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Catechism Current Events

Limits of legislation

Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that “everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as ‘another self,’ above all bearing in mind [their] life and the means necessary for living it with dignity.” No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every [person] a “neighbor,” a brother [or sister].

Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1931

“You can’t legislate morality.” I’ve heard it many times. The more you try, the more harm you do, it seems.

It’s because making the outside of the cup look clean doesn’t do anything for the inside. The part that matters most. Jesus said that a long time ago.

Our tax law has stolen a deep word from us and made it shallow. Charity once meant selfless love. That’s what it meant to the writer of the quote above. Now, it means a tax write off.

Our hearts. Do we love our neighbors (no exceptions) as we love ourselves? Do we see their dignity and respond with respect? Or do we slap a label on them, ridicule and reject them, and let our society crush them? Like the Pharisees did.

“What would Jesus do?” I’ve heard it many times.

  • Son, your sins are forgiven.
  • Daughter, your faith has made you well.
  • Woman, has no one condemned you? Neither do I. Go and sin no more.
  • Zaccheus, I’m coming to your house today.
  • This woman you despise has washed my feet with her tears.

Our votes matter because they say what kind of society we want. They say what kind of leader we respect. They enact how we and our neighbors will be treated.

Our hearts matter more because that’s who we are, who we have to live with.

Grace and peace to you

dw

Categories
Catechism Current Events

Moral Legitimacy

Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from [their] dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church’s role to remind [people] of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1930

If I have a billion dollars,
is it my right
to demand of society
an easier path
to acquire my next billion?

Is having two billion dollars,
instead of one,
a right
that flows from my dignity
as a creature?

Should society prioritize my right
over the right of my neighbor
seeking shelter and safety and opportunity
to provide shelter and safety and opportunity
for their children?

What would the church have to say
to such a society?

Grace and peace to you

dw

Categories
Catechism Current Events

Social Dignity

Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of [people]. The person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to [them]:

What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.

John Paul II. Sollicitudo rei socialis 47
Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1929

A challenging thought, this: the Catholic Church tells us the whole purpose of society is to defend and promote each individual person, respecting their dignity. This is what God entrusts us with. Each one of us. Individually.

That’s how I read it. How about you?

In my thinking, it aligns with what Jesus taught.

On a societal level, it’s what the Old Testament prophets spent most of their time prophesying about.

Old Testament history is largely the story of how faithful or unfaithful we have been to this responsibility and about the consequences, good and bad.

So, though I’m not Catholic and don’t see the Catechism as authoritative, what it says here aligns with how I understand scripture. How about you?

…

How am I doing with this?

What does it say about how I should treat my spouse? My children? My parents? My neighbor?

Does it enter my mind when I interact on social media, or in the grocery store, or just driving down the road?

Should it affect how I participate, how I vote?

…

How is our society doing?

…

(Here’s a link to a post that presents a Ted Talk by Kent Hoffman in the context of thoughs by Thomas Merton and myself. It fits here, although from a completely different angle: humility.

The good thing about weakness

Grace and peace to you

dw

Categories
Catechism Current Events Scripture

Society and Justice

Society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and their vocation. Social justice is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority.

Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1928

Is our society one that “ensures social justice”?

Do we, as a society, care about providing “the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due”? Do we care if our habitual ways of doing things, as a society, hinder or block some people and groups of people from living out what God made them to do?

Does society care about the “common good”? Can society care if most of its participants don’t?

Does the Church care whether or not society cares? Do Catholics or Protestants or Evangelicals care?

Do I care? Do you care?

This morning, I read in Matthew 25 that what we do “to the least of these” we do unto Jesus.

That’s because Jesus cares.

Grace and peace to you

dw

Categories
Catechism Current Events light and darkness

Recognize your Dignity

“Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.”

Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1691

The Catholic catechism speaks clearly about politics and social justice. In this election year we need to be reminded of what it says.

    Why?

    Not because I think it is authoritative and should be followed (I’m not Catholic). It is one voice among many.

    But it’s an important voice in a time when large swaths of the church in the US – including Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals – have aligned with a single political party whose policies, words, and deeds are considered ‘right’ or at least ‘acceptable’ in order to achieve a political end.

    It’s a voice coming from a long historical perspective and broad geopolitical context. It gives space for the Oscar Romeros and Dorothy Days of this world. It punctures the bubble of the popular ‘Make America Great Again’ political movement. It is much needed in the nano-second we are living in now.

    The quote above is how the section starts. It hearkens us back to Jesus, the Light not overcome by darkness, our Head to whom we give our allegiance, the One who spoke the words of the Sermon on the Mount (see the previous post).

    His voice is the one we need to hear clearly in this election season and in all seasons. I think the voice of the Catholic Catechism can help us.

    Grace and peace to you

    dw