Dr. Sargent’s Reflection

How can Catholic Social Teaching help us frame our Economic Priorities?

Even the most ordinary of human activities reveal to us something profound about the will of God in the context of daily life. For some, the need to work may not be considered a great blessing when the morning alarm clock goes off at 5 a.m. Yet, for most of us, after a good strong cup of coffee, our labor and our work gives us much satisfaction.

For those who work in factories as well as those who hold professional positions, work is an opportunity to express, in a fundamental way, who we are as human beings made in the image and likeness of God. My work reveals me to myself and the world around me. Through work I am able to build community with those with whom I collaborate. I am able to be creative and can actualize my freedom to find solutions to challenges which are presented.

Work is sacramental in that, by engaging and reflecting on the activity of work and labor, something of the will of God is made present. I find that work not only enables me to support and care for my family and contributes to the common good of society, but more importantly it enables me to become more fully alive, more fully human, and therefore more fully myself. There is a dignity inherent within work that enables us to realize that in and through our activity, a vocation of human life is made possible.

This new consciousness of work and labor as a life-giving vocation and a basic human right dawned after the rise of industrialism. And we can take pride that the prophetic voice of the Catholic magisterium helped shape the direction regarding the dignity and rights of labor.

Pius XI’s powerful encyclical letter, “After Forty Years” (Quadregismo Anno, 1931) commemorating the great letter of Leo XIII (Rerum Novarum, 1891), reflected on the morality of the socio-economic order and the oppression of dire poverty created by the new industrial economy: “This state of things was quite satisfactory to the wealthy… who looked upon it as the consequence of inevitable and natural economic laws, and who, therefore, were content to abandon to charity alone the full care of relieving the unfortunate, as though it were the task of charity to make amends for the open violation of justice, a violation not merely tolerated, but sanctioned at times by legislators” (QA, 4).

The paradigm shift in the moral vision which Leo XIII and Pius XI brought forward was that “humanity” does not serve the economy, but the economy is meant to serve “humanity.” All that is given to us in human life comes to us as gift that requires a profound sense of the responsible use of human freedom. Catholic social teaching reminds us that the state has a moral responsibility to insure that the economic order provide both business owners and laborers with an ability to support their families and contribute positively to the common good of society. Until the advent of modern human rights, especially those rights legislating safe work environments, limitation of work hours, days of rest, and the prohibition of child labor, Catholic social teaching served as an important source of hope for alienated and disenfranchised workers and a moral critique of the unbridled industrial society.

In 1981, John Paul II contributed to this ongoing reflection on the dignity of work and labor in his encyclical, “On Human Work,” Laborem Exercens. Work is not merely about the “objects” which are produced through our labor – rather, work is about the “subject” of  labor. The priority, therefore, is on persons who do the work and only secondarily the objects produced

Commenting on the “subjective” dimension of work, John Paul II writes:

The threat to the right order of values in regard to work is expressed by John Paul II when he states; “…the danger of treating work as a special kind of “merchandise” or as an impersonal “force” needed for production (the expression “workforce” is in fact in common use) always exists, especially when the whole way of looking at the question of economics is marked by the premises of materialistic economism.” (LE, 7)

The concern for a morally just economic system that cares for the rights and dignity of workers and the priority of labor over capital is a basic principle of Catholic Social Teaching. Our Catholic faith invites us to carefully consider how economic decisions and institutions are promoting or undermining human dignity and that socio-economic policies should have as their main concern the creation of jobs, safe and decent working conditions, and just wages for the maintenance of family life.

By Dr. Barry H. Sargent

Dear Friends of Faith on Fire,

As many of you already know, Sr. Ginger and I recently launched our new ministry formation program in August.  Our first events were held at St. Thomas More parish in Glendale, San Francisco de Asisi in Flagstaff and All Saints in Mesa. We are so grateful to the pastors and parish staffs who showed us such an outpouring of support and good will. It was also wonderful to see the support from so many of our friends in ministry throughout the Diocese of Phoenix. Their prayers and presence really gave us a lot of strength and courage that will sustain us as we move forward in our ministry.

Now for some musings:

For those of us involved in evangelization and catechesis, we must always be mindful that it is always Gods’ action, presence and spirit which brings people to the place of knowing Jesus Christ. Part of the work of evangelization and catechesis is providing an environment in which the Word of God can be heard, nourished and celebrated. Thus, evangelization and catechesis requires a profound spirituality of humility, creating space for the activity of God in the lives of people. A spirituality of humility invites us to be prepared to accept and even embrace the messiness of human life as it grapples for meaning and purpose. Evangelization, as Pope Paul VI stated so powerfully, is the essential purpose for which the Church exists. Evangelization is the work of all baptized Christians…to seek opportunities to create space for the Word of God to enter into people’s lives.  Evangelization is not about going around asking everyone you encounter whether or not they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior…though it can be that! More often, it begins with hospitality, kindness, and a sincere concern for others. We become the context of invitation through our response of love and concern for the other. As St. Paul reminds us that without love we are simply noisy symbols clashing!

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Christian evangelization is the unfortunate reality that what is being proclaimed on Sunday from our places of worship, finds very little expression in the lived experience of many Christians. A separation exists between what is proclaimed at Church and what is being integrated in the lives of our Catholic people. This reveals, I believe, a crises in our catechesis. Christian life is a journey toward conversion, a life -long process of becoming fully human. So we must ask ourselves whether our catechetical programs are assisting persons in coming to know that Christian faith is a way of life, a way of standing in the world as a sign and witness to Christ in our lives. In our love for Christ are we aware of the needs of one’s neighbors, one’s community and in solidarity with concerns of the world. Are we helping people understand that Christian life is made known in the giving of one’s own life for others?

Too often, it is easier to identify a Catholic by what they are against. This is not to undermine the very serious assaults upon human dignity which we find prevalent throughout our society and culture. We need to realize, however, that personal moral indignation does nothing to change the world. Catechesis, therefore, must not only help people to understand the relationship between human life, doctrine and sacramental practice, but must also assist us in cultivating a deeply rooted spirituality that opens us to an awareness of the other.

At the heart of the “New Evangelization” is the call for renewal within our own Catholic lives. In order for an authentic invitation of sharing the Good News to take place, we must first have the ability to understand what it means to be saved! We must come to recognize the story of grace, salvation and redemption as a living story of Christ in our own lives! Until we can see our own lives as being radically dependent on God’s profound love and mercy,  we will continue to view faith as moral indignation rather than a response to God’s loving presence in the world calling us always to become more and more generous, open hearted and compassionate. Let us be reminded by the words of Pope Benedict XVI in the encyclical Deus Caritas Est: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

If you would like to learn more about how to create a dynamic and inspiring process for your catechetical or adult education program, please contact faithonfirenow.org to arrange for a catechetical workshop or pastoral retreat.

Tags: Events

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Sparks Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.