 |
About Woodstock | Programs | Publications | Search |
Father Burghardt's Global Adventure
(from Woodstock Report No. 78, June 2004)
“Justice. A rich and raw reality. And yet, in my first three decades (1941-1970) as a priest/theologian, justice was not a significant word in my vocabulary. Strange indeed …”
So begins Justice: A Global Adventure, by Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., founder and past director of Woodstock’s Preaching the Just Word program.
Published by Orbis Books, Justice rolled off the press as the Woodstock Report went to print. It is the latest of 19 books by the Jesuit described in a 1996 Baylor University survey as “one of the most effective teachers and preachers in the English-speaking world.”
The 275-page introduction to social justice applies basic principles and Biblical themes to urgent problems ranging from child poverty and homelessness in the United States to the ecological crisis, Iraq war, and global development. The book has five parts: Justice Analyzed, Justice Applied, Justice Sacramentalized, Justice Globalized, and Justice Communicated.
Father Burghardt frequently draws upon insights gained through his years of directing and co-directing Preaching the Just Word, which has held 120 workshops, retreats, and other events for some 7000 priests in North America. The book is dedicated to his co-director, now director of the Woodstock program – Father Raymond B. Kemp – and Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund.
In the Catholic Church, Father Burghardt’s name is nearly synonymous with preaching about justice. And yet there remains the question: why did it take decades for “justice” to break into his vocabulary?
Put another way: what brought him to justice?
Father Burghardt points to some powerful influences, beginning with his discovery of Biblical justice, largely through the work of John R. Donahue, S.J. By that, he means “fidelity to relationships that stem from a covenant with God. Relationships to God, to people, and to the earth.” He also credits his association with the Children’s Defense Fund, as well as Preaching the Just Word, which impressed upon him “the indispensable relationship between justice and the liturgy.”
In his acknowledgments, Father Burghardt cites the contributions of three people – Father Kemp, along with Gerard P. Walker, Preaching the Just Word’s project manager, and longtime friend Katharyn L. Waldron.
Justice ($20.00) can be ordered through Orbis Books (1-800-258-5838, www.maryknollmall.org).