betrayal and other kinds of atrocities, including urban renewal. It usually means that people of color are sent or locked into conditions that are far from just or equitable, or with choice. So, we are working diligently on “what does adaptation look like?” Adaptation in place and in different kinds of forms - for stewardship of land, water, and the whole aspect so that you don't disconnect the human from the non-human brothers and sisters. Since climate displacement is not just about humans, it's about our whole living world - how do we heal that? How do we make repairs? How do we make the way with policies for rematriation and policies that take away the violence that separates humans and our more-than-human brothers and sisters? It is creation care at its ultimate. One project we’re working on now is with the Pointe au Chien Indian Tribe. Three years ago, Hurricane Ida - one of the largest, second most expensive, and most forceful hurricanes, second to Katrina - stayed eight hours over Pointe au Chien and it devastated a lot of the community. However, a greenhouse learning center that was just finished being built a month before the hurricane hit was not destroyed because it was built to the best standards possible, Fortified building standards. Several men of the Tribe built it as a collaborative. The survival of the greenhouse convinced the Tribe to do all the rebuilding of their homes in the same way. Because of where they're located, the severity of the storm, and reduced giving and volunteerism since COVID - Pointe au Chien was overlooked in the disaster recovery. Now that there are places for volunteers to come and stay, most of the resources from disaster funds have dried up and so there's no funds to do rebuilding, so we continue to fundraise. The project is about more than just rebuilding houses. It's reconnecting a Tribal community that has been attached to a place for thousands of years. For example, Pointe au Chien is also working on living shorelines with oyster shells to manage erosion. They've been working on canal projects to fill in oil and gas canals because 98% of the land loss in their area is due to the drilling and extraction of gas. We are on the fastest disappearing Delta in the world. The Delta is an incredibly important estuary to the waters of the Gulf, and a major flyway for birds and butterflies. Without it being restored, we're losing all that. In that, Pointe au Chien’s local knowledge of both the water and land of the estuary is exceedingly important to be able to do the kind of rebuilding that is necessary for the restoration of health of the estuary, and of the place. To have homes for the folks who know this, to live here, is paramount. MJ: What would you tell someone interested in pursuing a similar goal? First, educate yourself about the problem. Second, if you can volunteer in any kind of way please do. Congregations or groups of friends that can fundraise to help in this restoration project are direly needed. You can reach out to us at the Lowlander Center and 100% of everything that comes into the organization goes into the projects that are being done. MJ: How does your work encourage “faithful resilience?” You've heard the expression “it takes a village”. Well, the historied and Tribal communities that are “down the Bayou”, are the villages that have the mutual aid and camaraderie of understanding each other as brothers and sisters. They go beyond just the human element, but brothers and sisters kin to all the life-world around them. All of their decision making is done in that concept of all creation. It's not about the individual which is very different from many western communities where people make individual choices. This is more of the understanding of the early faith communities of really sharing in common. It's what we all need to get back to. And, when hospitality is in abundance in the face of austerity - how beautiful is that? How beautiful is it when a person goes out to shrimp, and brings the catch, it's the catch that was gifting them. They weren't taking but there was gifting and the blessing of the water back for the shrimp. It's that kind of reciprocity that goes on and is understood as being a core value. It doesn't get any more spiritual than that. It's the core of love and it's the core of total respect.
MJ: What is something else you would like the Creation Justice community to know? Social and environmental justice intersect and have to be one of the same. We have to address these issues in their complexity. We have to decolonize ourselves in every kind of way possible to be able to open our ears, our minds and our hearts to the violence that has happened - the violence of someone having privilege over others, and how that privilege goes into every element of our lives, which also hinders every element of other people's lives. We all need to do that kind of examination and we need to support those who are really striving to undo those ties and do it with love and do it with justice. Amos 7:7-15 7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see? And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; 9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." 10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said, 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'" 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom." 14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15 and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.' It is natural to feel uncomfortable when discussing death, exile, and the destruction of cities and peoples. The Lord does not rejoice in the punishment of the wicked but rather desires their repentance (Ez 18:23). Moreover, the Lord has a special concern for the poor, the orphan, and the widow. Jesus' words speak loudly, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6:20b-21).
