Church reality J.P.I.C. SSpS seminar October 2012

O U T L I N E : The Ideal of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation as seen by the hierarchy in the Church. The Motivation and raison d’être in order to reach this ideal. Obstacles and resources during the journey to reach the ideal. The reality in the world with regards J.P.I.C. anno Preliminary Conclusion of our journey as members of the Church.

T H E I D E A L: YHWH makes a covenant with Abraham and Moses, and promises prosperity and freedom for the children who follow God’s laws and precepts. Jesus shows the way to a loving Father; he invites all people in God’s Kingdom and encourages us to have faith in God’s leadership, so that we will be able to use the wealth of this world well and care for each other always.

T H E M O T I V A T I O N: The Holy Spirit teaches us what Jesus said and did; the Spirit moves us to be courageous disciples and to trust in Jesus’ presence on our journey; the Spirit has gifted us and wants us to use our talents for the good of all – as God has given us the power to make this world a better place.

T H E O B S T A C L E S our human frailty and fears; the inclination to look after myself first and foremost; ‘charity begins at home’; inventions and discoveries push God out of our vision; negative vibrations towards people who are different from us or invade our privacy and challenge our comfortable lifestyle; etc.

T H E R E S O U R C E S: prophets who rise up every now and then; personal or group initiatives for help, relief and other charitable actions; building bridges between different religions and faiths; “think positive”; organizations and movements that have God’s Kingdom as their goal;

T H E R E A L I T Y anno 2012: The Vatican’s (ambiguous) stand at the United Nations; Bishops’ hesitancy for Medicare in the U.S.; how to curb overpopulation; how to stop damage to the environment; how to handle the accusations in the child-abuse-cases in many countries; questions of abortion (victims of rape) and euthanasia (undignified living); reversing decisions made at Vatican II council re: liturgy, formation of priests, pastoral theology and channels of communication; the birth of an absolutely interdependent economic world; how to safe raw materials and life in the environment; attention for migrants and refugees during Lent, etc.

Preliminary Conclusion of our journey as members of the Church. As members of the Roman Catholic Church we receive appropriate documents and directives with regards to Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. The principle in all these documents is respect for life; life in all its forms and conditions, so that as a community and a multi-national society we will support and care for one another.

The fact that we come from different lands and cultures is a challenge and an opportunity. How can we come to a consensus on a common direction, while we do not want to get stuck in general terms and abstract principles? Even though it is hard to define agreeable goals and targets, it will be up to every group and entity to work out (or/and continue) plans for justice for all peoples, peace in all regions and sustainability of creation all over the world.

As much decisions-making is done at a global scale, we will need to unite our efforts, form a single front and while we have “many faces”, we are of “one heart”!