I listened and looked around the room. The speakers were “preaching to the choir.” Still, the challenge for those working at the university was how to integrate the rich social teachings into coursework that spans the entire curriculum including sciences, theology, and humanities. My challenge, and that of most Christians and people of good will, is how to integrate the foundational principle of human dignity and others that spring from it into daily life. In many ways, that can be more difficult that incorporating them into a college course.
When we hear the words “social justice” we often think of demonstrators, issues of war and maybe immigration. We can imagine such issues are exotic, nothing that involves us. But human dignity is a part of all life, even the most mundane.
For example, how does one witness to the value of the dignity of work and the rights of workers in their place of employment? The commitment to having the economy serve people and not people serving the economy can be a difficult sell to companies that have their eye primarily on increasing profits and returns for stockholders. I am not an economist, and I know that in our capitalistic model, a company that makes no profit is not going to be able to provide employment for long. Still, as one hears about huge bonuses paid to CEO’s and upper management, and the growing gap between their salaries and that of the workers on the floor, one could wonder how different the picture might be if the value of human dignity and dignity of work were uppermost in corporate minds.
Another value is that of stewardship. How do we treat the earth? How do we make sure its gifts and resources will be available for generations to come? Some may scoff at efforts of recycling or reusing resources, but it is our responsibility to do so. Manufacturers with personnel supported and paid to creatively find ways to use “waste” byproducts for other purposes can be an example. But recycling and reusing is not always the cheapest route. Choosing to do that rather than overflow landfills requires a commitment to social justice.
As I write, voting polls across the country are open for a couple more hours. People are casting ballots for mayors, governors, issues that will affect schoolteachers and children, veterans, mental health care, gambling, taxes. Our participation in government is another value espoused by the Catholic Church. All people should be able to participate in government and society. I know from my work with poverty programs, that many are not able or encouraged to do so. Many of us who can, choose not to vote. Too much trouble?
One speaker on the panel at ODU, a non-Catholic, expressed her surprise at the difference between the idea of “the greatest good” and “the common good.” The latter should drive our decisions and inform our votes. The Church is not looking for what can provide the most good for the most people, but what is good and just for all people. We are not “saved” as individuals. We are a community, and we go to God together. The incarnation is about God becoming one with humanity and with all creation. The Catholic Church’s social teachings focus is on “the global community.”
As a friend of mine from the Collegeville Institute, theologian Paul Philibert OP, said, and I quote from information made available by the Center for Dominican Studies: “Our human pilgrimage to wholeness is not a solitary adventure, but an invitation to communion. It awakens us to our solidarity with all our human companions on the pilgrimage to wholeness. We help one another to see and to persevere.”
As I walked out of the old building after hearing professors willing to find ways to teach their students about these foundational teachings of the Catholic Church, I was thinking about how we can all “teach” them by finding more ways to enflesh them in our daily lives.