Making Their Mark: Interview with Gloria Luna, Social Advocate
Sojourners' June issue features a cover story by Amy Green and a column by Jim Wallis about the new paths of young Christians, plus a set of mini-interviews with 10 next-gen Christian leaders. Here's a taste: part of Sojourners' interview with Gloria Luna, the 28-year-old director of the Office of Social Advocacy for Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida.
Sojourners: What's the biggest challenge you see facing young Christians now? In the years to come?
Luna: While there are many signs of hope, young Christians are in the thick of a culture of individualism, consumerism, lack of reconciliation, and violence. The idea that individually we must struggle, work, and survive is deeply ingrained in our communities. My experience has been that this radical individualism is what weighs most heavily on the human soul, that we cannot count on our neighbors to care for us when we are in trouble, because there just simply is too much competition and not enough time to care for ourselves, much less anyone else.
Also, young people live in a "zero tolerance" culture; if you mess up, your mistakes are often held against you with little hope of reconciliation. As one of my pastoral ministry professors at St. Thomas said, "We talk about reconciliation, but there are young people in this community who have never experienced forgiveness." This type of culture puts a lot of pressure on young people.
What one thing would you most like to tell Christians?
Jesus' life was about crossing borders and bringing loving compassion to the marginalized. The feeling we get when we see the elderly struggling to work just to be able to keep up with bills, the anger we feel when we hear an arthritis-stricken veteran pleading with someone on the phone to please extend his housing assistance, the tug at our souls to stop and talk to a homeless woman on the side of the road, that which compels us to give money to the poor, the pain we feel when we see young men and women getting into drugs and violence, the deep compassion we experience when we hear of an immigrant's struggle across the ocean or through the dessert in order to provide for their families ...all of these and countless more are opportunities to experience Jesus.
God places in our paths countless opportunities for grace; we must pray for the courage to accept those graces by overcoming our hesitation to encounter the poor and marginalized with love.









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Comments
Some insightful responses about young believers and the destructive culture around us. Social justice and caring for the poor are of course not new. But it would be nice if young christians in the U.S. would recognize the profound Latin American tradition of Liberation Theology. There are similarities, and Anglo-Americans would learn much by looking south of the border.
Posted by: Quetzal | June 20, 2008 3:51 PM
Gloria says
'Jesus' life was about crossing borders and bringing loving compassion to the marginalized.'
I believe you are correct - but what about the marginalized that can not walk across the ocean. They would like to come to the USA and have their chance at a better life. Why is it that they have to fill out the forms and pay the dues but if you can walk across the river you do not have to? I believe in equal and fair immigration for all - even those who have to take a plain or ship to get here.
Blessings -
.
Posted by: Moderatelad | June 21, 2008 8:10 PM
I think it important to recognize that consumerism and greed are different things. Consumerism is often, but not necessarily a sin. I, frankly, am thankful for consumerism. It has raised the world's standard of living significantly.
For me personally, consumerism helped me pay for college. I worked at a Pokemon factory on my school breaks. I was able to go to college in part because of the consumerism of suburban kids with too much time on their hands and too much money in their parent's wallets.
Posted by: DITE | June 22, 2008 3:05 AM
Is there more to this article? I think it brings up some valid points, but doesnt quite tie them up? If we are fighting against one another in our individualism, then we must come together. I see lots of young Christians becoming part of communities and coops, and I hope this idea will flourish even more in years to come with things like communityofcommunities.com! Through the strength we find through interdependence I believe we will come together to advocate for the rights of seniors, immigrants, homeless and for peace.
Posted by: Erin Martelli | June 27, 2008 12:41 PM
Americans eagerly embrace the concept of aiding the deserving poor. The problem is that we've also decided that no one who is poor is deserving. Our mistreatment of the poor speaks volumes about our moral integrity, whether it's our unwillingness to provide welfare aid to the poor while distributing billions of dollars of aid to corporations and foreign militaries, or our indifference toward the "sport" of killing the homeless.
Posted by: DHFabian | July 14, 2008 7:29 PM
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