What is your experience and understanding of how a focus on Social Action and Justice can occur in a Catholic school?

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• What is your experience and understanding of how
  a focus on Social Action and Justice can occur in
  a Catholic school?

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• Introduction to Social Action Justice
• ?

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Foundations of Social Justice

• Our faith is profoundly social.
• We cannot be called truly Catholic
• unless we hear and heed the Church's call to
• serve those in need
• and work for justice and peace.
• Communities of Salt and Light, U.S. Bishops, 1993

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Foundations of Social Justice

• Grounded in Scripture
• Articulated through Church teaching since 1891

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Biblical themes of justice

• God is active in human history
• Creation
• Covenant relationship
• Community
• Anawim -- "the widows, orphans and aliens
• The example of Jesus reign of God, healing

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• In biblical faith, the doing of justice is the
  primary expectation of Yahweh.
• Walter Brueggeman

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Isaiah 581- 8

•     "On the day when you fast, you do as you
  please.       You take advantage of all of your
  workers.  When you fast, it ends in arguing and
  fighting      The way you are now fasting
  keeps your prayers from being heard in
  heaven.  Do you think that is the way I want you
  to fast?
•  "Here is the way I want you to fast.
•    "Set free those who are held by chains without
  any reason.       Untie the ropes that hold
  people as slaves.    Set free those who are
  crushed. Break every evil chain.  Share your
  food with hungry people.       Provide homeless
  people with a place to stay.    Give naked
  people clothes to wear.       Provide for the
  needs of your own family.  Then the light of my
  blessing will shine on you like the rising
  sun.

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Micah 66-8

• With what shall I come before the LORD and bow
  down before the exalted God? Shall I come
  before him with burnt offerings, with calves a
  year old?
•   Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of
  rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall
  I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
         the fruit of my body for the sin of my
  soul?
•   He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
         And what does the LORD require of you?
         To act justly and to love mercy       
  and to walk humbly with your God.

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Deuteronomy 1511

• Since there will never cease
• to be some in need on the earth,
• I therefore command you,
• "Open your hand to the poor
• and needy neighbour in your land"

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Matthew 2531-46

• 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart
  from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
  fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
• 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to
  eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to
  drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite
  me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe
  me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look
  after me.'
• 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see
  you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
  needing clothes or sick or in prison, and
  did not help you?'
• 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
  whatever you did not do for one of the
  least of these, you did not do for me.'

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Luke 414-21

• The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
  him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is
  written "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
        because he has anointed me       to
  preach good news to the poor.    He has sent me
  to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
  recovery of sight for the blind,    to release
  the oppressed,    to proclaim the year
• of the Lord's favour."

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1 Cor 1222-26

• those parts of the body that seem to be weaker
  are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think
  are less honourable we treat with special honour.
  And the parts that are unpresentable are treated
  with special modesty, 24while our presentable
  parts need no special treatment. But God has
  combined the members of the body and has given
  greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25so
  that there should be no division in the body, but
  that its parts should have equal concern for each
  other.
• 26If one part suffers,
• every part suffers with it
• if one part is honoured,
• every part rejoices with it.

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Modern Catholic Social Teaching

• Rerum Novarum On the Condition of Labour (Leo
  XIII, 1891)
• Quadragesimo Anno On Reconstructing the Social
  Order (Pius XI, 1931)
• Mater et Magistra Mother and Teacher (John
  XXIII, 1961)
• Pacem in Terris Peace on Earth (John XXIII,
  1963)
• Gaudium et Spes The Church in the Modern World
  (Vatican Council document, 1965)
• Populorum Progressio On the Development of
  Peoples (Paul VI, 1967)
• Octogesima Adveniens An Apostolic Letter A
  Call to Action (Paul VI, 1971)
• Justice in the World (Synod of Bishops, 1971)
• Evangeli Nuntiandi Evangelisation in the
  Modern World (Paul VI, 1975)

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Modern Catholic Social Teaching

• Laborum Exercems On Human Work (John Paul II,
  1981)
• Sollicitudo Rei Socialis The Social Concerns of
  the Church (John Paul II, 1987)
• Peace with God the Creator, Peace with Creation -
  Pastoral Letter (John Paul II, 1990)
• Centesimus Annus One Hundred Years (John Paul
  II, 1991)
• Evangelium Vitae The Gospel of Life (John Paul
  II, 1995)
• Fides et Ratio Faith and Reason (John Paul II,
  1998)
• Deus Caritas Est God is Love (Benedict XVI,
  2005)
• Sacramentum Caritatis Sacrament of Charity
  (Benedict XVI, 2007)

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Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the World)

• The council fathers state that the Church is at
  once a sign and a safeguard of the transcendence
  of the human person (76). This commitment to
  human dignity has religious significance since it
  is rooted in a religious claim about the mystery
  of creation.
• The biblical account of Genesis tells
  us that each human being is made in Gods
  image.

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• At the same time we must be able to fulfil this
  charge of being a sign and a safeguard without
  the Church becoming simply another humanitarian
  organisation or one more social welfare agency.
• Our mission is not political but religious,
• to be of service to the reign of God.

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• Therefore, political, social and economic
  consequences flow from pursuit of the Churchs
  religious mission.
• The bishops cite four areas where the religious
  mission spills over into social concerns
  commitment to the defence of human dignity
  promotion of human rights fostering unity among
  members of the human family and discerning the
  deeper significance of human work
  and activity.
• (see Gaudium et Spes, 40-43).

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Three ELEMENTS of Social Action Justice

• Justice in the school community
• p 39 and p 42
• Action for Justice
• p 40 and p 43
• Reflection on Action for Justice
• p 41 and p 44

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Three ELEMENTS of Social Action Justice

1. What aspects of this element are you already
   doing in your school that are working well?
2. What ideas have you picked up from the material
   that you would like to try?

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• Action for Justice
• Learning through service
• Provide structured immersion experiences for
  students and staff to give valuable insight into
  the lives of others
• Design and create activities that promote better
  understanding between generational groups
• Support and encourage student-initiated justice
  projects that contribute to the wellbeing of
  others locally and globally
• Adopt a school in need and seek practical ways
  they might be supported
• Enliven and renew existing service and
  justice activities

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Guest presenters

• Mari Vine, Mt Alvernia College, Kedron shifting
  from charitable action to service learning
• Cathie Stone Caroline McClure, Marist College,
  Ashgrove nurturing a whole school approach to
  service learning
• Christine McLeish, St Vincents Primary School,
  Clear Island Waters adopting a school in
  need

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Resources to assist withSocial Action Justice

• PowerPoint description of shift from charitable
  action to service learning from Mari Vine
• Overview of Marist, Ashgrove MATES program
• Sample processes for undertaking
  Action-Reflection
• Marginalised Students website ?
• Video case study of a Social Action Justice
  program in action
• List of additional websites
• Presentation PowerPoint

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Inservice in 2009 focused onSocial Action
Justice

• Nurturing Social Action and Justice in the school
  community
• Profiling good practice in school communities in
  the area of service learning and other elements
  of Social Action and Justice
• August, 2009
• Ongoing resource development

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• Movement from here