Catholic Social Teaching

Entering into my senior year this past August, I decided that I should seize the opportunity to learn more about the Catholic Church while I had access to some of the best theologians in the world. Almost by chance I stumbled upon and ended up adding the Catholic Social Tradition minor. I was looking for a class that offered the opportunity to study some of the papal encyclicals, writings that I did not even know existed until I came to Notre Dame. The class that offered this opportunity was the Catholic Social Tradition minor introductory class and while I was at first hesitant about the class, it ended up opening my eyes to a new perspective on the Church’s teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching is an aspect of our faith that is often forgotten about, regularly referred to as the Church’s Best Kept Secret. The Gospels and the life of Jesus Christ lay the foundation for Catholic Social Teaching. Although this foundation was laid over 2,000 years ago, the philosophy and term “Catholic Social Teaching” did not come about until a series of encyclicals were written on the idea of social teaching. Beginning with Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 and continuing today with Lumen Fidei by Pope Francis, the past 100+ years have featured prolific writing on thephilosophy of Catholic Social Teaching. So what is Catholic Social Teaching and why is it that we don’t hear more about it?

At its core, Catholic Social Teaching is a call to love and protect human dignity, most especially the dignity of the poor. Through the recognition of the dignity of the poor blossoms a commitment to improve the circumstances of the poor. We come to recognize this inherent dignity and this commitment through our experiences of Christ in the Eucharist, God humbling himself out of love for us. In seeking to understand Christ, we are often called to study his life. The life of Christ portrays a complete commitment to the poor. Consider that Jesus was born in a manger, the Holy Family fleeing from persecution and that he made a living as a carpenter. Jesus could have been born into any circumstances he chose. He could have been born an earthly king as well as a heavenly one and yet he chose to be among the poorest of the poor. This decision to live among the poor provides a lesson that no other king has been able to provide because Jesus truly lived out his teaching.

In the story of the Rich Young Man seeking to follow Jesus, Jesus told the young man “if you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus’s life and teaching revolve around a commitment to the poor, to loving those whom he considers his equals. This tenement is at the core of Catholic Social Teaching, this is how Jesus calls us to live our lives.

While the call to love and the model of Jesus’s life are a powerful foundation, in my Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching class, I found that the prolific writing on Catholic Social Teaching challenged many beliefs I had always believed to be endorsed by the Catholic Church. This class challenged be to come to a deeper understanding of my faith by way of reason, forcing me to examine and grapple with my beliefs rather than assume them to be true. In my next blog post I will expand upon the aspects of Catholic Social Teaching that I most struggled with and my perspective on them. 

Notre Dame Fellowship

Fellowship is at the heart of nearly every activity in the Notre Dame community. The University of Notre Dame is unique from many other elite universities because we foster a supportive community. Not only do we want to achieve success but we want others to achieve success with us; we are constantly encouraged to do our best and also to encourage our peers to do their best.

As part of a community rooted in fellowship, we rejoice in each other’s successes and help each other when we falter. The beginning of this academic year may be off to a rocky start as the Notre Dame community received three email alerts in quick succession regarding sexual assaults on our campus. We failed as a community, not once but three times. A quick response to these emails came in the form of a prayer service at the Grotto. How fitting that at a time when mistakes are made we turn to Our Lady for assistance and guidance.

Last Sunday night, Notre Dame’s Student Government’s called us together as a community to reflect on our failings and to encourage us to seek a better future. Notre Dame students came together as a community in prayer to reflect on the importance of standing together, acknowledging our weaknesses and preparing to move forward in support of one another. We know we are not perfect, we know our brothers and sisters are not perfect, regardless, we seek to always be there for each other.

Through Jesus’ own example, we realize the need for fellowship within our community. One of Jesus’ first acts in his ministry was to gather together twelve apostles. These faithful disciples gathered together in support of one another. They raised their doubts as individuals to seek the support of the community. Jesus knew that following His teachings was going to be hard; as a fallen people, we no longer live in the safety of Eden. However, coming together in fellowship allows us to participate in the renewing community of a redeemed people.

Just as in the time of Jesus, being a Catholic is not always easy. We are often called to stand up for beliefs that go against the cultural or societal norms. The teachings of the Catholic Church do not change as society’s view changes; they remain grounded in the firm reality of truth as revealed through Christ to the Church on earth. This truth is oftentimes counter-cultural, making living out the values of a Catholic life very difficult. It is in striving to live our lives in a Christ-centered manner that we must form a community around us that we know will support us, even in our failings.

The Notre Dame community faltered in its recognition of the human dignity of others. We failed because we let our brothers and sisters fail. However, we must surround each other with the hope and support of the fellowship of Catholics. As much as our achievements define us, we must ensure that our failures do not define us.

Any time that we, as a student body, receive an email about a sexual assault, Student Government is committed to holding a prayer service immediately following. Through our turn to prayer as a community, we are reminded that we must rely on the Redeemer and find our hope in Him. Notre Dame is a unique university because we place our trust in God and encourage others to follow us on our journeys.  We are a community, rooted in the truth of God’s teaching, attempting to live in a world that may not always support us, and so we must make sure that fellowship remains alive in our community.