Loving others comes first from abiding in our relationship with God. As Christians, our care for the other is not just a social good, but it is integral to the relationship with Jesus. If you take out the relationship to Jesus, we are like any organization that seeks to help others. Without Christ we become humanitarians. With Christ we become Christians in the truest sense of the word. And that reality is what transforms the world.
View the introductory video here!
View October's video here.
In Deuteronomy, God calls us to choose life. "I have set before you life or death... choose life" Deut. 30:19
Only love inspires us to choose life over self-interest. How often are we personally faced with choices such as war, the death penalty, euthanasia or abortion? Such dramatic choices give way to daily life choices. Do we seek to improve the lives of the people we encounter: a disabled neighbor, a struggling single mother, a relative-less elder, a lonely or misunderstood child or teen, a stranger in the store? Do we seek, regarding unjust systems, to improve the lives of the poor, the mentally ill, those of minority races and religions, the gender challenged? Quality matters.
Life is beautiful when we work with God to value the God alive in every individual we meet. Is this the reason God encourages us to "choose life?"
Loving others comes first from abiding in our relationship with God. As Christians, our care for the other is not just a social good, but it is integral to the relationship with Jesus. If you take out the relationship to Jesus, we are like any organization that seeks to help others. Without Christ we become humanitarians. With Christ we become Christians in the truest sense of the word. And that reality is what transforms the world.
View November's video here.
This second Catholic Social Teaching begins with the word "call".
Can we hear it? Are we listening? We have heard it before, "This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you." Jn 15:12 and "put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure you have received". 1Peter 4:10.
We do this daily. So what is different? the scope? the challenge? our openness? focus? us? society? perspective?
Family is easy, as difficult as it is sometimes. As caretakers and participants, we struggle to love one another in safety and peace. But, are we listening? The family unit functions socially, calling for safety and caring for all, especially the poor and the vulnerable. How often are we distracted by diversity, ideology, unexamined hype by news sources, personal gain, you name it?
Refocus: Is the Gospel the source of our choices or do our choices interpret the Gospel? Do these choices help us grow in community and participate in society, seeking the common good of all? That's a big order! It sounds unattainable, right? Sometimes the call is muffled. We strain to hear and act. Our responsibility is weighty; it's our right and duty. Loving others comes first from abiding in our relationship with God. WITH Christ, we become Christians in the truest sense of the word.
View December's video here.
Do those words sound a bit cold? of the head, not the heart? Jesus took care of that
when He said to his disciples, "The truth is, every time you did this for the least of my
sisters and brothers, you did it for Me." (Matt. 25:40)
We know what He is referring to. We know all about the sheep and the goats. We know
the corporal works of mercy. We choose service projects and feel included in Jesus'
chosen group.
Justified.
Another form of that word is Justice. On a broader level, Jesus is talking about the
common good, a healthy community where the rights of each individual are protected,
not out of duty, but out of regard for the dignity of that person --out of love. In addition to
the right to food, clean water, housing, clothing, health and prisoner care, these rights
include the right to work, family, culture, social services, and a healthy planet, all based
on the right to life, the right to bodily integrity and self-determination.
We can't claim the rights and ignore the duty, the responsibility. We give out of our
abundance and our need. We recognize the need to protect the rights of our weaker
members, the handicapped, our women and children, the worker seeking a just wage,
racial and gender minorities, the elderly. We must provide social services and medical
care where needed. Politics are important. We need to vote our consciences. We all
seek a stable and secure society based on distributive justice, within a just system. We
seek Systemic Justice.
We believe Jesus' promise. Our reward will be great: Justice and Peace for all.
"I pray that we help You to help ourselves." Etty Hillsum (Holocaust Martyr)
This fourth Catholic Social Teaching is a call to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first, before the desires of the rich. Our incarnational instruction from Jesus himself says "what you did for the least of these, you did it for me. (Matt. 25:46)
As Pope Francis tells us in Fratelli Tutti, "not to share our surplus money with the poor is to rob them and take away their livelihood. The 'riches' we possess are not our own, but theirs as well."
Practically speaking, the needs of the poor include the rights of workers overmaximizing profits, the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion, and production for social needs over production for military purposes. By ensuring the rights of the working poor, we enable them to become active members of society and contribute for the good of us all. It is not hard to see that the poor are suffering disproportionately from climate change and global warming. And rather than seeing social programs as a handout, the Church reminds us that we all have a right to the earth's goods.
As the first letter of John states, "How does God's love abide in anyone whohas the world's good and sees one in need and refuses to help."
1Jn 3:17-18
View January's video here.
View Febraury's video here.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
Wouldn't it be wonderful to want to go to work every day! How fortunate I am to tell you, that was my experience as a school teacher. In hindsight, I see the reason for that was that all the conditions of this CST were in place. The dignity of each person, especially the young, took priority. My pay was just, allowing me to live my gospel values with integrity.
Work, allowing for creativity, the development of our talents, and participation in God's creation should not be an unattainable ideal but an opportunity open to all. Whether employer or employee, we must ask ourselves, what is our role in seeing to the rights of every individual, affording the marginalized employee or co-worker the same dignity? How do we enable each and every worker to contribute to a just society, find personal fulfillment in dignified work and maintain his or her integrity, just as Jesus instructs his followers in Luke 3: 10-14?
What about those unable to work? As a society, how do we, through government, Church and social structures, see to the aid of those individuals? Are we aware of Jesus's words, promoting the common good over greed and power, when we vote, pray, or do service? As in Deuteronomy 24:28-29, we pray that the Lord will bless our work and that we share its fruits with others so all may achieve their full humanity.
(CST Reflection Author: Rose Mary Schendel)