As servants of the blood of Christ and stewards
of the sacred mysteries, we drink from the chalice
and seek forgiveness for our sins. Like Peter, we weep
bitterly at our betrayal, and like Paul, sense the thorn
in our flesh in every step. But, like Mary Magdalene,
apostle to the apostles, we embrace the challenge to be
women and men of renewal and reconciliation who
stretch out our scarred hands and our broken hearts
to become a new creation—not only as a religious
community, but as a Church.
Editor, continued from page 2
Catholic social teaching is well developed, and can
be summed up in the following principles:
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Dignity of the Human Person. Ask whether our
actions as a society respect or threaten the life
and dignity of the human person.
Family, Community, and Participation.
Support the family, so that people can partici-
pate in society, build a community spirit, and
promote the well-being of all.
Rights and Responsibilities. Protect the rights
that all people have to those things required
for a decent human life, such as food, cloth-
ing, and shelter.
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. Pay special
attention to the needs of those who are poor.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers.
Protect the basic rights of all workers: the
right to engage in productive work, fair
wages, private property, and the right to
organize, join unions, and pursue economic
opportunity.
Solidarity. Recognize that, because God is our
Father, we are all brothers and sisters, with the
responsibility to care for one another.
Care for God’s Creation. Care for all that God
has made.
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World which emerged from the Second
Vatican Council, states that it is Christians’ responsibil-
ity to “scrutinize the signs of the times and interpret
them in the light of the Gospel” (something that St.
Gaspar spoke of 150 years earlier). So those seven prin-
ciples need to be brought to bear today—often chal-
lenging society’s policies and politics (which the writers
of the above statement seem to be uncomfortable with).
Jesus made it abundantly clear that faith in him
will be judged by how well that faith was put into ac-
tion: “Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did
we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked
or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you
did not do for one of these least ones, you did not
do for me’” (Mt 25: 37-40). A Gospel without refer-
ence to God’s heart for the poor is no Gospel worth
preaching, or listening to.
Social justice has everything to do with what we
are about as a faith community. John Pavlovitz writes,
“Jesus was a social justice warrior. He was compassion-
ate caregiver and status quo changer. He was gentle
healer and radical activist. He was wall-destroyer and
barrier-breake r and least-lover. He was shepherd to
the people of the street and he was a holy terror to the
wolves wielding religion like a hammer against them.
He poured out his life in acts of service and generosity
and empathy and sacrifice. He made selfish, power-
ful, entitled religious people the most uncomfort-
able—because he welcomed everyone to the table and
declared them equal. With every breath he preached
social justice, with every act he engineered it. If we try
and have a Christianity without social justice, we cut
out the beautiful, beating heart of Jesus and we are left
with only a lifeless corpse of religion to drag around”
[italics mine].
The mission statement of the Kansas City
Province states that “we are prayerfully motivated by
the spirituality of the Precious Blood…to serve the
needs of the Church as discerned through the signs
of the times and in light of the gospel”—reflecting
the call of Vatican ii quoted earlier. For many years,
we have placed an emphasis on social justice and
ministry with the marginalized as we continue to
read the signs of the times. This is why we have a
long-standing Justice and Peace Committee, as well
as corporate stances on the death penalty, gun vio-
lence, and immigration reform. Social justice issues
are pro-life issues: preventing hunger and poverty;
fighting racism, bigotry, and homophobia; a living
wage and health care; compassion for immigrants
and refugees; climate change—to name just a few.
We have a responsibility as people of faith to be well-
informed and formed by principles of Catholic social
teaching and our shared spirituality as a Precious
Blood community.
October 2018 • The New Wine Press • 5