Family and Community

Below is the 25^th in the August Catholic Social Teaching series: Family and Community

This principle of Catholic Social Teaching is about the building blocks of society.  For our well-being both physically and spiritually we require a network of relationships which nurture and foster us as we grow and develop.  This network is first our family and then our community.

Teresita Scully, MTS

It is understood that family is where we learn to treat each other. In Proverbs 22:6 parents are exhorted to, “Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it.”

Parents who teach their children to respect each other, to acknowledge each other’s differences, and accept them for who they are, will most likely raise children to treat everyone outside their family the same.

Catholic Social Teaching: 7 Themes of Social Justice: Family and Community

“We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.”

Catechism: II. The Family and Society

2207 The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.

Scripture

Leviticus 25:23-43 What you own belongs to the Lord and is given for the good of all.

1 Peter 4:8-11: Serve one another with the gifts you have received.

Acts 2:44-47: (Life among the believers.)  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Tradition

Family

““Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfillment except ‘in the sincere gift of self to others.’ Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: 'I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others.’…”

"The first and fundamental structure for a 'human ecology' is the family . . . founded on marriage, in which the mutual gift of self as husband and wife creates an environment in which children can be born and develop their potentialities, become aware of their dignity and prepare to face their unique and individual destiny." (St. John Paul II, On the Hundredth Year [Centesimus Annus], no. 39)

Community/Participation

“"Local individuals and groups can make a real difference. They are able to instill a greater sense of responsibility, a strong sense of community, a readiness to protect others, a spirit of creativity and a deep love for the land….”

“…For by his innermost nature man is a social being, and unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor develop his potential." (Second Vatican Council, The Church in the Modern World [Gaudium et Spes], no. 12)

Read more here.

I encourage you to watch the video here