" Gustavo stressed the 'eruption of the poor into the history of Latin America.' The suffering poor have become the pastoral agents who point to a new way of being Christian, a new spirituality, characterized by a call to conversion not only of individual people, but of the church as a whole. This conversion promises a way of living in which effectiveness is sought in a climate of grace. Such a climate allows us to experience a real joy that comes forth from suffering, helps us to live as 'spiritual infants' with the poor while fighting against poverty, and makes it possible to find freedom in a communal life. Although all of these are among the classical themes of a Christian spirituality, they have found new articulation and meaning in the context of the eruption of the poor. What struck me most was Gustavo's ability to integrate a spirituality of struggle for freedom with a spirituality of personal growth. He placed great emphasis on the importance of personal friendship, affective relationships, 'useless' prayer, and intimate joy as essential elements of a true struggle for liberation."
These words speak to my current struggle with the idea of a theology of liberation... perhaps the liberation is not from poverty and oppression, but from our own isolation in the material wealth of our culture. Perhaps we are the ones liberated when we walk in solidarity with the poor. In order to walk with them and find our own liberation, we must join their struggle for liberation from their own chains of bondage... Perhaps true liberation comes with only a small step away from abject poverty - both spiritual and material. We need help each other step away from the bondage of poverty - and the bondage of materialism, so that we have the ability to make a true choice to walk the narrow path between the the two.
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