Compendium of Social Justice

I recently engaged in two independent conversations about social justice with vowed religious. One said, “It’s not hard; just love everybody,” and the other, “It’s all about love.” These statements imply everyone knows all they need to know about love: just do it. If we believe we have more to learn about the Lord, and God is love, why would we not need to learn more about love?

Our own experiences can tell us a great deal, however, we are shaped by our environment and culture. If we lived in another place, at another time, would our knowledge and experience be different? Where should we go to learn more about love?

Because these two conversations included the Catholic social teachings, we discussed people’s negative impressions of doctrine. Frequently referred to pejoratively as ‘dogma,’ doctrine is often generalized as a set of rules around what the Roman Catholic Church will and will not allow. Those who preach guilt and shame have misrepresented and twisted scripture and doctrine. Such bully points, however, do not appear to be the talking points of either the Lord or Church Doctors.

We say the Word of the Lord, scripture, is efficacious—it will fulfill the purpose the Lord intended. It is organic and relevant in every time and place. We believe it to be living, alive and a spark to ignite life. While Church doctrine is not considered efficacious in the same way, if given the opportunity, could it not inform, reform and transform our perceptions, words and actions? Might it add to our insights about love in any way?

A few months ago, I would have said, “Ideas about love from old, dead Church Fathers? Umm, no! It has no connection to the real world…violence and hatred run amuck, not to mention a few other issues. Nope!”

I’ve recently had the opportunity, however, to become familiar with the social teachings as explained in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. The Papal documents and Church Fathers’ writings lay out concepts summarized in words and phrases such as solidarity, subsidiarity, common good and dignity of the human being. These ideas inspire action aimed at improving justice for all, ensuring human rights and meeting basic needs. But is doing more the same thing as loving more?

I was shocked and happily overwhelmed by the writing within the Compendium: half-thought intuitions I did not have enough words to think out completely, were expressed and accessible. Did I learn about love from Church doctrine? I learned I was asking the wrong question! Or perhaps, I simply started in the wrong place.

I was exposed to insights pertaining to the nature of the Lord. If I seek to learn more about love, I must learn more about the Lord’s love. Greater understanding of the Creator’s love for humanity, and for each and every being is the foundation for all other insights about love. It is the preamble, proposal, and prequel to human life and love.

The following quotations from the Compendium taught me much of what I’ve been writing about here:

A human being is called by grace to a covenant with the Creator, to offer Him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his/her stead (108).
The whole of a person’s life is a quest and a search for God. The human being is a personal being created by God to be in relationship with Him (109).
Each person is unrepeatable and inviolably unique (131): created in the image of God.
Christ, by His incarnation, has united himself in some fashion with every person (105).

Writing Exercise:
If we suspend our enjoyment of playing the ‘devil’s advocate’ for a minute and accept the above quotations as true, we can then simply ask ourselves, “What experiences of mine reveal and manifest these Truths to me?”