Oddwalk Ministries

Category: lent

bible, catholicism, JesusJusticeJoy, Justice, lent, ministry, reflection, scripture

Justice Can Be Hard to Define

Justice shall we pursue…

It’s quite likely you’ve seen an image on the internet the last couple of years that looks like this one – or at least looks like the first two panels of this one.  Usually, the first two panels are meant to describe the difference between equality and justice.  That image has always been appealing to me (Orin), but has also bothered me for a reason I at first couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Then the other day, I saw this version, and that particular cloud was lifted from my eyes.  It was that the barrier in front of the people trying to see the baseball game was still in place.  I immediately thought of the experiences Shannon and I have with the summer teen work and learning camp Young Neighbors in Action – youngneighbors.org – in which we often talk about not just filling the cracks that those who most need are help are falling through, but asking why those cracks are there in the first place.  The graphic talks about equality, equity, and justice.  Some before had called the second panel justice, where what justice really is, and what our faith calls us to pursue, is in that third panel.  Mercy might be the act of showing kindness and support to those suffering any affliction; justice is attempting to remove that oppression from our midst.  Click the image to take a closer look.

Isaiah 58:6-10 tells us:

Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?

Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the accusing finger, and malicious speech;

If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday.

 

When you do good works in the world, are they acts of equality, equity, mercy, or justice?  All are needed, but true works of justice are ones that might strip away even the need for the other three.  Do you help people see over the fence, or do you take that fence away?  Difficult questions for all of us, myself included.  Something to pray about this week as we enter into Lent, a time for (among other things) service and self-sacrifice.   Orin

catholicism, Christpower, good news, iTunes, lent, liturgy, merchandise, ministry, music, oddwalkia, prayer, review, WLP

Oddwalk and Our New CD Feature Article

On March 4, we and our new CD Mercy at Work were featured in a news article in the Catholic Missourian, the newspaper of the Diocese of Jefferson City, MO. The story talked at length about the music on the new CD, and how it shows a side of us that some people aren’t aware of, at least as much as they might be aware of our silly and fun side. Thanks to editor Jay Nies for the write-up. A few ways to check it out:

To visit the webpage of the article (at least for now), click here!

To see a pdf of the article as it appeared in the papers, click the photo or click here

announcements, good news, lent, liturgy, ministry, music, oddwalkia, pOddcast, WLP

“Gather at the Cross” Published by WLP!

Music_Seasons_rdax_152x96Exciting news! A piece written by Orin for the Good Friday adoration of the cross has been published by World Library Publications!  It’s titled “Gather at the Cross” and has been sung for the last few years at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, and now at Sts. Joachim and Ann, where Orin is Director of Music Ministries.  It’s also been featured in a pOddcast here before.

At WLP’s site, you can view sample pages and here a sample of Audio recorded by their in-house folks.

Here’s the page for the piece at WLP: Gather at the Cross

And here’s a direct link to the audio sample: audio
Or, just click the play button below to listen to the audio streaming from WLP’s site right here!

Play

I (Orin) am grateful to begin this relationship with WLP, just as Oddwalk continues in relationship with GIA and the music and recordings we have through them.  Stay tuned – a few more pieces of Orin’s are coming through the pipeline at both GIA and WLP, and we’ll let you know here when they are released.

 

PS – As part of the piece being published, we’ve had to remove the older audio from our pOddcast – so listen all you want at the link above!