Jesus is the corner stone of the Church and he has assured us that the Church is built on a solid foundation. In today’s society there are many issues that are testing the foundation of the Church and its believers. Many structures are collapsing. Globally we are seeing attacks on family life, on community structures and on our political systems. The Church has had to battle these challenges over time.
The Church has had a long history of working in these areas through its charitable works. However, in the modern world such works and organisations are no longer in themselves sufficient. While the Church has contributed significantly to addressing issues related to the failure of family, community and political structures, the Church has been challenged to have significant effect on unjust structures. The Church must continue to work towards getting to the real root of the problems and work for a change in the unjust social and economic structures that are the cause of so many modern ills.
To ensure that the foundation of the Church remains strong as Catholics we must:
• carefully observe the lived reality of individuals and communities (SEE)
• undertake social analysis and try to understand why things are the way they are and what are the root causes of social problems; additionally, these social ills must be analysed in light of the scripture (JUDGE)
• plan and carry out actions aimed at transforming the social structures that contribute to suffering and injustice (ACT)
Our Church must work with our various structures, family, community, work and business, political systems, environment to build a solid society. We must understand their significance to ensuring a solid foundation. The Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church highlights the role of the various structures to us.
Family:
Procreation sets in motion a dynamism of love and solidarity between the generations upon which society is founded. Every child “becomes a gift to its brothers, sisters, parents and entire family. Its life becomes a gift for the very people who were givers of life and who cannot help but feel its presence, its sharing in their life and its contribution to their common good and to that of the community of the family (Gratissimam Sane).” The family, in fact, constitutes “a community of love and solidarity, which is uniquely suited to teach and transmit cultural, ethical, social, spiritual and religious values, essential for the development and well-being of its own members and of society (Charter of the Rights of the Family). By exercising its mission to educate, the family contributes to the common good and constitutes the first school of social virtue, which all societies need (Gracissimum Educationis).”
Work:
By his work and industriousness, man – who has a share in the divine art and wisdom – makes creation, the cosmos already ordered by the Father, more beautiful (Adversus Haereses). He summons the social and community energies that increase the common good (Orationes), above all to the benefit of those who are neediest.
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“Businesses should be characterized by their capacity to serve the common good of society through the production of useful goods and services. In seeking to produce goods and services according to plans aimed at efficiency and at satisfying the interests of the different parties involved, businesses create wealth for all of society, not just for the owners but also for the other subjects involved in their activity.”
Politics:
“The political community pursues the common good when it seeks to create a human environment that offers citizens the possibility of truly exercising their human rights and of fulfilling completely their corresponding duties.
“Political authority must guarantee an ordered and upright community life without usurping the free activity of individuals and groups but disciplining and orienting this freedom, by respecting and defending the independence of the individual and social subjects, for the attainment of the common good.”
“Unless authorities take suitable action with regard to economic, political and cultural matters, inequalities between citizens tend to become more and more widespread, …… and as a result human rights are rendered totally ineffective and the fulfilment of duties is compromised”.
International Relations:
“The centrality of the human person and the natural inclination of persons and peoples to establish relationships among themselves are the fundamental elements for building a true international community, the ordering of which must aim at guaranteeing the effective universal common good”.
In fact, “the coexistence among nations is based on the same values that should guide relations among human beings: truth, justice, active solidarity and freedom. The Church’s teaching, with regard to the constitutive principles of the international community, requires that relations among peoples and political communities be justly regulated according to the principles of reason, equity, law and negotiation, excluding recourse to violence and war, as well as to forms of discrimination, intimidation and deceit.”
We are also warned though that there is a need for ensuring that more powerful nations’ concerns/priorities do not supercede those of poorer nations. Also they should not be allowed to shoulder all the responsibility of achieving the common good. Achieving the common good can only be a collective effort and not the responsibility of any one state.
With our understanding of these various structures and with Jesus as our spiritual cornerstone, as Church, we take up the challenge to SEE, JUDGE and ACT.
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