liberation theology, catholic social teaching, & community organizing
RESOURCE LIBRARY
Resources from key partners
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A key part of CSPL’s philosophy is that in order to be radically working for change in the world, you must be radically grounded in the spirit. The Center for Action and Contemplation offers an abundance of resources to be contemplatives in action. Their Engaged Contemplation course is an incredible resource for justice-seekers looking to deepen their contemplative practice.
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CSPL’s intern, David Inczauskis, has created a podcast focused on liberation theology. Liberation theology is a key framework for CSPL’s work and is a necessary component of the Christian and Catholic life.
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This resource offers critical perspectives and a historical framework for the Bible, including the extracanonical texts and Gospels. This helps us to understand the Bible in greater depth.
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By Daryl Russell Grigsby, this book contains thirty-six portraits of contemporary Catholics that show how they have lived the eucharistic prayer, "Lord, make of us an eternal offering to you" in their commitment to the common good and to human flourishing.
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Daily Prayer for Today’s Catholic
Subscribe online and use code “CSPL” for a 10% discount!
Give Us This Day is a monthly publication for today’s Catholic that helps you pray each and every day. Drawing inspiration from a multitude of voices, it provides a relevant and trustworthy understanding of Scripture.
How to Plan a People’s Mass & Spiritually-rooted Nonviolent Direct Action
Right now, we must rise together to peacefully demonstrate that the attacks on our immigrant communities counter the truth of the gospel. We encourage you — no matter where you are in the country — to use this toolkit to help you plan a prayerful nonviolent direct action with your faith community.
Prayers for Justice + Peace
Right now, we must rise together in faith and courage. These prayers were written so that anyone unable to attend our People’s Mass on Saturday, September 13, outside the Great Lakes Naval Station, can pray with and for us in solidarity.
We invite you to pray with us from 10 AM to 12 PM on Saturday, September 13, and continue using these prayers as we stand in the legacy of Jesus and the prophets, saints, and movement leaders who teach us that nonviolent action can transform our world.
Toward Political Holiness: Know your Faith and Know Your Rights Training
This workshop, created in early 2025, explains in detail the rights of people of any immigration status, preparing you to act if you encounter ICE or other law enforcement, whether at work, in your car, at home, or out in public.
9 Steps for Spiritual Preparedness in Moments of Crisis
In the words of Jon Sobrino, every moment of crisis is the time to embrace our call to “political holiness.” We cannot allow moments of crisis or fear to paralyze us. We have God, and we have one another.
In these moments, the false spirit (as Fr. Dan Hartnett, SJ calls it) uses the tactics of fear and isolation to drive us deeper into despair, whereas, the Good spirit moves us into community, trust, and courage. Let us follow the whispers and guidance of the Good Spirit.
These resources are offered to help you spiritually prepare in this critical moment. In this defining moment, we must be disciplined in grounding and nourishing our spiritual lives, for it is from that wellspring that we draw the courage, clarity, and resilience to move forward.
Discernment of Spirits for the Art of Leadership
Discernment of spirits is when we seek to distinguish between different kinds of spiritual stirrings in our hearts, identifying those that are of God and those that are not. Download this workshop to learn how to apply discernment of spirits to your everyday life and leadership.
We need to practice this tool every day, especially in these times of political chaos and suppression. There are alt-right forces who are twisting Scripture and the personhood of Jesus to promote hate and division, so we must all be attentive to the true voice of the Good Spirit.
The Crucified Peoples of Today
The Cross is not history: it’s today.
Who is being crucified today?
Who is being oppressed, marginalized, and silenced by modern-day "empires," those in power who subject peoples to violence, terror, and shame?
What brings the Cross out of history and to our current times?
Discernment of Spirits Cartoons
A series of cartoons designed to help people of faith understand and practice discernment of spirits. By Sr. Leanne Hubbard, SND, DMin
Imago Divina
Learn what imago divina is and how you, too, can experience the richness of this practice in contemplation.
Archbishop Oscar Romero
“A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that?
—Archbishop Oscar Romero
From a past CSPL Membership Meeting; presented by John DeCostanza
The Origins of Mística
The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) works to create solidarity and collective identity among its members through a variety of pedagogical practices. One such practice is mística, which is at once a public, expressive dramatic performance and, drawing on Christian mysticism, an way of making contact with a transcendent reality. Mística draws on Christian theology generally, and specifically on the practices of the Christian base communities associated with liberation theology which were key in the emergence of the MST. It fortifies activists with the high commitment needed to engage in land occupations and the creation of farming communities through which the MST pursues its central goal of agrarian reform.
The Radical Story of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
Her only message is about liberation to the poor.
We share this resource for you to pray with every day December 1st through December 12th, which is the custom of most Latine churches who celebrate this sacred feast day. Allow yourself to be challenged or affirmed by each reflection.
CSPL Advent Calendar
CSPL Christmas Advent Calendar: 24 days of praying, reflecting, and acting for justice.
The Challenge of the Historical Jesus
The Challenge of the Historical Jesus:
Purchase this 3-hour series of professionally recorded videos of John Dominic “Dom” Crossan’s keynote lectures during the 2024 Congress for Spiritual and Public Leadership.
Free Download: 13 Faces of Jesus (Chapter 1)
This book is an invitation to share in that curiosity about the historical Jesus, what his life was like 2,000+ years ago, what his community experienced, what his teachings meant, and, most importantly, what they can teach us about advancing justice in our neighborhoods and communities through a community organizing framework, grounded in a deeply rooted spiritual life.
Voting Your Values
Sr. Emily of NETWORK explains a catholic framework for voting that examines all the most central values of the catholic faith, and shares their Equally Sacred Checklist, a tool that walks voters through the process of evaluating a candidate or referendum from a catholic perspective.
From CSPL’s September 2024 Membership Meeting
Social Discernment
Social Discernment is an essential tool of relationship-building and community organizing, which in a faith context allows us to practice Discernment of Spirits—and experience its benefits—collectively.
Theology of Nonviolence
CSPL Membership Meeting | March 2024
Jesus Used Nonviolence in Resistance to the Roman Empire, but this is often misunderstood and misused to enforce passivity. This presentation draws inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi, nonviolent resistors of oppression in their own contexts, to develop a theology of nonviolence that accurately embraces Jesus’ nonviolent actions.
Lent & Non-violence: Nonviolent Direct Action
This presentation examines how Jesus led a movement to engage in nonviolent direct action against the oppressive Roman Empire, especially during the last week of his life, and explores how we can apply nonviolent direct action, particularly during Holy Week.
From CSPL’s March 2024 Membership Meeting
Imago Divina
CSPL Membership Meeting | October 2023
Infusing contemplation in your practice helps you to:
Prevent burnout
Receive more energy, insight, and fullness from God
Create healthy boundaries
Fills your heart, not just watching TV
Seek the expansion in moments
Awakens our need for community
Inspires reflection before and after an action
Directs us to offer our pain to God
Invites us to place the suffering in God
Janet Ruffing - “Socially Engaged Contemplation”
Altar Theology || A Brief Background
CSPL Membership Meeting | October 2022
Hebrew word "mizbēaḥ" for "altar" is derived from the root word "zbh" meaning "slaughter" but most animal sacrifices were done near the altar but not on it.
In the Ancient Near Eastern world, altars were used to keep the deities content with food and drink.
Israelites inherited this tradition of meeting the needs of the Divine but significantly expanded this understanding to invoke and encounter God at the altar.
Altar traditions also exist in African and Latin American cultures, and continue today.