Catholic Social Teaching: See, Judge, Act

“An authentic faith - which is never comfortable or completely personal - always involve a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.” Pope Francis, Evangalii Gaudium

Catholic Social Teaching encourages a process of See, Judge, Act and theological reflection before acting. This process brings about ideas for how the Church directs it’s Bishops and pastors around the world to create communities that lift up everyone, especially the marginalized.

1.    See: looking at social justice issues as they affect society. In this process we are asked become attentive and aware of what is happening. This is done by examining the social economic and political realities of a situation.

·         What are the people in this situation doing, feeling, and saying? What is happening to them and how do you/they respond?

2.    Judge: understanding what is happening and why it is happening. There are at least two factors to consider here:

·         Why is this happening and what is the root cause.

Social Analysis assists us in naming the “heart of the matter” which we then take to the theological reflection.

3.    Act: Discerning the actions needed to respond. “Gathered information (Seeing) and analysis and theological reflection (Judging) lead to ideas on how we can act upon the observed phenomenon in order to change the situation and address its root causes. Our aim here should be doing the will of God and changing the reality so as to bring it closer to the Reign of God.”

·         What exactly is it that you want to change? (long term goal)

·         What action are you going to take now? (short term goal)

·         How could the structures and relations that produced this situation be transformed?

·         Who can you involve in your action?

If I may, I recommend you read more here: The See-Judge-Act method. I used information from this article for my blog as I found it helpful. In this article suggestions for reflections are provided.

The next CST: Care for Creation (7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching) forum is October 19th at 1 PM, Mountain time. You can get additional information as well as signup to join online or in person here.

The Fellowship for Social Justice group meets on the third Thursday of each month. If you are interested and have any questions or want additional information, please email us at: FellowshipforSJ@outlook.com.