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"Liturgy, Justice and Social Reconstruction"
a conference for all who love the Church's vision to build a just society.
Friday, April 24, 2009
 Conference Center, University of Saint Mary of the Lake

Mundelein, Illinois

 

In the great tradition, the Church has understood that virtues like justice are habitual dispositions to do good which are acquired in part by human efforts. However, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "it is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance." Grace is therefore necessary to purify and elevate these human acts, and the surest font of grace is the sacred liturgy.  Real societal reconstruction, often called "social justice," is only possible when connected to the Church's worship. More than secular social work or political activism alone, societal reconstruction grows from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make human beings the "hands" of Christ so that in a life of virtue, we may love our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.


This one-day conference examines the relationship between the Sacred Liturgy and the reconstruction of society energized by the grace available in the Church's liturgy.


Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus was scheduled to serve as keynote speaker for this event until his recent illness and untimely death. He sent the title of his lecture as "Liturgical Renewal: Vertical, Horizontal, and Going Around in Circles," with the following explanatory note:

"Conflicts and confusions about renewing worship have frequently turned on whether the emphasis should be on the vertical — meaning it should be God-centered —or on the horizontal meaning it should focus on the gathered People of God. For the last several decades this debate has been going around in circles. The alternative to this familiar confusion is to understand liturgy as unbounded love in response to unbounded love."

As a Lutheran pastor, civil rights activist who knew and admired Dorothy Day, a Catholic priest and prolific political and theological thinker and writer, Fr. Neuhaus was an ideal choice to stimulate the discussion on the relationship between the sacred liturgy and social reconstruction. We are grateful to Fr. Edward Oakes, SJ, a friend of Fr. Neuhaus, who will offer a lecture in his place entitled "The Contribution of Reverend Richard John Neuhaus to Catholic Liturgy and Social Justice."