In the book of Amos, we encounter this tension. Amos prophesies exile and death to the people of Israel and even to the king. To Amos, it seems clear that this is punishment for Israel's failure to follow the Lord. However, there are many instances where this clarity is lacking. The story of Job is a prime example, and the psalmist frequently asks, “Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer?” Especially today, it often feels difficult to distinguish an outcome or decision that is purely “good,” and we witness significant decisions impacting the lives of many innocent people. Today, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, she survived smallpox at age four, although her family did not. Tekakwitha faced additional hardships living with her adoptive Mohawk family, experiencing war against neighboring tribes and the burning of her village by French colonists in present-day Fonda, New York. Influenced by Jesuit priests, she converted to Catholicism and diligently prayed for the salvation of the Mohawk people. At age 11, Tekakwitha joined French priest Jean Pierron to tend to the wounded, bury the dead, and carry food and water to the Indigenous peoples affected by tribal war. Tekakwitha continued to join her tribe during hunting season, carving crosses into trees to remind herself of Christ. She spent her time working, praying, and meditating outdoors. Through visiting priests, she learned catechesis and was baptized after St. Catherine of Siena. When persecution to marry intensified at age 19, she fled her home and moved to St. Francis Xavier, a “Christian Indian mission.” There, she was influenced by the community of Native American converts, making deep connections with them and God. Tekakwitha reportedly slept on thorns while praying for her relatives' conversion and forgiveness, practicing the traditional Mohawk act of piercing her body. She once said, “I will willingly abandon this miserable body to hunger and suffering, provided that my soul may have its ordinary nourishment.” Tekakwitha is also quoted as saying, “I have deliberated enough. For a long time, my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary. I have chosen Him for husband, and He alone will take me for wife.” She and her friend Marie Thérèse Tegaianguenta attempted to start a Native religious order, but their idea was rejected. She died at age 24. The life of Kateri Tekakwitha can evoke discomfort. Some Indigenous people have mixed feelings about her canonization, as her story is intertwined with the tragedies of colonization. Some believe she was canonized to bolster the Church's image among Native Americans. Nevertheless, she is generally respected among Catholics and indigenous Mohawks, who see her sainthood as a unique bridge between two cultures, potentially fostering unity. Pope John Paul II said of Kateri Tekakwitha, “Even when she dedicated herself fully to Jesus Christ, to the point of taking the prophetic step of making a vow of perpetual virginity, she always remained what she was, a true daughter of her people, following her tribe in the hunting seasons and continuing her devotions in the environment most suited to her way of life, before a rough cross carved by herself in the forest. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the great gift of God’s love, is never in contrast with what is noble and pure in the life of any tribe or nation, since all good things are his gifts.” Like Amos was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees, Tekakwitha was not born a prophet, but was instead a hunter and a person of deep respect for Creation. Yet, through God's grace, both became instruments used by God to guide people toward truth and love. How can our connection to Creation and our daily work help us discover and fulfill God’s purpose for our lives? Information taken from: https://www.kateri.org/our-patron-saint/#:~:text=Saint%20Kateri%27s%20feast%20day%20is,Kahnawake%2C%20near%20Montreal%2C%20Quebec https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=154 Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries. Moving Beyond the Defensive Game: A Conversation with Kyle Crider of the People’s Justice Council7/8/2024
Molly Johnson (MJ) spoke with Kyle Crider (KC) of People’s Justice Council about moving from a resilience to restoration approach in the face of climate change.
MJ: Tell us about your “From Resilience to Restoration project?
KC: Restoration is now pretty much our biggest umbrella. In 2022, we were awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Academies to do the “From Resilience to Restoration” (FRTR) program. We were pleased that they loved our approach of reaching out to houses of faith in frontline communities, because as you know very well, these are already acting as resilient centers. But like the wise old coach says, we can't win if we play a purely defensive game. So, we want to shift the needle from resilience to restoration. To do so, we developed this “3 E” framework. 1. Ecological Restoration - we all know why that one that's vital. 2. Economic Elevation - in frontline communities, we're not talking about restoring the economy, we're talking about elevating the economy to a level it's never been. 3. Ecumenical Restoration, which we use in a broader interfaith sense, not just Christian interdenominational in its traditional usage, because we work with houses of all faiths. We have a three tier framework - the top tier is the national resource, where we're sharing wonderful articles that have anything to do with resiliency and restoration. Then we have the state hubs in the Gulf South where we’ve worked with partners from Texas to Florida. Finally, we have restoration plans at the Frontline community level, where our real emphasis is. I'm glad to say thanks to our wonderful partners, we work with dozens of communities across the south. And we have spent a lot of time traveling and documenting their wonderful stories.
MJ: How does your work encourage “faithful resilience?”
