Professor Advocates Christian Social Activism in Keynote Speech Delivered
at Medieval Studies Conference
by Kam Williams
What ordinarily comes to mind when one thinks of a lecture about medieval
Europe is a talk a lot less relevant to present-day worldly concerns than
the keynote speech recently delivered by Professor Celia Chazelle at a
conference held at University College Cork entitled "Envisioning Christ on
the Cross." Chazelle, who chairs the Department of History at The College of
New Jersey, had been invited to Ireland to speak about "The Mass and the
Eucharist, ‘Image' of the Crucified Christ, in the Christianization of Early
Medieval Europe."
While the bulk of her otherwise academic address certainly explored that topic at considerable depth, she prefaced her remarks by reading a poem by her Irish-born pastor, Father Michael Doyle, about the seeming futility of the never-ending fight to eradicate the suffering evident in his midst. For 35 years now, Doyle has presided over Sacred Heart Church in Camden, the poorest city in the US, where over 90% of the population is black and Hispanic.
With the assistance of volunteers like his dedicated parishioner Celia Chazelle, Doyle's been directly ministering to the needs of the poor via a number of Sacred Heart-based organizations, among them the church's St. Vincent de Paul Society and affiliated Heart of Camden. These sponsor a weekly dinner, a thrift store, building and home renovations, and a variety of other social programs. Another affiliated organization, the Center for Transformation, oversees a greenhouse, community gardens, and neighborhood cleanups, engages in environmental education and activism in the area, and is in the final stages of establishing a retreat center. All this is located right within Camden's deteriorating exoskelton.
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Nonetheless, in deliberate fashion, Chazelle proceeded to mount a most persuasive case, convincingly threading the fruits of her painstakingly- researched, scholarly efforts with additional anecdotal asides about Father Doyle. Furthermore, the lecture was augmented with photographs effectively juxtaposing contemporary Camden with historical artifacts illustrating the religious rite of the Eucharist, the reenactment of the Last Supper, as routinely practiced by the salt of the Earth a millennium ago. Ultimately, Chazelle came full circle, returning to share some final insights about her beloved Sacred Heart parish before closing with a rhetorical flourish suggesting that one might partake in the holy tradition of sharing Christ's body and blood beyond the sacrosanct confines of church in such unlikely environs as a soup kitchen ministering to the homeless or even at the dinner table while simply breaking bread with family and friends.
The earnest, inspirational sentiments of a foot soldier in the struggle
for social justice.
To make a donation or to do volunteer work at the Camden Center of
Transformation, visit:
http://camdencenterfortransformation.org/you.htm