Contemplation as the Essence of Social Ministry
How do we ensure social ministry comes from a space of divine interconnectedness? Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez, director of spiritual & theological formation with the Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership in Chicago, shares her reflections on why cultivating a contemplative practice is essential to walking a bold path of social ministry. Joanna writes:
An authentic contemplative life is spiritually transformative—with profound social and political consequences. Working in public advocacy and community organizing, we are offered opportunities to respond to many challenges with prayer, engagement, and discernment.
One such challenge centered on a mayoral meeting we organized for candidates for the office of Mayor of Chicago. After many listening sessions and one-on-one conversations with parishioners and community members, we identified the most pressing issues for our community. These included equitable childcare, opportunities for working families, assisting incoming migrants, and expanding much needed services in public schools. The social justice committee at Our Lady of Africa Parish and the Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership (CSPL) decided to host an event in which mayoral candidates would be asked to publicly commit to working for these pressing issues.
As the event approached, we were increasingly unsure we would get the commitments from the candidates we wanted. We could have responded in several ways, but rather than making a quick decision, we held a strategy and discernment meeting grounded in the Ignatian decision-making process. After three hours of discerning, discussing, and praying attentively to where God was leading the group, we reached a consensus.
The result was a social ministry event grounded in liturgy, liberatory songs, and powerful testimonies from community members. In exchange, we received firm commitments from the candidate who would become the Mayor of the City of Chicago. This was the fruit that emerged from deep prayer, engagement, discernment, and a group of radical, ordinary contemplatives.
“Contemplation helps by protecting our spirit from burnout. It helps us transmute our shadows so that we can pursue social ministry from a place of wholeness and interconnectedness.” –Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez
As Fr. Richard explains in Dancing Standing Still, God sends Moses to liberate his people after his experience with the burning bush. While Moses might have wanted to relish that extraordinarily mystical experience, transformative spiritual experiences are meant to guide us towards acts of liberation.
Once we begin to tap into the Oneness and commit to its discipline, it sharpens our eyes and spirits to see the systems and behaviors that go in opposition to our divine interconnectedness. Through nurturing a contemplative life, we begin to unearth our own trappings indoctrinated by a capitalistic society where the few are more valued than the many.
Social ministry also transforms and converts us in extraordinary ways. This is what some of the great prophets of our time, such as Oscar Romero in El Salvador and Bishop Samuel Ruiz in Mexico experienced through their pursuit of justice. It pushed them to let go of rigid theology and the illusion of safety to walk with the people against horrific acts of injustice.
“We are all invited to become channels of this ‘divine dance’ between action and contemplation and contemplation and action. The result is people of good will committed to holy justice.” –Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez
Social ministry invites us into a more expansive and authentic contemplative practice in two fundamental ways. Truth be told, contemplation is necessary to sustain the work of justice, which is often grueling and demanding. Contemplation not only helps us to stand guard by protecting our spirit from burnout, but more importantly, it helps us to transmute our shadows and demons so that we can pursue social ministry from a place of wholeness and interconnectedness.
Paulo Freire mentions that the oppressed risk becoming the oppressor without conscientization and, I would add, contemplation. Contemplation and conscientization offers us the awareness to unearth and uproot those claws from within us and mirror that liberation in our outer world.
Contemplation also allows those in social ministry and community organizing to be the channels of God and allow “the mystery [to] flow.” Social ministry requires a great deal of courage, creativity, honesty, discernment, accountability, and joy. When it is grounded in the eternal well of God, we experience the Kin-dom of God here and now.
We are all invited to become channels of this “divine dance” between action and contemplation and contemplation and action. While some may enter this dance first through contemplation and others who enter through action, the result is people of good will committed to holy justice.
Reflect with Us
Have you turned to contemplative practice when you feel depleted? Did engaging with regular contemplative practice shift your experience? Share your reflection with us.
Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez is the co-founder and director of spiritual & theological formation with the Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership, a Catholic and Christian-rooted community organizing coalition in the Chicagoland area. Learn more about CSPL on Facebook and Instagram @csplaction.
We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.