Background to the Spirituality
of the Social Action Office

The work of the Social Action Office is based in the life of the Catholic Church and, for the last five years, has drawn special strength and inspiration from the Wisdom/Sophia biblical tradition. This is simply one aspect of Divine Revelation which inspires our work.

In recent times a great deal of biblical scholarship has focused on a new evaluation of the importance of the Wisdom/Sophia biblical tradition in the Old and New Testaments. Much of this work has made the connection between Sophia in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament.

For us, Sophia (the feminine Greek word for Wisdom) highlights feminine aspects of God which encompass God’s care for the Earth - the household of all living creatures. Sophia does not live on the holy mountain but, rather, Sophia lives in the household bringing about peace, justice and right relationships. This Divine imaging captures for us the essential nature of social action ministry in our society.

Our use of the phrase “Sophia’s transformative dream for all creation” is a way of describing working to bring God’s kingdom into reality.

She (Sophia) is the breath of God’s power
and a stream of pure glory of the Almighty. (Wisdom 7.25)

As well as giving special emphasis to the Wisdom/ Sophia biblical tradition, the Social Action Office also draws strength and inspiration in its ministry from:

• the person of Jesus especially in his announcement that he has come to bring “life in all its fullness”;
• Catholic Social Teaching;
• the various spiritualities of the Religious Congregations that make up the Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, Queensland (CLRIQ), especially in writings which highlight the commitment they have to the poor and disadvantaged;
• various Liberation Theologies - from Asia and Latin America;
• traditions such as the Catholic Worker, Pax Christi.

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