Catholic Social Teaching
The social teaching of the Catholic Church has been referred to, and rightly so, as the best kept secret of the Church. This is unfortunate because it contains a wealth of wisdom that if followed would have prevented a lot of pain in this world.
A quote from the Catholic bishops :Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions says it very nicely:
“Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith. This posses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel.”
The purpose of this category on our blog spot will be to give you an idea of what the Church, both universal and the U.S. Bishops’ Conference are saying about some of the more pressing social issues of the day.
Source of the social teaching.
The social teaching of the Catholic Church has been referred to, and rightly so, as the best kept secret of the Church. This is unfortunate because it contains a wealth of wisdom that if followed would have prevented a lot of pain in this world.
A quote from the Catholic bishops :Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions says it very nicely:
“Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith. This posses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel.”
The purpose of this category on our blog spot will be to give you an idea of what the Church, both universal and the U.S. Bishops’ Conference are saying about some of the more pressing social issues of the day.
Source of the social teaching.
The covenant which we have entered into with God is not only vertical, God and myself, but also horizontal God-myself-others. Seven of the Ten Commandments are directly related to how we deal with people. In the Book of Deuteronomy much more time is spent on this subject than on direct relation with God. The prophets, especially Amos and Isaiah are constantly castigating Jerusalem for its sins of injustice. The Gospel of Jesus is a Gospel of justice. Luke 6 and Matthew 25 are the two classic passages that point this out
The Church then as the preacher of the Gospel must also make this social dimension of the faith known.
Basic themes of the social teaching.
The Church then as the preacher of the Gospel must also make this social dimension of the faith known.
Basic themes of the social teaching.
As Pope John Paul ll said the teaching of the Church is founded on three basic concepts: the dignity of the human person; solidarity (the common good); subsidiarity (respect of the person’s right to make decisions). These will constantly appear, in one way or another, in the writings.
The themes which permeate the documents are:
Life and dignity of the human person
Call to family, community and participation
Rights and responsibilities
Option for the poor
The dignity of work and the rights of workers
Solidarity
Care of God’s Creation
These themes will become obvious as the various issues are discussed.
The themes which permeate the documents are:
Life and dignity of the human person
Call to family, community and participation
Rights and responsibilities
Option for the poor
The dignity of work and the rights of workers
Solidarity
Care of God’s Creation
These themes will become obvious as the various issues are discussed.
The question is, how do we make these teaching known. I am a writer, writing as Molly Maguire McGill on Amazon, with interpretations of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Still the question remains, how do we get our message out to the public? It is one thing to write, and another to be read.
ReplyDeleteIf we are not read, how do we get the feedback to know if we are right? Please excuse my rantings. You present Catholic Social Teaching and what needs to be said, so very well.