QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think social justice is so often linked with Catholic faith?
2. Why were Christians, like others in their society, still involved in perpetuating injustices such as slavery or colonisation?
3. Why do you think some people who were slaves, or who came from among colonised peoples, could still find hope and inspiration in the Bible?
4. How do marginalised peoples' understandings of faith and the Bible challenge others to be better followers of Christ?
5. What injustices today should Christians be more aware of? What could we be doing to tackle them?
ACTIVITIES
1. Exploring Gospel stories: Choose one of the following Biblical passages related to social justice:
- Psalm 10: The cry for justice
- Luke 10: 25 - 37: The parable of the Good Samaritan
- Matthew 6: 24 - 34: God's concerns
- Matthew 25: 31 - 46: Whatever you did to the least you did to me
- Acts 2: 42 - 47: How the first disciples lived
Read your chosen Biblical passage, and explore it more deeply in one of the following ways:
a) Write a personal response to the passage: What do you think and feel when you hear it? How does it relate to your life today? How does it challenge you? What choices does it open up for you in your own life? How might embracing that passage help you to be a better person?
b) Consider the passage from the perspective of someone experiencing injustice – either in a historical context (e.g. as someone living in slavery) or in today's world (e.g. as a refugee). Imagine what it might mean to them to hear that passage. Write a creative piece sharing something of your imagined person's story, and what hearing that passage means to them.
c) Create a social justice campaign promo that could be shared among Christian communities, drawing on your chosen Biblical passage and highlighting the challenges that it puts to Christian communities today. It might be a written script, or an audio or visual piece. (You might even consider entering pieces in our Young Voices Awards).
2. First Nations perspectives on the Bible: Read the full Homily Notes from the 2021 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday resources produced by NATSICC, related to the Gospel for that day Mark 6: 1 - 6 (these notes are quoted in the article).
a) Analyse how the Gospel story is used in the homily notes. Where is it quoted? What points are drawn from it? How are those ideas used to reflect on injustice in our society? How does the Gospel story guide us towards a more just understanding of society? Write or record a reflection outlining your thoughts.
b) The homily notes quote Pope Francis saying that 'inculturation elevates and fulfils'. What does inculturation mean? Explore some of the other resources that NATSICC produces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, and choose one to analyse in more depth. What might it add to our celebration of the liturgy? What does it add to our understanding of First Nations peoples? How does it 'elevate and fulful' our faith? Write or record a reflection outlining your thoughts.
c) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday is the first Sunday in July. Consider what your school community might do around that time (either before or after school holidays) to recognise the gift of First Nations Catholics to our community, incorporating some of the resourses from NATSICC. Plan a school, year level or class liturgy incorporating those resources.
3. Social justice activism and the Bible: One of the 20th century's most prominent social justice activists is US pastor Martin Luther King Jr. His famous 'I have a dream' speech contains a number of Biblical references, including:
- 'We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream' (quoting Amos 5:24)
- 'One day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight' (quoting Isaiah 40: 4-5)
a) Explore the two Biblical passages above in more depth. Read the passage they're drawn from and consider their meaning in the context of that passage. How might the Jewish people who heard those passages have reacted to them? Now consider them in the context of the speech. How might the African American people who heard them have reacted to them? How might the white Christians who heard them have reacted to them? Write or record a reflection sharing your thoughts, or if you'd like to get creative, write a speech using that phrase related to a social justice campaign in today's world.
b) Research the life and writings of Dr King. How did his faith shape his views on the world? How did he evoke God in his writing and speaking? Write or record a biography on his life, exploring in particular how his faith influenced him.
c) Write a piece imagining you're someone who is hearing the words of the 'I have a dream' speech in person - it might be someone from the African-American community, or even from outside that community. Describe the experiences that drew this person to be there, and what are their expectations in listening to him. How do his words speak to them? What do they change in them? What does this person do after hearing this speech?
YOUNGER STUDENTS
Good deeds: Read or summarise Matthew 25: 31 - 46 for the students ('whatever you did for the least you did for me').
a) Ask the students to think about a good deed that they've done recently, either for a family member or someone at school. Share that good deed with the group. Now draw that good deed, but instead of doing it for that person, draw Jesus in their place. Share your drawings on a notice board, showing how our actions to build stronger relationships with others also help us build stronger relationships with God.
b) Develop a 'tasks for Jesus' challenge for the class. Think of some good deeds you might do for your fellow classmates, or for your family at home. Give each student a challenge to do one good deed per day over a set period. At the end of the challenge, students might be given a 'Jesus badge' for the good deeds they've done for others.
Dreaming of a better world: Read and/or explain Galatians 3:28 for the students ('There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is their male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.'), and/or read or summarise the last part of Dr Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech ('....when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.'). Ask the students to close their eyes and imagine a world in which all people are celebrated for who they are? How would people treat each other in that world? Write or draw a prayer to God expressing your hopes and dreams for this better world, starting with 'Dear God, help me build a better world where...'.