Download this supplemental in a Word document. Scroll down to the end of this page for a file of each session.Supplemental Information for - Why Catholic? Journey through the Catechism Supplemental Information for: Why Catholic? Journey through the Catechism. Life In Christ – Walking With God
For Group Leaders of Christ the King Parish, Springfield, Illinois By Deacon Al Laabs, March, 2011
Session 12: “Human Fulfillment in Christ” Suggested Environment This is our last session and I suspect by now your environment has been fairly well stabilized with maybe a few changes every now and then. I think I’ve been remiss in reminding everyone that some liturgical colors should be evident and since this is still Lent purple is appropriate. So maybe if you haven’t put any Lenten color out, you might do so and remind everyone of the three major vehicles that contribute to our progress in Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving—just a thought.
As a session leader I would recommend your reading and perhaps encouraging your members who have the red USCCA to read the section entitled “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (pages 449-450). Key doctrinal statements on the tenth commandment are also succinctly found on the following pages: Commandment Ten (USCCA pp. 455-456). Lifting Our Hearts One of the almost overlooked parts of the ordination ceremony for priests and deacons takes place in the very beginning. The candidates are called by name and have to stand and then come forward for the ceremony to begin. The significance as we were reminded is in receiving a call from the Church gathered as the people of God to be of service. Our answer of “present” signifies our acceptance of the call to be ordained. You might introduce this prayer by asking everyone to be still for a few moments and imagine they are hearing a call from Jesus himself to step forward and accept his invitation to be a disciple, to be holy, even to be a saint as in truth we are all called to be. Sharing Our Good News As usual an opportunity to see what group members did or thought about doing following last week’s session. Exploring the Catechism We are focusing on commandment ten: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” You will notice in that very first paragraph why I suggested reading that particular section in the USCCA. I think it is worthwhile to suggest underlining that sentence which reads: “The tenth commandment is about the intentions of the heart.” As the USCCA points out, money is not the root of all evil but as scripture says “the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tm 6:10). We certainly have had evidence of what greed can do to a country as well as the world economy and perhaps your group has talked about such issues already. You might remind the group about our Gospel readings from Matthew’s summary of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Those beatitudes are presented as the path to discipleship as well as happiness. Greed or an over attachment to any “thing” can be an impediment to finding real happiness in letting love for others be our primary affective force, turning us outward from self.
I like the last paragraph before “Pondering the Word.” I’ve been reading a book by Fr. James Martin, SJ., which has a delightful chapter on “detachment” as preached to Jesuits by their founder in his work on Ignatian Spirituality. In fact, these last two commandments we’ve studied seem to be suggesting that to put Christ first in our life, we need a sort of detachment from most things in our lives. Remember the story about the rich man who asked how to get to heaven and Jesus told him to go, sell all he possessed and follow Him. I think poverty of spirit is central in our efforts to be good disciples. You might get a good discussion going by raising the issue of how difficult it is to have a spirit of detachment when we are constantly bombarded by media and advertising that suggests we always need the newest, the biggest, and the brightest. Apple has learned that so well in advertising its I-phones and I-pads. Here’s a nice link to a prayer for detachment. Scripture: Pondering the Word
1 When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; 4 for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood." Footnotes1 [1-4] The widow is another example of the poor ones in this gospel whose detachment from material possessions and dependence on God leads to their blessedness (Luke 6:20). Her simple offering provides a striking contrast to the pride and pretentiousness of the scribes denounced in the preceding section (Luke 20:45-47). The story is taken from Mark 12:41-44. I have included the footnote from the USCCB site for this section of Luke because it has valuable commentary on the scripture reading. You may want to share the commentary with your group. Sharing Question It’s a good question worth discussing but encourage people to define what they might mean by extra. We all too often just presume that it is money of some sort but for most of us the most valuable thing we have is our time. Where do we spend our “extra” time, where do we volunteer, and do we give “extra” time to those around us—particularly if we have families and at the same time a demanding job? Exploring the Catechism (continued) This section is well done and requires little additional commentary. What I would encourage is to draw a connection again, perhaps, to the culture of our times mentioned in the second paragraph and the many paths that often are taken to pursue happiness and the folly they represent for a true disciple. Let me tell you a story about one of the happiest people I know. Every first Friday I take communion to a woman who has been disabled most of her life and is in an electric wheel chair. She is so pleasant and we have the most enjoyable conversations about a wide range of topics from families to what’s going on in the city. She always thanks me so much for bringing her communion but I always thank her and tell her it’s a joy for me to visit. And when I’m in my car heading to the next person, I thank God for sending her into my life as an example of true Christian joy in the face of so many things that might drive others to despair. Her trust and faith is grace to me in the truest sense and grace is evidence that Christ is present.
I would encourage also as sort of a capstone of this lesson and of this six weeks to read aloud and together that last paragraph on page 77 above the section of “Sharing our Faith.” Read it first yourself and see if you think as I do that it is nearly a prayer for wisdom and a summation of our efforts to become disciples and then to live in true Christian joy—kind of our own version of heaven on earth. Sharing Our Faith All three points are worth considering. The second point, referring to Romans is: “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?”and will take you in a certain direction. I am going to try the third point with my group because I would like to leave on a point of following the example of my Lord. If I love “most” I want to imitate and in imitating I transform what may seem as negative commands into positive ways of relating to others and to the things of this earth. If you think of this direction, it helps to get a sense deep in your heart of the title of this session. We do achieve “Human Fulfillment” when we become like Christ, when we follow his example and learn more about him in Word and Sacrament.
