How I became a Human Catechist
In Honor of Gustavo Gutiérrez
Note: No picture of Gustavo Gutierrez for this post. I didn’t want to mess with the rights of any photos of him. Here is a link to the Guardian’s note about him, with a picture.
There was big news in the theology world this week. Many of us woke up on Wednesday with our social media feeds full of people’s posts talking about the life and legacy of Gustavo Gutierrez, the father of liberation theology. He died at 96 after living a life that shifted Christianity’s way of thinking about working with the oppressed and marginalized. I never had the pleasure to meet him in person. I met him only through his writings. I can say, however, that his ideas are deeply influential in my life, theological praxis, and spirituality. I became a Human Catechist because of his influence in my early years as a young theologian. And, if you want to know more about what a Human Catechism is about, get a copy of my book.
During my second year of Bible College, I started working with an organization that worked in the slums of Guatemala City. My experiences working with people and communities marked by poverty and violence turn my world upside down. It was the beginning of a deep transformation that changed not only the way I see the world, but also the way I experience and practice my spirituality.
As I started sharing experiences and friendships with youth in marginalized communities, I realized that there was not much that I could say or do to help them. The evangelical theology that sustained me at the time fell short of the demands of the real world.
It was around that time that I found a book called Teología de la Liberación: Perspectivas by Gustavo Gutierrez. I searched for the book because a professor told my class that we needed not to worry about liberation theology and Gustavo Gutiérrez, that he was a marxist and his theology dangerous. The professor’s remarks about liberation theology sparked my curiosity. That is why I searched for Gutiérrez’s book in the seminary’s library as soon as class was dismissed.
To my surprise, the books written by this dangerous author were in the library. I started reading the introduction to Teología de la Liberación book. I could not believe what I was reading. It was neither dangerous nor marxist. In fact, it read as the most Christian-Jesus-following theology that I had ever read. The pearls I found in the first fifty pages of the book disrupted my soul, spirituality, and theology in ways that I am still experiencing 20 years later. After finishing the book, I realized that I had been saved from ivory tower theology to engage in a theology of the way. It was then and there, in a corner of the seminary’s library, that I read that doing theology is not just an academic matter. It is a lifestyle. Furthermore, it means to be fully incarnated in the lives of our people, sharing their sufferings and joys, their interests and struggles. It is to share their faith and hope as faith communities, for being incarnated, embodied, in the context is not a mere formality to theologize, but the essence of being a follower of Jesus.1
Reading Gutierrez’s words radically changed me. As a result, I had to get my eyes on as much of his ideas as I could. The more I read his work, the less “marxist” he seemed. In fact, his words started me in the path of finding my human catechism. For Gutierrez, liberation is not just about the social and economic struggle. It is about the communal building of a new humanity.2 In other words, true liberation is committed to finding a way of seeing that moves us from a mentality of scarcity to a perspective of abundance. It is a way of doing that moves in constant discernment between theory and practice. For, it roots itself in la cotidianidad (everyday life) of the most vulnerable of society. It is devoted to a way being otherwise, for liberation ought to help us move from rivalry to peacebuilding, to an ever expanding community where even those we consider our foes have a seat at the table.
So, how did I become a human catechist? It all started with Gustavo Gutierrez. He embodied a true catechism of what being human could be like. He became a model for the theologian I want to be. His ideas still help me hold my spirituality and praxis. If you have not had a chance to explore his work, do it! If you want to have a conversation around his ideas, leave a comment and/or shoot me a private message.
Gutierrez, Gustavo. Teología de La Liberación. 8 Edición. Salamanca, España: Ediciones Sígueme, 2009. p 36
Teología de La Liberación, p 43.
Thanks for this. I have greatly appreciated his Theology of Liberation and Power of the Poor in History. I do not think Gutierrez was the demon so many made him out to be. While he had leanings I would not share (as I do with anyone who is not me!), I am grateful for his lived theology. His work is a comfort and a challenge to me.
Gracias, Gustavo, for loving the Meek and Humble of Heart, and for so inspiring one who is now such a dear friend and who in turn inspires me. Grateful for you, Joel.