Milton, Soto, Kolvenbaugh

 

    When reading through The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education it’s evident that Father Kolvenbach is agreeing with Vatican II’s ruling that the church can’t isolate itself from occurrences within society but instead must use its influence to guide its members to advocate for justice. He states that this involves not only the “ivory tower” research aspect of trying to figure out how Christian justice can be performed in the post-Biblical world and more specifically when it comes to current events and political affairs. He continues to say that as the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church continues its educational process at its schools and universities, it must infuse in its students that justice must be part of their vocation. In this way students can’t merely clock into their job, clock out, go home, and live their life in moral isolation but instead they must advocate for justice wherever the Lord calls them. This outlook on vocation connects interestingly with that of the other authors.

              In John Milton’s When I Consider How My Life Is Spent the speaker reflects on the talents God has given him and notes about how God in his glory, needs neither his work nor his talents. It also mentions how God’s yoke is mild, meaning he is by no means a taskmaster. It also explains that “who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best,” meaning that vocation and talent don’t set anybody apart or above anybody else in God’s kingdom. What does matter is whether or not people pleasantly serve God. If one wants to translate this to the Jesuit message, the occupation they hold possesses no status and doesn’t lead to the fulfillment of their vocation. Instead, it matters whether or not they use their platform in society to advocate for justice. If this purpose isn’t met what is being performed is merely a scramble for resources that eventually will all be expended without meaning.

              The abovementioned scramble is then directly alluded to in A Red Palm by Gary Soto. In this poem the protagonist is performing back-breaking menial tasks throughout the day so he can make up for his expenditure in resources, although it seems his efforts do little more for him than just break-even. He also doesn’t seem to have time for much else, other than his field labor. If one wants to return to the theme of vocation that the earlier works explored, one could also make note of how the poem mentions the protagonist didn’t passionately pursue his studies or work in his youth so now he’s obligated to this life, or his family will starve. In this way, since he never truly pursued his passion or took the extra time to work a less pleasant job he never found his vocation or true calling and was never able to use his field to advocate for righteousness or positive change within the world. Thus in the end the author is noting that if you fail to follow what Kolvenbach or Milton probably would have described as God’s Will or one’s vocational calling, in many cases this is where you’ll find your life leading to.

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