Seeking the Face of Jesus in the Suffering and Marginalized Lessons from Pope Francis

Catholic Social Teaching  Catholic social teaching is a central and essential element of our faith.  It is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came "to bring glad tidings to the poor... liberty to captives... recovery of sight to the blind"(Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with "the least of these," the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45).

 Pope Francis

Catechism of the Catholic Church "To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren" (no. 1397)

  “Are we ready to be Christians full-time, showing our commitment by word and deed?”  For a Christian, life is not the product of mere chance, but the fruit of a call, and personal love. Catholic Social Teaching

 Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Call to Family, Community and Participation The Holy Father has called families to lives of Christian witness, asking them to model their lives on the example of St. Paul, who kept the faith by sharing it. “Christian families are missionary families in their everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and the leaven of faith!” The family: an inestimable and irreplaceable good

Rights and Responsibilities  Hence, to claim one's rights and ignore one's duties, or only half fulfill them, is like building a house with one hand and tearing it down with the other. Peace on Earth ( Pacem in Terris ), n30

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable “Consumerism has accustomed us to waste. But throwing food away is like stealing it from the poor and hungry.”

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers "It is neither just nor humane so to grind men down with excessive labor as to stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies." Rerum Novarum ( n.42)

Solidarity “Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.” “We must not be afraid of solidarity; rather let us make all we have and are available to God.”

Care for God’s Creation “Care of creation is not just something God spoke of at the dawn of history; he entrusts it to each of us as part of his plan.” “Let us be ‘protectors’ of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”

“We are here for one another” “The Church cannot grow if people are detached, cold and bad humored. The Church can only grow through love.”