Catholic Social Teaching is principally concerned with justice for all – but not just our societal or human sense of justice; God’s justice.
As such, at SMC, we refer to Catholic Social Teaching as Catholic Social Justice as a reminder of our collective commitment and responsibility to live in a way that upholds justice for every person – including ourselves.
We have explored this through prayer, focussing on the Lord’s Prayer – most especially the line ‘Your Kingdom Come’.
When looking at scenes of injustice around the world – children who are drinking dirty water, starving, living in refugee camps, who are homeless, who suffer through war – we question, ‘Is this what God had planned for his Kingdom?’ Our response is an emphatic, ‘No!’ and therefore we pray, ‘Your will be done’. In the prayer attributed to St Theresa of Avila, ‘Christ has no body now on earth but yours’ and therefore we take the responsibility of working for the justice of all people throughout the world who, with God as our shared Father, are our brothers and sisters.
There are several principles under the CST umbrella.
At SMC we focus on the following principles:
- Human Dignity – we are all wonderfully made in God’s image and likeness
- Common Good – we work for what is truly good for everyone
- Solidarity – we love our brothers and sisters around the world and stand with them
- Option for the Poor – we put those in most need first
- Stewardship – we love and protect God’s beautiful creation
Pope Francis tells us:
‘The world tells us to seek success, power and money;
God tells us to seek humility, service and love.’
As we live our lives following these principles, we seek to break down the walls of selfishness and greed, and instead build God’s Kingdom of love and justice.
