Former Australian YCW president and leader of the Christian Worker Movement, Michael Campbell, recalls his experiences of reading and meeting with liberation theology pioneer, Gustavo Gutierrez.
Like many experienced leaders in the YCW in the 1970s I read and discussed Gustavo Gutierrez’s book “A Theology of Liberation.” I can confess now that despite joining in discussions with my peers I barely understood anything that I read in his book. The words and concepts were beyond me.
However, I had enough understanding (or perhaps it simply was peer pressure) to know that the work and words were significant. The more I read it, the more I came to understand its implications. But it was not for many years later that I think its influence took shape in a real practical manner.
In the early 2000’s I was appointed as Principal to a Catholic schooI. The school was located in what once was a working class area but had, as factories and industry closed, become a welfare suburb with great poverty and intergenerational welfare dependency.
I think it was here that I was really able to take action on behalf of and with the poor. It was in this experience I came to understand the reality of poverty and the words I had read over many years began to take on a much powerful meaning.
It’s not the place in these few words to discuss the actions taken by me and the school but I believe that my motivation was very driven by the insistence of Gutierrez that to know God is to do justice and that to make an option for the poor is to make an option for Jesus.
In 2012 I had the privilege of attending a theological summer school at Boston College in the USA.
I was excited because Gutierrez was going to be one of the leading lecturers and I undertook to do his course.
Having attempted to read his work over many years I am struck not so much by his lectures but by the man himself. I was expecting to meet a rather aloof academic intellectual giant.
Simplicity and humility
But in seeing him and attending his lectures, I was struck most of all by his simplicity and humility when he first entered the lecture room there was a hush went over the room as clearly my fellow students had the same feeling as me. We felt we were in the presence of a great teacher.
I was surprised at first how rather small he was as he stood before us. Then he simply rang a small bell and stood in silence for a few minutes. He never asked for silence or for us to join him in prayer. He just rang the bell and stood quietly. This was how he started all the classes that I attended.
When he spoke of the Gospel, he spoke in a very down-to-earth manner giving easy to understand examples.
When discussing John‘s Gospel regarding the passage where John the Baptist points to Jesus saying “there is a Lamb of God“ and later in the passage in brackets it says it was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
He asked us to discuss this passage in groups and asked us to report back what we thought was the most important passage. Of course, all the groups wanted to reported something about the importance of the term “Lamb of God”. Gutierrez agreed with all that was being said and then asked a question.
Why did the Gospel writer tell us that it was four o’clock in the afternoon? He went on to ask us to consider something that was extremely important that had taken place in our life and could we remember not only what the incident was but also we could remember where it was and what time it was. He suggested that time and place were always important to consider when reading scripture.
Pointing out perhaps the story was orginally told by one of the two who went and followed Jesus and that the experience was so significant that he remembered what was said, who said it, where it was said and even the time time of day.
Another example of his humility and simplicity was one of the students asked him if he would bless the class and he responded: “Yes, providing you in turn bless me.”
The third example, was in the middle of the week. He had a request that on the Friday we start an hour early as he had to get back to Peru to say Mass on the Sunday. I would suggest that most of the students would have crawled across broken glass to listen to him and he could’ve simply announced that we were starting an hour early on the Friday and we would’ve been there. However, he asked for permission.
See judge act
When we read his book in the YCW we always felt that the work of Gutierrez was based on some understanding of the movement. However, I never ever saw hard evidence for this even though I thought it was implied in his work.
During one of the lectures he was asked about the method that you would use to implement a particular program that was being discussed. Gutierrez said, we have a simple method it is called see, judge, act. Like anyone in the YCW or former YCW I was heartened to hear these words honouring the movement’s methodology
I don’t claim that I got to know Gutierrez during his classes but I was touched by his manner and his gentleness more that the lectures tthemselves and thank God for the expereince.
I believe the church and the world has lost a great thinker, a great theologian, a great priest and a man of vision, action and courage.
Michael Campbell
PHOTO
Mohan/Wikipedia