We are one family

Scripture tells us the beautiful truth that each of us is made in the image and likeness of God the Creator. 

As much as we try as human beings to distinguish ourselves from one another by differences in color, nationality, religion, etc., we cannot ignore the fact that in reality, we all have one parent in the Creator and are therefore all related as brother and sister. When we truly grasp the full reality of this fact, it has tremendous implications for how we are called to relate to one another.

In the Gospel of Luke (10:29), we hear of an expert in the law who asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus’ reply was the story of the Good Samaritan, teaching us that our neighbor is anyone in need, and we are called to respond. The world may tell us that we are not our brother or sister’s keeper, but the Lord would tell us otherwise.

This may leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed! How can one person possibly be concerned about the entire human family?

We can each begin by taking stock of our own unique gifts, talents, and ability to give. Then, through discernment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we decide where we are called to relieve suffering and improve a part of our family.

There are some who take a very broad view of our world and look at the public policies established by governments and institutions, and work as advocates for the poor and vulnerable to create or change policies that relieve suffering.

Others get involved in very personal ways with individuals and families who are in need through their own initiatives or initiatives established by Church communities, neighborhood organizations or larger institutions, such as hospitals, Catholic Charities, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul or Catholic Relief Services.

We are blessed to belong to the Catholic Church that has taken very seriously this lesson of solidarity and has established many ways for us to take part in ministries that meet the needs of our human family. We can each look to the organizations named above and many others, and discover how we can have the greatest impact.

When one member of the family suffers, we all suffer. Let’s help relieve the pain.

Work Hard to Make Work Holy

In 1891, at the beginning of the industrialization of society, Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical titled Rerum Novarum (“On capital and labor”).

This encyclical has been seen as so important that it has been revised every decade by each pope since 1931, and Pope John Paul II updated the encyclical on its 100-year anniversary in 1991.
This instruction has laid the foundation for the fifth principle of Catholic social teaching that is referred to as “the dignity of work and the rights of workers.”

Pope Leo XIII explained that work is seen as much more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. The encyclical rejects socialism and instead asks for justice.

We are called to do what we can to ensure the protection of the dignity of work, as well as to respect the basic rights of workers. Further, we are instructed that everyone has a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, and to own private property.

The theory and practical implications are that when people are given work that fulfills them, and in which they have some input, it enhances their human dignity. To feel valued is one of the most basic of all human needs.

Workers should not be misused as things to pursue profit. The good of their souls must be considered as business decisions are made.

There are many examples of corporations that work hard to strike a balance between making a profit and caring for their workers, the environment, and society in general. These companies should be held out as models of what is possible, good, and right.

When Pope Leo XIII published his encyclical over 120 years ago, he could never have imagined the tremendous power wielded by huge multinational corporations and the ultra-wealthy. And he never could have imagined the mass consumerism that has gripped many nations—most notably the United States.

All of us need to be a voice crying out in the wilderness to ask the tough questions of our employers about how decisions made by companies will affect workers, and to do what we can to influence public policy that supports and sustains employees who are vulnerable to abuse.

Let’s work hard to make work holy.

Follow the Leader…to the Poor and Vulnerable

In the Gospel of Matthew, we find the well-known, powerful truth that whatever we do to or for those considered by society as the “least among us,” we do to or for Jesus.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus identifies himself again and again with the lepers, the orphaned, the widowed, the stranger, the lost, the lonely and all those rejected by society. He tells us that when we reach out to these vulnerable people, we are sharing the very essence of who God is: love.

This principle is summarized in our Catholic social teaching with the statement that we are to have a “preferential option for the poor and vulnerable.”

Several years ago Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, returned from a trip to the Vatican, where he met with his peers from throughout the world who oversee their country’s charitable efforts administered in the name of the Church.

Father Snyder shared the story of being told several times that he must feel lucky overseeing charity in the U.S. since we do not really have any poor people.

