This article was downloaded by: [Stony Brook University]On: 03 November 2014, At: 07:34Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

Religious Education: Theofficial journal of the ReligiousEducation AssociationPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/urea20

A Review of “A Place at theTable: Justice for the Poor in aLand of Plenty”Linda Wright Simmons aa Florida Center for Theological StudiesPublished online: 18 May 2010.

To cite this article: Linda Wright Simmons (2010) A Review of “A Place atthe Table: Justice for the Poor in a Land of Plenty”, Religious Education: Theofficial journal of the Religious Education Association, 105:3, 350-352, DOI:10.1080/00344081003772121

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00344081003772121

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A Place at the Table: Justice for the Poor in a Land ofPlenty. By Judith Ann Brady, O.P. New London, CT: Twenty-ThirdPublications, 2008.

The poor you will always have with you, Jesus says in Matthew26:11, more by way of contrast with his own foreshortened life thanan acceptance of the status quo regarding the poor. So, if povertyis a constant in human society, and according to Judith Brady, anembarrassment in the United States, “the land of plenty,” why are thepoor not more reliably present in much of our congregational religiouseducation? Why do we not more frequently engage issues of justiceand take resultant action that addresses the needs of the poor?

The poor are not regularly seen in American society, ignored bymedia and increasingly separated from the broader society (18). JudithAnn Brady, O.P., offers a resource for use in faith communities to helpmake the poor visible for those who do not regularly “see” personswho are poor. Her five-chapter book elaborates on topics addressedpreviously in this journal (“Justice for the Poor in the Land of Plenty:A Place at the Table,” Religious Education 101(3), 347–367).

Brady’s intent is to offer fresh images of those who are poor,dispelling stereotypes along the way, such as the fact that most poorpeople in America are working, and that most poor Americans arewhite (8). Her hope is that justice for the poor would be more fullyincorporated into Christian education in America in order to “bridgethe gap between Christian ideals of social justice and Christian effortsto link faith and everyday life in meaningful and responsible ways”(14). Her book is directed toward students and religious educators,including parents, teachers, and church leaders both lay and ordained,and integrating “the best from the public plaza with the wisdom ofour Christian traditions” (16).

The strengths of A Place at the Table include its timeliness andeffort to describe the plight of the poor in the United States at present;her statistics date from 2005, however, she refers the reader to appro-priate websites for updated statistics that are published each fall forthe previous year.

Religious Education Copyright C© The Religious Education AssociationVol. 105 No. 3 May–June ISSN: 0034-4087 print

DOI: 10.1080/00344081003772121

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Setting this study apart from others are Brady’s thought-provokingquestions such as when and where we Christians began to judge be-tween the “deserving poor” and “undeserving poor,” as well as whenthe church’s dual paths of charity and justice began to shrink to pri-marily charity work rather than justice.

Since Brady’s work was published prior to the current global reces-sion, hers is a non-partisan voice that could be heard in congregationsin order to spur conversation about the religious community’s role inaddressing poverty. She addresses such “hot” topics as a minimumversus “living” wage, health insurance coverage, the consequencesof 1990s welfare reform, the poverty gap (the difference between ahousehold’s actual income and the official federal poverty level), andwhether food, employment, education, shelter, and medical care are“rights” (she holds that they are).

For those in religious communities who are more likely identifiedwith the “haves” than the “have nots,” Brady lifts up compelling im-ages of Justicia—the symbol of justice sculpted on public buildings,“blindfolded to ensure fairness and impartiality” (83), who treats allequally, versus the “tilted table” that is inherently unjust and unbal-anced, and makes impossible the realization of equal opportunity forall Americans. Brady urges persons of faith to evaluate policies andinitiatives according to what impact they have on the poor—whether“deserving or not”—because of the heightened effect that poverty hason children, the “innocents” who are most severely affected by lack offood, education, stability, and health care.

Brady’s book includes a helpful summary of liberation theologyand the work of religious educators Letty M. Russell, Thomas H.Groome, and Gabriel Moran. The first two chapters are accessible todiverse Christian communities, as well as other religious or interfaithcommunities. As a Protestant woman, I would present some of thehistory of women’s involvement in the church and the Reformationperiod from a slightly different perspective. The chapter reviewingCatholic social teaching would be most helpful for those seeking thatparticular perspective; diverse groups might want to supplement withtheir own historical and contemporary resources.

The final chapter “Educating for Justice” holds promise for reli-gious educators, but leaves the reader disappointed. Largely a restatingof earlier chapters, Brady misses opportunities to address the signifi-cance of vested interests and resistance on the part of congregationsto the topic of justice. Her review of models by Russell, Groome, andMoran is helpful but brief, and one wishes for more. Several short

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case studies of justice programs that “worked” are included, but with-out reflection or evaluation. Other than the questions for small-groupdiscussion included with each chapter, the reader is left to his or herresourcefulness to bridge the gap between fine sounding words aboutjustice and bringing justice to pass.

Linda Wright SimmonsFlorida Center for Theological Studies

E-mail: simmons@fcts.edu

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