See, Judge & Act: A Marianist Perspective

Samantha Kennedy

Samantha Kennedy, our special guest blogger for this week, is the Campus Minister for Community Outreach and is a UD alumna. She carries degrees in Religious Studies with Human Rights and Social Work, as well as a master's degree in Theology with a certificate in Nonprofit and Community Leadership. Samantha started working full time at UD in August 2016 and shares with us a Marianist perspective on community partnerships and civic engagement: 

The Marianists charism inspires us to bring Christ to the world by building the common good, upholding the dignity of all persons, and responding to the signs of the times. Our faith nourishes us, strengthens us, and calls us forward to listen to what is needed in our communities and to act according to our strengths and situations. Faith also helps us reflect back on our actions and keeps us rooted. 

A visit to City Hall

I work at the University of Dayton in Campus Ministry’s Center for Social Concern. Our mission is to invite, encourage, and support participation in bringing faith into action for social justice and peace. We deeply believe that faith and action are connected and must rely on one another. By keeping faith and action connected, we can truly strive to advance the common good and build a just, sustainable society. 

We can put our faith in action for social justice in our local communities. It can be a challenge to know what type of action is most needed in the moment, but our Marianist roots teach us to respond to the signs of the times by seeing, judging, and then acting. 

See: Seeing involves building relationships, asking members of the community what their hurts and hopes are. It involves asking what is already being done to address those hurts and then building relationships with those who are already doing the work. This first step is crucial. Entering into relationships with others and deeply listening to needs is a step we often forget. After we have deeply listened and shared in relationship, we can then “judge.”

Non-Profit collaboration with Homefull

Judge: Judgment is not negative in this case, but rather it means using critical reflection and discerning what is still needed and where we as a community can meet those needs. It also involves discernment and asking what our own gifts are and where God is calling us in this particular moment. After we have seen and reflected, we can move to action. 

Act: Action can take many forms including: prayer, advocacy for positive change, service, equitable relationship-building, awareness of social and environmental justice issues, leadership formation, and solidarity with others. Each of us may be called to act in slightly different ways. Our own gifts and strengths can help illuminate how we can put our own faith into action. 

REAL Dayton 2018 overlooked by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I work with students helping them begin to discern how to put their faith in action for social justice and peace in a local context. My hope is that students see themselves as active citizens in our Dayton community and then continue to be active citizens wherever they live post-graduation. I run a program called the REAL Dayton which gets 50-60 students engaged in the Dayton community over Fall Break. We listen to community activists and leaders, serve with some of our local nonprofits and neighborhoods, build relationships with each other and others around the city, discuss current and historical social justice issues impacting the city, and get a sense of our place in the community. I am continually inspired by the ways students take this experience seriously and then are enlivened to be active changemakers once REAL Dayton is over.

Where is God calling you to put your faith in action for social justice and peace? How can you listen to and respond to the signs of the times in your local community by seeing, judging and acting?



  For more on REAL Dayton, watch this!