If only this were true. Currently in the United States, 46.2 million people live below the official poverty line – that’s nearly 1 in six Americans. More than half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day, and more than 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day.

But it certainly could be true. Through serving the needs of the most vulnerable, we bring them hope. And hope shines a light into the soul, making room for God to make a home and dwell there.
Jesus, our leader, certainly demonstrated a preference for the poor. Let’s play follow the leader.

A Place at the Lord’s Table

Catholic social teaching provides instruction for each of us as members of the human family with regard to our rights in this world and responsibilities toward one another.

The Catholic Church clearly defines a number of rights necessary for living a dignified life, namely, the right to food, clothing, housing, health care, education, security, social services and employment.
It might be useful to go to the extreme to demonstrate this principle. Let us consider the AIDS orphan in Africa—she has done absolutely nothing to create this state of life for herself, created by the death of her parents to AIDS.

Who will now ensure that she gets an education, has clothing, a home, a future? The Church would tell us that it is our (the human family’s) responsibility to care for her needs.

In 2002, the U.S. bishops shared a pastoral reflection titled “A Place at the Table,” in which they seek to inspire each and every one of us to help ensure that all of humanity has a place at the table of the family of God. This table is not only an image as the place to eat food, but the place where voices are heard and policy decisions are made.

People of wealth, power and influence often have a very strong voice at the table, so we are called to help amplify the voice or, at times, “be” the voice of the poor and vulnerable. Who will be the voice of that young AIDS orphan?

As uncomfortable as it may be from time to time, this principle of Catholic social teaching requires us to look at our brother or sister—no matter their race, creed, language, way of life—and assist them when we see unmet needs.

As followers of Jesus, it is part of his Gospel mandate to do no less.

The Call to Family

The Church has a long and rich tradition in teaching that the family is the central social institution that must be supported and strengthened. A person raised in a strong, healthy family will be able to fully participate in society and seek the common good and well-being of all.

The family, regardless of its make-up, is where we are all formed as human beings. It is where we learn our values, how to love, proper social behavior and how to treat others.

It should be the place where we learn about God. Strong, healthy, well-functioning families build individuals with strong character that then go on to build other strong, healthy, well-functioning social structures—schools, corporations, governments, future families, etc.

One need not be a social scientist to understand that children raised in healthy families are infinitely more likely to avoid those things that lead to life struggles and more likely to embrace a life that leads to a fruitful contribution to our world.

One need only ask the simple question: How would you say family life in the United States compares today to family life just 30 short years ago?

I would suggest that if we look at society from a Catholic values perspective, we would agree that healthy families are rarer today, and society in the United States is less civil and peaceful and more violent and unsafe. We can find an intimate connection between the health of family life and the overall health of our community.

The Church would guide us to invest our primary energies into our families, and to set up structures that support and sustain healthy, loving families. Here is where we change society and, indeed, the world for the better.

As the Church, as people of God, we are called at times to be the voice of the poor—and we need to work to empower those with little power to speak up and be counted.

How are we doing?

Life and Dignity of the Human Person

The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion and euthanasia.

Did you know that approximately 1.2 million human lives are taken through abortion each year in the United States? Just this year, an Oregon couple filed suit against their medical provider for $7 million because the provider failed to diagnose their daughter with Down syndrome while she was still in utero – claiming they would have aborted her had they known.

At the other end of the life spectrum, we have our precious elderly. There are increasing numbers of Americans who believe that the “usefulness” of the aged has come to an end – that it is compassionate to “put them out of their misery.” Pope Benedict XVI has said, “…euthanasia is a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of man. The true answer cannot be putting someone to death, however ‘kindly,’ but to bear witness to the love that helps us to face pain and agony in a human way. We are certain: No tear, whether it be of those who suffer or those who stand by them, goes unnoticed before God.”

The fact is that all of our rights and freedoms come from God. It is God who has given us life, and it is he who has the power and authority to sustain life – from the beginning as a tiny embryo to the end of our earthly days as a valued elderly person.

We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

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