Affirming that each human person has an immortal soul plays a central role in true cultural progress. The only lesson that this war has taught us is to look into ourselves and not elsewhere.Ĭoncern for the poor must respond to both the spiritual and physical needs of the person to be effective. I no longer believe that we can correct anything in the exterior world that we haven’t yet corrected in ourselves. And I don’t see any other solution, any other solution at all, except to enter into oneself and uproot all that is rotten in our soul. But they also need love and conversion of heart.Įtty Hillesum, a Jewish writer killed in Auschwitz, poignantly wrote about how personal ethics has a hefty influence on public policy and the potential for cultural change: It focuses inordinately on material goals, without considering the transcendent soul of each person. This is where a communist reading of the human person fails. HELP NEEDS TO BE COMPLETEĪlso, help of poor and underserved communities needs to be complete: It starts in the physical but ends in the spiritual, the soul. The Church, meanwhile, offers guidance on how to serve others in ways that respect their nature and needs. Disconnected from the fullness of faith, many educators adopt the naïve mindset that it is love for the truth that is motivating it to discuss sexuality with kindergarteners. Are you really “helping” women by giving them access to abortion, for instance? To provide authentic aid, you need to have a deep understanding of what you are doing and whether it is in accord with the fulfillment of the recipient’s nature.Īs another example of this, consider how the modern education system is approaching sexuality. Without the wisdom and objectivity that these sources provide, people can be confused about how to help in an authentic, sustainable way. The second point every Catholic should take to heart about the preferential option for the poor is that the help that is given to the poor needs direction and guidance from the truth of Christ’s revelation and the Magisterium. This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of His concern for the poor… Those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting Centesimus Annus and Libertatis Conscientia, says: This is why the truth of Christ commands service to the poor, to those most in need of justice and love. Personhood always merits respect and each person has certain ineradicable rights that we, united in solidarity across the world, have a responsibility to protect. A Christian must never oppress persons, including those disenfranchised in society. They demand making love felt and working to alleviate the material impoverishments that threaten human dignity. Truth Demands ServiceĪ first point every Catholic should realize about the preferential option for the poor is this: Love and justice demand action. These two realities help us grasp the import of the option for the poor and vulnerable, commonly referred to as the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the Church’s seven pillars of Catholic social teaching. In describing those who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, Christ said, “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you made Me welcome” (Matthew 25:35).Ĭhrist is in each person, and each person is called to a common good that enables him to know Christ and fulfill his own nature. “Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ in himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice.” St.
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