A working definition of Social Justice
Social Justice is a mission of the whole church, and is the work done in the secular world of work, family life and citizenship. The Catholic Social Doctrines calls us to serve those in need and to change the structures that deny people their dignity and rights as children of God. Service and action, charity and justice are complimentary components of Parish Social Ministry. Neither alone is sufficient; both are essential signs of the Gospel at work. (author unknown)
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Pope John Paul's Apostolic Letter, The Coming Third Millennium
(Tertio Millennio Alveniente)
"It will be necessary, to emphasize the theological virtue of charity... love of God and love of neighbor... the summing up the moral life of the believer. From this point of view... how can we fail to lay greater emphasis on the Church's preferential option for the poor and the outcasts. Christians will have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world. (#50, 51)
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| Mary's Magnificat... Full of Grace Luke 1: 46-55 |
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Mary's Magnificat... Full of Grace
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has looked with favor on the lowliness of His Servant" Luke 1: 46b-47
Mary's Magnificat is the ultimate "Amen" to the affirmation of God, of the Covenant between God and God's children, and the very essence of the Gospel message. The Magnificat is the same thread of meaning that finds its way throughout all of Sacred scripture: that God looks with favor on God's lowly servants. In Mary's Canticle she says... "He has filled the lowly with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53).
Mary is voicing the truths that her Son will proclaim in The Beatitudes (Mt 5: 1-12a). It is also the Preferential Option for the Poor and The Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy. In 1988, Pope John Paul issued an Encyclical on Social Concern (Sollicitudo rei socialis).
"Because of our "love of the preference of the poor", we cannot but embrace the immense multitude o the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and, above all, those without hope of a better future. It is impossible not to take into account these realities. To ignore them would mean becoming like the rich man who pretended not to know the beggar Lazarus at his gate (Luke 16: 19-31)."
Full of Grace, Mary is exemplary in her faith, hope and love of God, and generous concern for others. Mary is often viewed as the supreme model of unselfish love toward God and neighbor. If this were not so she could not have responded at the Annunciation of the Lord with the prophetic words... "Be it done unto me, I am the hand maiden of the Lord" (Luke 1:38).
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The Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy is Jesus' Plan for Social Change
Jesus is now in the synagogue and the scroll containing The Book of the Prophet Isaiah is handed to him and he reads from the 61st Chapter. These words Jesus reads are about "the servant of the Lord", a saintly figure who was sent to bring good news to the lowly, to heal broken hearts, to announce freedom for those in prison and liberation for those suffering oppression.
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
Recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners,
To announce a year of favor from the Lord"
Luke 4: 18-19
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CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY
1. Feed The Hungry 1. Instruct the Ignorant
2. Give drink to the thirsty 2. Council the doubtful
3. Clothe the naked 3. Admonish the sinner
4. Shelter the homeless 4. Bear wrongs patiently
5. Visit the sick 5. Forgive offenses
6. Visit the prisoners 6. Comfort the afflicted
7. Bury the dead 7. Pray for the living and the dead
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