Catholic Social Teaching

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Catholic Social Teaching

• Chapter 3
• Putting Faith into action

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Putting Faith into action

• Pope Paul VI Call to Action (1971)
• Christians need to act to bring about the
  social, political and economic changes seen in
  many cases to be urgently needed
• Christians need not act alone, but act with the
  help of
• The church
• Other people of good will
• With the help of the Holy Spirit

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Putting Faith into action

• Liberation Theology a way of talking about God
  amid the reality of the suffering of innocent
  people
• Led mainly by the poor and oppressed people of
  Latin America and elsewhere to demand political
  and economic justice for themselves.
• Pages 66-67

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Putting Faith into Action

• Faith into action
• Pastoral circle or circle of praxis
• Praxis living according to ones beliefs, not
  just in private, but in a way that affects the
  world.
• True justice reflects the will of God, each step
  of the circle is guided by faith in particular
  by the Gospels and the churchs teaching
  (Tradition) about justice

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Putting Faith into Action

• Circle of faith-in-action

Action
Analysis
Awareness
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Putting Faith into Action

• Awareness to see, hear, and know the world in a
  spirit of friendship, just as God does.
• Analysis to ask, Why is the world the way it
  is? And how can it be made as good as God
  intends?
• Action to act for justice in ways that make
  life better for everyone.

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Putting Faith into Action

• The action people take for justice will often
  lead them into a deeper relationship with the
  world, and therefore a deeper awareness of the
  world especially if they reflect on and pray
  about their action.

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Awareness

• Awareness How we perceive a situation which
  will determine whether, and how, we will pursue
  justice in it.
• Seeing, hearing, knowing the world in a spirit of
  friendship, as God does.
• Interpreting the information provided by our
  sense in a way that gives us an accurate picture
  of the world

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Awareness

• Differences arise between people because they
  interpret the same reality in different ways
• Photographer storygood example!

10
Awareness

• Worldview - our basic beliefs about the world
  guide the way we relate to the world
• Basic Questions
• What is most important in life?
• Do all people have the same rights?
• What responsibilities do individuals have to
  society, and vice versa?
• Are most people basically good or bad?
• Is there a God, or is life determined by random
  chance? What is God like?

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Awareness

• Our worldview has a profound affect on how we
  interact with that world
• Our worldview is shaped by our
• Experiences (MLG story)
• Culture all of the shared values, beliefs, and
  ways of relating and living together that
  characterize a particular group of people. Today
  we often belong to many different groups, these
  groups shape the way we interact with the world
  peer pressure

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Awareness

• Our worldviews are limited though
• Blind spots are those areas that we do not see or
  experience that exist in the world
• Seeing the World as Jesus Does
• This is how we overcome our blindspots.
• See the world from Jesus perspective where love,
  not selfishness is the most important value
• Seeing, Hearing, and knowing with respect
• A vision of Abundant life
• Compassion

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Awareness

• Seeing, hearing and knowing with respect to
  look beyond the outer appearances and first
  impressions to see the goodness that is the
  foundation of all Gods creation.
• A Vision of abundant life a life full of
  goodness, to question what our culture considers
  to be normal, asking, Is life being lived as
  abundantly as God intended?

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Awareness

• Questions to consider
• Is all human life being protected and fully
  supported so that it can thrive? Is everyones
  dignity being respected?
• Is everyone able to participate in the life of
  the community? Are all families being
  strengthened?
• Are human rights and responsibilities being
  respected?
• Do all people have good work that respects their
  dignity and provides them with a good life?
• Is the care and protection of poor, vulnerable,
  and marginalized people a top priority for
  society?
• Is the integrity of Gods creation being
  respected and protected?

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Awareness

• Compassion
• is not a comfortable emotion, leads one to
  question the underlying causes of the situation
  faced by poor people.