North Coast Catholic September 0912 : Page 4
yourfaith in the know with Father Joe Dear Fr. Joe: Q What exactly are the principles of social justice? At Mass on Sunday, one of the inten-tions was for social justice. I hear this term all the time in church – what does it mean? T. Gennara a So, last issue, we I hesitate to go into it too heavily, looked at the idea of yet, at the same time, can you re-social justice. This ally say too much about human time, we are going to continue dignity? Each person is sacred. that discussion by looking at So sacred, that even the possibil-the themes of Catholic social ity of life compels us to discour-teaching. This comes to us from age any act that will attack our bishops and is easily acces-human dignity. Abortion would sible on their Web page, www. be the most grievous example of usccb.org/ attacking hu-sdwp/projects/ man dignity, socialteach-with cloning, ing/excerpt. embryonic shtml. Once stem-cell re-again, because search, the our political death penalty Get the free mobile app at dialogue is and others to http://gettag.mobi so strident follow. right now, I’m The sec-Scan the above tag asking us all to ond principle with your mobile device do ourselves is the call to to read the principles of a favor and, family, com-Catholic social teaching before we read munity and from the USCCB. further, pause. participation. Pray for the In this point, grace to let our our bishops faith inform our politics, instead remind us that the human per-of the opposite. son is not only sacred, but also Done? Good! Let’s get right to social. In all that we do, marriage it. and family are to be understood The first principle of Catho-as the foundation for our society. lic social teaching is the life and Our laws must protect these dignity of the human person. We inter-related ideas of family and hit this pretty hard last issue, so marriage. All of us are called to North Coast Catholic / September 2012 / www. srdiocese. org work together for the common good, especially looking to pro-tect the poor and vulnerable. The third principle of Catholic social teaching is rights and responsibilities. Basically, in this principle, we remember that the previous two principles require us, as Catholics, to follow through with what we believe by acting in a responsible manner regarding our duties and respon-sibilities “to one another, to our families and to the larger society.” Here we are challenged to act not just in our self-interest, but in the interest of all. God wants our world bigger, not smaller. The fourth principle is the option for the poor and vulner-able. I can’t say it better or clearer than our bishops: “In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.” What a chal-lenge! Especially in these tough economic times, God wants to challenge us to stretch further, not easier. We aren’t called to sit in judgment of the poor and vulnerable; at no point does God call us to that. We are called to help those we can in any way that we can. Check out Matthew 25: 31-46 if you really want to get shaken up. The fifth principle of Catholic social teaching is the dignity of work and the rights of the workers. I love the summary statement here – “The economy Send your questions to: “In the Know with Fr. Joe” FAITH Magazine, 1500 E. Saginaw St., Lansing, MI 48906 Or: JoeInBlack@priest.com must serve people, not the other way around.” Here, the bishops summarize the basic rights of workers: “productive work, decent and fair wages, the orga-nization and joining of unions, private property and economic initiative.” This statement is part of a long tradition in the Catholic Church and one of which we should be proud. Solidarity is the fifth principle. This reminds us that we are all God’s children. We are chal-lenged by our faith to be people who promote peace and the goodness of all of God’s children throughout the world, whether they are in “our country” or another. God will not ask us if we were good Americans, he will ask us if we cared for his little ones. We come now to the last prin-ciple of Catholic social teaching: care for God’s creation. Our bishops remind us that this is a requirement for our faith – that God’s mandate to us to care for the earth may be inconvenient at times, but is vital to appreciating the great gift God gave us when he gave us this world. So. There it is. You’ll notice that both Republicans and Democrats are both affirmed and challenged and, in that, we 4 Our Lady of Sorrows Sept.15 | St. Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor of the Church Sept. 17 | St. Januarius,
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