Perspectives
Articles, essays, and reflections from progressive Catholic voices.
To contribute to Perspectives or submit an article, contact cta@cta-usa.org.
Lent’s 2nd week, reflection
…even amidst this Lenten sense of fear and loss we have small reminders that death never has the final word.
Rebuilding the People's Church
We must revive the call of liberation theologians, re-building a “theology from below” that forms the foundations of a “People’s Church.”
Lent’s 1st week, reflection
…our Lenten journey starts with the recognition of racism. There are other steps along the way and it will not be easy to take them. But we do have this hope. Just as the journey of Jesus ended in Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, our journey will also end in resurrection for ourselves and our society.
Ash Wednesday reflection
If we are going to return to God, we need to speak out. We need to reach out to those who are being persecuted, provide support for their efforts and resist the temptation to do nothing. We need to listen to them and follow their lead. If we do not resist evil, we are complicit.
Christmas: Shattering the Yoke of Injustice
Those in our human family who suffer in our world under the yoke of racism, sexism, homophobias, Xenophobia, exclusion, marginalization and invisibility become known to God.
Advent 4: Do Not Be Afraid
It can be scary to stand up to racial injustice. It can be confusing and disconcerting to recognize the ways that we have been, and perhaps still are, complicit in maintaining systems of white supremacy. We can be afraid, and we can be confused about the logistics of how it’s all going to work out, and like Mary we can still say "yes" to God’s plan.
Advent 3: God's Spirit Upon Us
God is counting on us to be that voice in this reading from Isaiah. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, all who are baptized and anointed with the Spirit. And She is calling us to bring good news to our world, our nation and our community. To comfort and help the victims of the hurricanes, the earthquakes, mass shootings, the extremism in Charlottesville, and the DACAs.
Advent 2: Becoming Fully Human
As followers of Jesus, we must do what God did: become fully human. We must identify with the lowest of the low, and adopt their causes as our own. During this time of Advent, a time of light in spite of darkness, our hope needs to be in one another and caring for each other.
Advent 1: Stay Awake!
The reality of Christmas is our call to directly confront white supremacy, to abolish an extractive and lethal energy system, and to end what Pope Francis calls an economy that kills; an unbridled capitalism that proliferates inequality and fuels the misdirected anxiety undergirding far-right nationalism.
embracing guadalupen theology
As I reflect over one of my favorite images of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I realize the rich complexity and beauty within the apparition of la Morenita del Tepayac.