My friend and I are having this ongoing conversation about how Catholics seem to know very little about Catholic social teaching. Then Lent started and I was reading about Operation Rice Bowl which focuses on social justice themes for each day. (They offer a lot of great materials on their website http://orb.crs.org/ for educators and families.)
Sometimes it seems that we only focus on a few of these themes such as the life and dignity of the human person, the option for the poor and vulnerable and care for God’s creation, during specific Church seasons (or in our case hurricane season) when we collect food, clothes and gifts for people in need. While those efforts are important, we are called to do more because Catholic social teaching is part of the fabric of who we are as Church.
In 2008 we barely survived the “election year” frenzy with the constant media coverage on all things political. To guide us in our decisions, our bishops gave us much to think about with the document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" which highlighted the seven themes of Catholic social teaching including human rights and responsibilities; the call to family, community, and participation; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; and solidarity.
Catholic social teaching makes people uncomfortable just like Jesus did. It stirs up feelings of passion, guilt, compassion and even anger. Sometimes we’re not sure how we are to respond. ABC News has added a segment to their line-up called “What Would You Do?” which looks at what people actually do in the face of everyday dilemmas that test their character and values. I was appalled at the blatant racism that was portrayed on one particular show while people stood around and allowed it to happen.
We are called by our baptism to get involved — it’s time to stop standing around and do something. Instead of wondering what Jesus would do — hopefully we all know what HE would do — we need to decide what WE are going to do today.
Lisa Kurnik, director of the Office of Youth
The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
5 comments:
Well said Lisa! You know I was surfing the web for ideas with the youth and found a Christian Youth Website who uses the motto: "Love God, Love People and DO soemthing about it!" So powerful, so I asked for their permission to use it at our church!
It is so true the we are uncomfortable by much of our Catholic Social teaching and yet when we are feeling this discomfort about an issue is it the Holy Spirit touching our hearts to DO SOMETHING about it? We talk about "peer pressure" to our youth and yet we too have community life/social justice events like "Walks for Life" to raise awareness or funds for a clinic and do we give them the time that we give to local ballgames? Don't get me wrong, I love ballgames, but not just with "lip service" do I need to give equal time to these other issues of importance like "Walks for.." but I need to get my legs walking even if I am my own sponsor for fundraising...putting my money and footsteps...where my mouth is. Peace.
I agree that everyone can do something. However, not everyone knows what Catholic Social Teaching is unless you remember the topic from your 11th grade Moral Issues class. Not everyone "grew up" in the church surrounded by bishops, priests, and nuns to influence their thinking. Those who do not grow up in the church might not have anyone to form their conscience. A lot of the time parents are not introduced to (or respect) the church's social teaching. The real question is, how can we teach and influence the hearts of everyone? Do you teach from the ambo (for those who don't know what that is, it is the pulpit)? Do we send out messages through the bulletins? It goes back to the question: which came first the chicken or the egg?
Thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts. Anyone who would like more information about Catholic social teaching can go to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website
(www.usccb.org) or Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) and do a search for Catholic social teaching.
The story in Matthew 25 called "Judgment of the Nations" points directly to the question Lisa posed: What are you going to do? The gospel story lets us know that "doing" Catholic Social Teaching is not so hard because the opportunity probably presents itself to us everyday. The question is, "Are we paying attention to the opportunities to put faith in action?" We know what to do but it is the distractions of the everyday noise and clutter around us that stalls our action to "do something." Avoiding the distractions is not easy but the first step is simply prayer. It is in the silence of prayer that we hear the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Godly instruction from Jesus on how we go about it!
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