Living the Good News Again a good range of suggestions to which I would modify the final “response” to a direction of the week by raising the question of some activity during this break between year three and year four. I remember the email I got last year from a group that decided to go to a Saturday 4:30 Mass together and have supper after just to continue the friendship and community they had developed and prized. Lifting our Hearts Even if you run over this final session, I think this final Lifting Our Hearts has real merit. That is a powerful scripture passage and a wonderful ending note for the six weeks. You all know how I think spontaneous prayer has great value and we’ve gotten so good at sharing our needs with one another and the Lord. Blessings and peace to all of you as we move from our Lenten days to the great mysteries of Holy Week!!! Note: Any feedback you would like to give is most welcome. Please reply to allaabs1770@gmail.com The material below is from Supplemental 11 and is included in this weeks Supplemental material for reference Webmaster Here is additional material from the Vatican’s website on social doctrine. The major focus of the sections I selected center on the issue of common good.
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE COMPENDIUM Origin and meaning 171. Among the numerous implications of the common good, immediate significance is taken on by the principle of the universal destination of goods: “God destined the earth and all it contains for all men and all peoples so that all created things would be shared fairly by all mankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity”[360]. This principle is based on the fact that “the original source of all that is good is the very act of God, who created both the earth and man, and who gave the earth to man so that he might have dominion over it by his work and enjoy its fruits (Gen 1:28-29). God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favouring anyone. This is the foundation of the universal destination of the earth's goods. The earth, by reason of its fruitfulness and its capacity to satisfy human needs, is God's first gift for the sustenance of human life”[361]. The human person cannot do without the material goods that correspond to his primary needs and constitute the basic conditions for his existence; these goods are absolutely indispensable if he is to feed himself, grow, communicate, associate with others, and attain the highest purposes to which he is called[362]. 172. The universal right to use the goods of the earth is based on the principle of the universal destination of goods. Each person must have access to the level of well-being necessary for his full development. The right to the common use of goods is the “first principle of the whole ethical and social order” [363] and “the characteristic principle of Christian social doctrine”[364]. For this reason the Church feels bound in duty to specify the nature and characteristics of this principle. It is first of all a natural right, inscribed in human nature and not merely a positive right connected with changing historical circumstances; moreover it is an “inherent” [365] right. It is innate in individual persons, in every person, and has priority with regard to any human intervention concerning goods, to any legal system concerning the same, to any economic or social system or method: “All other rights, whatever they are, including property rights and the right of free trade must be subordinated to this norm [the universal destination of goods]; they must not hinder it, but must rather expedite its application. It must be considered a serious and urgent social obligation to refer these rights to their original purpose”[366]. 173. Putting the principal of the universal destination of goods into concrete practice, according to the different cultural and social contexts, means that methods, limits and objects must be precisely defined. Universal destination and utilization of goods do not mean that everything is at the disposal of each person or of all people, or that the same object may be useful or belong to each person or all people. If it is true that everyone is born with the right to use the goods of the earth, it is likewise true that, in order to ensure that this right is exercised in an equitable and orderly fashion, regulated interventions are necessary, interventions that are the result of national and international agreements, and a juridical order that adjudicates and specifies the exercise of this right. 174. The principle of the universal destination of goods is an invitation to develop an economic vision inspired by moral values that permit people not to lose sight of the origin or purpose of these goods, so as to bring about a world of fairness and solidarity, in which the creation of wealth can take on a positive function. Wealth, in effect, presents this possibility in the many different forms in which it can find expression as the result of a process of production that works with the available technological and economic resources, both natural and derived. This result is guided by resourcefulness, planning and labour, and used as a means for promoting the well-being of all men and all peoples and for preventing their exclusion and exploitation. 175. The universal destination of goods requires a common effort to obtain for every person and for all peoples the conditions necessary for integral development, so that everyone can contribute to making a more humane world, “in which each individual can give and receive, and in which the progress of some will no longer be an obstacle to the development of others, nor a pretext for their enslavement”[367]. This principle corresponds to the call made unceasingly by the Gospel to people and societies of all times, tempted as they always are by the desire to possess, temptations which the Lord Jesus chose to undergo (cf. Mk 1:12-13; Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13) in order to teach us how to overcome them with his grace. b. The universal destination of goods and private property 176. By means of work and making use of the gift of intelligence, people are able to exercise dominion over the earth and make it a fitting home: “In this way, he makes part of the earth his own, precisely the part which he has acquired through work; this is the origin of individual property”[368]. Private property and other forms of private ownership of goods “assure a person a highly necessary sphere for the exercise of his personal and family autonomy and ought to be considered as an extension of human freedom ... stimulating exercise of responsibility, it constitutes one of the conditions for civil liberty”[369]. Private property is an essential element of an authentically social and democratic economic policy, and it is the guarantee of a correct social order. The Church's social doctrine requires that ownership of goods be equally accessible to all[370], so that all may become, at least in some measure, owners, and it excludes recourse to forms of “common and promiscuous dominion”[371]. 177. Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as absolute and untouchable: “On the contrary, it has always understood this right within the broader context of the right common to all to use the goods of the whole of creation: the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone”[372]. The principle of the universal destination of goods is an affirmation both of God's full and perennial lordship over every reality and of the requirement that the goods of creation remain ever destined to the development of the whole person and of all humanity[373]. This principle is not opposed to the right to private property[374] but indicates the need to regulate it. Private property, in fact, regardless of the concrete forms of the regulations and juridical norms relative to it, is in its essence only an instrument for respecting the principle of the universal destination of goods; in the final analysis, therefore, it is not an end but a means[375].
Addendum Note: Any feedback you would like to give is most welcome. Please reply to allaabs1770@gmail.com |