KC: In terms of the ecumenical restoration, we all know that we got to combat the toxic theology that’s put us in this situation - the sort of thinking that Jesus is coming tomorrow and it's all gonna burn so you know why should we care about endangered species or social justice or any of the things Jesus talked about? We have got to combat that toxic theology with love and with a positive restoration theology. Frontline communities are already doing this in a very practical way. They're already acting as resilient centers. I’ve said before, it's almost like the loaves and fishes miracle in the Bible, when we got the representatives of the frontline communities together and talking, we found that this person's needs over here are met by this person's resources over here. We weren’t there to help them, we were just amazed as these connections were made, just by getting the faithful together in the same room. There are some real wonderful stories coming out of all that. That's faithful resiliency.
MJ: What inspired your action?
KC: I think of the quotation about Archimedes lever: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the Earth”. Well, these houses of faith are a powerful lever to move the Bible belt, the Gulf South and the whole world.
MJ: What would be your hope for the future of this project?
KC: We have lots of hopes. Our first cohort wrapped up in August 2023 after an 18 month grant. We would love a second cohort. We want the first cohort to be the groundbreakers, not the end. So the next phase we want is to take FRTR to the whole South and beyond. One of the immediate needs that requires help from all of our wonderful partners, CJM included, is to match resources for these community needs. Because yes, we have had many Loaves and Fishes moments, but it's hard to find places in the south, anywhere close to where we're working that is not a Justice40 community. We desperately need to funnel federal funding and private grants into the communities. An upcoming project we have, inspired by a conversation with a private funder, is to set up a trip so that funders can visit frontline communities and meet folks in person. MJ: What would you tell someone interested in pursuing a similar goal? What is something you would like the Creation Justice community to know? KC: The last thing I’ll say is that resilience work is vital. We're all doing resilience work. But when you're implying to a frontline community that “we're here to help you become more resilient”, it sounds like “we're here to help you roll with the punches.” We've got to stop pummeling our frontline communities. That's why as vital as resiliency is, it's not enough. You can’t win by playing a purely defensive game. So we want to shift that emphasis to restoration. In ecological restoration, that means native species, biodiversity, preserving the mangroves, planning on the coast, or whatever. For economic elevation, it's things like worker-owned coops, keeping the dollars in the community where they belong, and keeping the dollar stores and community destroyers out. You can see lots of shining examples featured in the FRTR videos. Psalm 123 1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he has mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. Mark 6:1-13 1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. The Lord who is enthroned in the heavens, the one whom the people of God serve as their mistress or master, came down to his people, and they dishonored him like the prophets of old. In answer to their prayer for mercy, Jesus came to end the contempt of the proud but was rejected. There is so much that feels backward here. How can God come as part of creation? Why did God come in such a “normal” way that people didn’t even recognize him?
Instead of performing an even greater miracle to prove his identity as God, Jesus sent the disciples out with nothing, asking them to trust God to provide for their needs through the acts of others. Again, I ask myself, why this way? Why choose to work through creation when you can just make things happen yourself, God? These questions lead me to a response of great awe and comfort: God chooses to work through the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. God chooses to deify creation instead of rejecting it and to transform the world through love and faith instead of force and fear. God came through Mary as part of creation. While we know nothing was ordinary about his birth, from the outside, it seemed plain—a child born to an ordinary woman. But God honored and loved the ordinary act of mothering and birthing by being born through a woman. He grew up in Nazareth with his relatives, family friends, and neighbors. His childhood must have seemed ordinary, for the people of the town could not believe the miracles and teachings that Jesus performed when he returned during his ministry. When Jesus visited his hometown, he did what one would ordinarily do—he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus didn’t say, “Come to the new building I made appear out of thin air and listen to my new teachings!” Instead, he went to the normal meeting place and transformed the understanding of the Scriptures, teaching with boldness. Even the act of performing miracles to bring the kingdom of God to earth shows that God is not interested in leaving or annihilating creation but transforming and renewing it. To bring the Kingdom to earth means to heal bodies and make them well, to see that things are not quite right but carry the seed of the divine waiting to be resurrected. Thankfully, all will be transformed like the resurrected body of Jesus—physical and divine, not a purely spiritual awakening that leaves earth for the celestial kingdom. The firstborn of all creation is the Kingdom of God. Let us see how Jesus came in “ordinary time” to make the extraordinary happen and how we can work with creation to bring the Kingdom of God. Let us see the seed of God in all things, praying for resurrection. Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries. |
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