The Courage of Bl. Frederic Ozanam

Silk Workers' Revolt - Lyon

We pray at every conference meeting for the canonization of Bl. Frederic Ozanam, and we all know Bl. Frederic Ozanam to be a man for the poor. In the popular imagination this consists in giving alms to widows and orphans and those in need. While this is true, it is far from the whole picture that describes Frederic Ozanam. As a professor in Lyons and the Sorbonne universities with a doctorate in law, especially commercial law, Ozanam held forth in his lectures on the proletariat: the wage-earners whose only possession of significant material value is their labour-power. Regarding these workers Ozanam said in one of his now famous lectures at Lyons: "Exploitation occurs when the boss considers the worker not as a helper but as a tool that he has to drag the greatest possible service out of at the least possible price. Exploitation of a man by a man is slavery" (Lecture 24 at Lyons).

This was in 1840, eight years before Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto. Frederic taught that workers had a duty to work in return for the right to a living wage for their families, including being able to educate their children and have time to relax to restore their strength. He was concerned not only with helping the poor in their need but also wanted to address the root causes of poverty. At the time, 26 year old Frederic needed much courage to teach this in his university lectures since the powerful wealthy political class considered this to be political gunpowder designed to stir up the working class to revolt as indeed some had in an earlier uprising by silk workers six years before. In those days, such teaching could have gotten Frederic Ozanam killed. It took another fifty years before official Catholic Social Teaching in the form of an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII validated what Frederic taught.


In the spirit of Blessed Frederic Ozanam, this Lent can be a good time to reflect on our attitudes towards the poor, and the assumptions, usually unconscious, which influence or govern our attitudes. We live in an age and society where many are trapped in precarious employment, many juggling two or even three low-paying, part-time jobs, many others are considered unemployable for reasons such as addiction and mental health, or simply because they are homeless, without an address and without a phone, where many children will leave school too soon and many others will not be able to take on the debt of post-secondary education; others who did are now hounded by debt-collectors. Our assumptions largely determine whether or not we merely want to help the poor in their material need or whether, like Blessed Ozanam, we also want to see social justice, to see the root causes of poverty addressed.

Why we don't help the global poor. Should we?

"The gospel accounts of Jesus portray him as giving more emphasis to helping the poor than to any other ethical concern, so this should be a top priority for all Christians."

"In addition, for Catholics especially, the church has taught, at least as far back as Ambrose, and continuing through Thomas Aquinas to several recent papal pronouncements, that what the rich have in “superabundance” is owed, by natural right, to the poor for their subsistence. That is very similar in its implications to the position that I hold."

Interestingly, these are the words of a committed atheist, Peter Singer, in an interview with Charles C. Camosy, Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at the Jesuits' Fordham University. The interview is published under the title, "Peter Singer on why we don't help the global poor and why we should."

Third World Day of the Poor - Questions for reflection and discussion 

The numbers in parentheses refer to the Pope's Message which can be linked to here, a summary of which follows below the questions.

1. The Pope says (#9) that the poor "save" us. In what way do the poor save us? Which gospel passage do you think the pope is referring to? How does this affect how you view the poor?
2. When Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom, whom did he place at the centre (#5)? What task did he entrust to us? Do you feel up to the task? What are some possible next steps you can take? Do you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus?
3. What does the pope mean by "social imbalances" (#1) and "bondage" (#2)? What social imbalance and bondage have you personally witnessed whether in yourself or others?
4. Who, or what groups of people, in your community and parish boundaries might be feeling like strangers or outcasts (#6)? How welcome do you think they would feel if they walked into our church for Sunday mass?
5. What do you think the pope means by "stifling individualism" or "small circles of spiritual intimacy with no influence on social life" (#6)? What should make this impossible for disciples of Jesus?
6. On this World Day of the Poor, what else can we offer beyond material assistance (#7)? What is an indispensable start for having a true concern for the poor?
7. Who makes God's love visible for the poor (#8)? What do the poor need even more than a hot meal or sandwich?
8. We talk about "the poor", but what is the danger in always using this term (#9)? Who or what are "the poor"?
9. What can we offer the poor (#10)? Why? Can we do it alone?

Here is a summary with extracts from the Pope's Message announcing the Third World Day of the Poor.

The spirit of egotism or the spirit of sacrifice - October reflection

(Updated 8 October 2019)

Jesus told the pharisees: “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, red sky in the morning means bad weather today.’ You are good at reading the signs of the weather in the sky, but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times!” (Matthew 16:2-3)

Bl. Frederick Ozanam beautifully illustrated what it means to  read the signs of the times in this following extract from a letter  that he wrote to a friend in 1838. Listen to these words bearing in mind that the 2nd French Revolution occurred in 1830 and the 3rd revolt happened in 1848, the same year that the Communist Manifesto was published.

Barricades at Rue Soufflot on 24 June 1848 - Vernet

The question which divides people in our day is no longer a question of political forms, it is a social question—that of deciding whether the spirit of egotism or the spirit of sacrifice is to carry the day; whether society is to be a huge traffic for the benefit of the strongest, or the consecration of each for the benefit of all, and above all for the protection of the weak. There are many who already have too much, and who wish to possess still more; there are a greater number who have not enough, and who want to seize it if it is not given to them. Between these two classes of people a struggle is imminent, and it threatens to be terrible—on one side the power of gold, on the other the power of despair. It is between these two opposing armies that we must precipitate ourselves.

Talking to us about this quotation at our recent "Recharge the Batteries" event, Fr Roy commented that this letter was prophetic. Indeed it was, coming ten years before the "third" revolution and the publication of the Communist Manifesto.

Feast day of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

September 9 is the feast day of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam.

A man convinced of the inestimable worth of each human being, Frédéric served the poor of Paris well and drew others into serving the poor of the world. Through the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, which he founded, his work continues to the present day.

“Frédéric Ozanam believed in love, the love of God for every individual. He felt himself called to love, giving the example of a great love for God and others. He went to all those who needed to be loved more than others, those to whom the love of God could not be revealed effectively except through the love of another person. There Ozanam discovered his vocation, the path to which Christ called him. He found his road to sanctity. And he followed it with determination.” 
- Pope John Paul II

Ozanam was beatified by Pope John Paul II, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, on August 22, 1997.

"I have come to set the earth on fire" - Jesus of Nazareth

Here is the Pope's address before the Angelus today...

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In today’s Gospel (Lk 12:49-53), Jesus warns the disciples that the time to make a decision has come. His coming into the world, in fact, coincides with the time to make decisive choices: choosing the Gospel cannot be postponed. And to better understand His call, He uses the image of fire that He Himself came to bring to earth. Thus, He says: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing”. These words are intended to help the disciples abandon any attitude of laziness, apathy, indifference and closure, to welcome the fire of God’s love; that love which, as Saint Paul reminds us, “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). Because it is the Holy Spirit that makes us love God and makes us love our neighbor; it is the Holy Spirit that we all have inside.