This is episode 3 of Sacred Seminary Symposium, a joint project with Sancta Colloquia. We are alternating the production of episodes, so you will want to find Sancta Colloquia on your podcast app, or click the link above and listen to episode 2 if you missed it. In this episode, Lauren and I discuss chapter 2 of Mujerista Theology: “Luchar por la justicia es rezar”, or “To Struggle for Justice is to Pray”. We touch on colonialism in missions, anti-intellectualism v theologies of hope, holiness and piety (particularly how holiness is touted as a measuring stick, and some forms of “piety” are more “spiritual” than others), spiritual bypassing, and spiritual violence in the form of elevating the spiritual over the material; we somehow manage, as we did in the last episode, to fit in a critique of capitalism. And if you stay until the very end, you get some enneagram fun, as well, when we try to type the author of Mujerista Theology, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, even though you’re technically not supposed to. Enjoy! 

QUOTES REFERENCED:

“...I realized how privileged I was to have been part of such an outpouring of faith--the faith of the poor and the oppressed that maintains them, that is their sustenance in the most trying of situations. I felt that my well-reasoned faith, a so-called sophisticated faith illumined by the ‘right’ kind of theology, was not any deeper or any more pleasing to God than the faith of the poor people I had seen expressed for two days. In the weeks that followed I came to realize more and more the depth of that faith.” (30)

“As the years have gone by I have accepted that for me to strive to live to the fullest by struggling against injustice is to draw nearer and nearer to the divine. Drawing closer to God and struggling for justice have become for me one and the same thing. Struggling for my liberation and the liberation of Hispanic women is a liberative praxis. This means that it is an activity both intentional and reflective; it is a communal praxis that feeds on the realization that Christ is among us when we strive to live the gospel  message of justice and peace.” (33)

“Holiness in the convent was defined at that time in terms of self-sacrifice and long hours of meditation and prayer. NIneteen years old at the time, I struggled with myself to be close to God by doing what those in authority told me to do. But it was to no avail. I did not feel closer to God; I could not convince myself I was a terrible sinner; I could not see any reason for thinking I had failed terribly when I fell asleep in chapel during meditation at 5:30 in the morning.” (31)

“...I realized how privileged I was to have been part of such an outpouring of faith--the faith of the poor and the oppressed that maintains them, that is their sustenance in the most trying of situations. I felt that my well-reasoned faith, a so-called sophisticated faith illumined by the ‘right’ kind of theology, was not any deeper or any more pleasing to God than the faith of the poor people I had seen expressed for two days.In the weeks that followed I came to realize more and more the depth of that faith.” (30)

Seminary for the Rest of Us, a tiny podcast where everyone is welcome to God-talk, is produced by Sabrina Reyes-Peters, occasionally sound engineered by Mason Mennenga, web engineered by Charles Peters, and the theme music is by Matthew Scott. Support: https://ko-fi.com/sdrp_Find us on Twitter and Instagram @seminaryshow Email: seminary.show@gmail.com