{"id":6708,"date":"2020-09-08T19:13:23","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T09:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=6708"},"modified":"2020-09-14T17:49:10","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T07:49:10","slug":"social-justice-the-secret-to-a-fulfilled-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/social-justice-the-secret-to-a-fulfilled-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Justice: The Secret To A Fulfilled Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Social Justice: The Secret To A Fulfilled Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Dalia Fam<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original post by goCoptic blog site<\/a> (July 3, 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I have discovered a secret. Throughout our 13 years\nliving in Zambia, we have experienced many short-term mission trips from all\nover the world. We have witnessed many lives transformed from mission trips.\nBut, when they go back home they lose the same passion they had in Africa. Why?\nCan you only have zeal for mission in Africa? NO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missionaries\nlose their zeal because, unlike their mission trip, they stop practicing social\njustice daily.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social justice is a way of life. It is found in\nevery aspect of our life \u2013 from the way we spend, to the way we teach our\nchildren, and to the way we prepare our food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social\nJustice includes if we \u201cclothed the naked, given your bread to the hungry, door\nopen to every stranger, been a parent to the orphan, [and] made the suffering\nof every helpless person your own.\u201d \u2013 St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social justice is a mission that every Christian\nand Church must do, not only in Africa. This blog post will discuss the\nbiblical, patristic and modern-day examples of social justice in our Faith. We\npray this inspires you to do social justice as a way of life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biblical\nUnderstanding of Social Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice in the Old Testament is a common theme and\nit forms the basis of God\u2019s holiness. Therefore, when we participate in social\njustice, we partake of this holiness. The Old Testament also includes many\nexamples, such as Elijah, of faithful men and women who defend the poor and\npowerless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate example of social justice was Jesus\nChrist. He starts His mission proclaiming His desire to bring justice to those\nin need and to the oppressed (Isaiah 61:1-2). He helped the destitute, poor,\nand marginalized. He went out of His way to the outcast woman at the well. He\nsat with sinners. He taught justice in that whatever we do for the sick,\nimprisoned, and stranger, we do it for Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in His death, the cross of Christ reconciled\nall and was the essence of His declaration of justice. The apostles continued\nto live out Christ\u2019s mission of social justice through healing the sick, caring\nfor the widows, and sharing their possessions to anyone in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. John taught \u201cHow does God\u2019s love abide in\nanyone who has the world\u2019s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet\nrefuses help?\u201d  \u2013 1 John 3:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nshould follow these holy examples that lived before us to spur us into social\njustice action!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patristic\nUnderstanding of Social Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Early Church Fathers knew the importance of the daily spiritual practice of social justice. The closer the Fathers drew to God, the more they loved man and wanted to help those most in need. They knew social justice was not optional but a spiritual practice like praying and fasting. They knew it was the necessary path to true communion with God.<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, wrote, \u201cAs long as there\nis time, let us visit Christ, serve Christ, feed Christ, clothe Christ, offer\nhospitality to Christ, honor Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nteachings guide us to practice social justice daily and should be a way of\nlife.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples\nof Practicing Social Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Orthodox Church has many modern-day saints and\nmissionaries who set an example for us by practicing social justice. In the\nfourth century, St. Verena, out of a cave in Switzerland, cared for the lepers.\nEven under Islamic oppression, Coptic Churches practiced social justice through\ncaring for the orphans, widows, the poor, elderly, and the sick. Eastern\nOrthodox missionaries such as St. Stephen of Perm, defended Alaskan natives against\ntraders and others that treated them harshly. Bishop Abraam, known as the\n\u201cFriend of the Poor,\u201d offered shelter, food, clothing and more to the poor. A\nGreek Orthodox archbishop defied culture and took a risk to stand with Martin\nLuther King Jr., during the civil rights era.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunities for social justice are all around\nus. Not only in Africa. We have to intentionally look for these opportunities.\nWe can care for the forgotten, the outcast, the poor, the elderly, the\nhomeless. Anyone who has no voice. You can be their voice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nus to be in ultimate communion with God, we need to practice social justice\ndaily!<\/em> It is the secret of a fulfilled life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission Assignment: Pray and find opportunities around you for practicing social justice as a way of life. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) Fr Abraham and Dalia Fam. goCoptic. Original blog found at-https:\/\/gocoptic.org\/social-justice-the-secret-to-a-fulfilled-life\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social Justice: The Secret To A Fulfilled Life By Dalia Fam Original post by goCoptic blog site (July 3, 2020) I have discovered a secret. Throughout our 13 years living in Zambia, we have experienced many short-term mission trips from all over the world. We have witnessed many lives transformed from mission trips. But, when … Continue reading “Social Justice: The Secret To A Fulfilled Life”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[445,443,446,444],"class_list":["post-6708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-hungry","tag-justice","tag-oppressed","tag-poor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6708"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6747,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions\/6747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}