...he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. Luke 1:53
Bitter Grounds is a story of inequality and injustice, of resiliency and strength, following three generations of the Prieto family and their lives as coffee pickers and servants in El Salvador beginning in the 1930's, and the wealthy family they work for.
"It was a growing awareness of disparities that opened Maria Mercedes's eyes. Magda's house, Chenta's room. Tesoros on the one hand, La Cucharona on the other. Flor's frivolous, self-absorbed nature, her own intractable weighty view of things. Fernando Lira, the work he did, and the lengthy discussions they had when work was over, helped also to peel the blinders off. When all is said and done, he'd once remarked, there are the few who have and the most who don't. Between the two, there's a chasm with no bridges to link them. Navigating in the light of this reality, Maria Mercedes saw El Congo as it truly was - not a simple, dusty town, charming and provincial, but a backpost of desolation awash in poverty and the ignorance that fed it. No longer was the market a winsome place of conviviality, but a teeming, bedraggled morass into which unseen and mighty hands reach perpetually to wrest rewards from those who had rightly earned them." (excerpt from Bitter Grounds, by Sandra Benitez, p. 347.)
It seems that we will always have, in Jesus' words, the poor with us. And also the rich. And it seems, no matter how hard we try to change things on this earth, to make things fair and just and equal, we can't do it. Mary's song of praise to God for salvation of the lowly and oppressed sounds like a pipe dream in this world. But it isn't an impossible dream. Liberation Theology teaches, urges, and reminds us that the poor can and should take the lead in achieving their own temporal as well as spiritual freedom. Inspired and encouraged by the work of people like Martin Luther King Jr and Archbishop Oscar Romero and Jesus, and by the love of the poor people we meet, and the generosity of the rich, and the wisdom of the wise, we can look forward. Faithfully, we march on toward a future when peace and justice on earth and goodwill toward all is the reality of our world, not a dream.
Bitter Grounds is a story of inequality and injustice, of resiliency and strength, following three generations of the Prieto family and their lives as coffee pickers and servants in El Salvador beginning in the 1930's, and the wealthy family they work for.
"It was a growing awareness of disparities that opened Maria Mercedes's eyes. Magda's house, Chenta's room. Tesoros on the one hand, La Cucharona on the other. Flor's frivolous, self-absorbed nature, her own intractable weighty view of things. Fernando Lira, the work he did, and the lengthy discussions they had when work was over, helped also to peel the blinders off. When all is said and done, he'd once remarked, there are the few who have and the most who don't. Between the two, there's a chasm with no bridges to link them. Navigating in the light of this reality, Maria Mercedes saw El Congo as it truly was - not a simple, dusty town, charming and provincial, but a backpost of desolation awash in poverty and the ignorance that fed it. No longer was the market a winsome place of conviviality, but a teeming, bedraggled morass into which unseen and mighty hands reach perpetually to wrest rewards from those who had rightly earned them." (excerpt from Bitter Grounds, by Sandra Benitez, p. 347.)
It seems that we will always have, in Jesus' words, the poor with us. And also the rich. And it seems, no matter how hard we try to change things on this earth, to make things fair and just and equal, we can't do it. Mary's song of praise to God for salvation of the lowly and oppressed sounds like a pipe dream in this world. But it isn't an impossible dream. Liberation Theology teaches, urges, and reminds us that the poor can and should take the lead in achieving their own temporal as well as spiritual freedom. Inspired and encouraged by the work of people like Martin Luther King Jr and Archbishop Oscar Romero and Jesus, and by the love of the poor people we meet, and the generosity of the rich, and the wisdom of the wise, we can look forward. Faithfully, we march on toward a future when peace and justice on earth and goodwill toward all is the reality of our world, not a dream.
Justice Prayer
Come, O Holy Spirit!
Come, open us to the wonder, beauty, and dignity of the diversity found in each culture,
in each face, and in each experience we have of the other among us.
Come, fill us with generosity
as we are challenged to let go and allow others to share with us
the goods and beauty of earth.
Come, heal the divisions
that keep us from seeing the face of Christ in all men, women, and children.
Come, free us to stand with and for those
who must leave their own lands in order to find work, security, and welcome in a new land, one that has enough to share.
Come, bring us understanding, inspiration, wisdom, and
the courage needed to embrace change and stay on the journey.
Come, O Holy Spirit,
show us the way.
Amen
Come, O Holy Spirit!
Come, open us to the wonder, beauty, and dignity of the diversity found in each culture,
in each face, and in each experience we have of the other among us.
Come, fill us with generosity
as we are challenged to let go and allow others to share with us
the goods and beauty of earth.
Come, heal the divisions
that keep us from seeing the face of Christ in all men, women, and children.
Come, free us to stand with and for those
who must leave their own lands in order to find work, security, and welcome in a new land, one that has enough to share.
Come, bring us understanding, inspiration, wisdom, and
the courage needed to embrace change and stay on the journey.
Come, O Holy Spirit,
show us the way.
Amen