It is already in your hearts...

"For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out."  Deut. 30:11-1
When I see some diatribe about how "social justice" is code for some type of political system, or hear a claim that creating a socially just society is anathema to the message Jesus of Nazareth preached, I want to cringe.
But I want to cringe, too, at the idea that doing social justice, living the sermon on the mount or the works of mercy is just "too hard" or just "not practical".
It's not really rocket science, this social justice thing, you know?
And really, the words of the Old Testament reading above says it better than I can.  Treating other human beings with dignity and respect is at the base of social teaching. The great comandments are not about pie in the sky or a super society buried beneath the waves of the sea. It is as simple as it is profound: Love God above all other things, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
I think sometimes that we in the first world, and especially we in the United States, are addicted to the cop out.
We are more than willing to abdicate our responsibility to our sisters and brothers. We prefer to believe that there is a program for helping the truly needy, the "deserving poor" whether it is a government program, an NGO or some private philanthropic endeavor. We believe we can cast our cash at these nonpersonal entitites and they will do our caring for us. We corporatize our charitable acts, because we  are a nation of corporations. We believe that if a group is a "non profit corporation" that they will accomplish the actions described in their mission statement, and will be "financially accountable" to those whose donations pad their bottom lines. After all, we are familiar with the bottom line, we are familiar with the ability to large corporate entities to do things that individuals cannot do on their own. 
Meanwhile, we are free to do what is most convenient for us.
Personalism, as practiced by Catholic Workers and others, is a reaction and response to this depersonalization of the "needy" who we "help" with our financial donations. 
A Catholic Worker community, ideally, does not spend resources developing strategies to maximize the bottom line. A Catholic Worker community, ideally, begs alms and seeks the face of Christ in everyone who walks through the door.
Catholic Workers, and their ilk have learned that the acts we will be called to account for at the last judgment are not about the beauty and grandiosity of a strategic plan, or the number of prayer partners supporting out ministries. We will be asked whether we did things for Christ, in whatever distressed disguise he wore for us in our lifetimes. Did we feed the hungry? Shelter the homeless, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead with dignity, welcome the stranger? Were these simple acts of love and justice in our hearts, and if so, did they manifest in our works?
Anybody can do social justice. We just need to decide to listen to the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts and decide to take literally the example Christ gave us.