What are the roots of injustice in society? How does our faith in Jesus Christ relate to our duties in the world?
These are some of the important questions Pope John Paul II addressed in his speech to Catholic Charities workers in San Antonio on Sept. 13, 1987.
Again in this address we see the Holy Father reminding us of our historic mission. He notes that Catholic charitable work began in this land “before the Declaration of Independence.” Generations of American Catholics, especially consecrated men and women, have given themselves in “selfless service, under the sign of love,” he said.
Under the sign of love. Those are beautiful words and they express a beautiful truth. That love is the only true motive for the church’s work in society.
In Jesus, God revealed his love for all people — especially for the poor and the most vulnerable: “Through the heart of Jesus the fullness of God’s infinite mercy appeared in the world. ... Jesus identifies himself with the poor and the defenseless: what we do for them is done for him, the service we fail to render them is service denied to him.” (Mt 25:31-46)
We love our brothers and sisters because God loves them. We love because he has shone the light of his love and mercy on each one of us.
We have a “fundamental duty” to be a sign of God’s love in everything we do. “For what is at stake is the mystery of God’s love as explained in the First Letter of John: ‘We, for our part, love because he first loved us.’ (1 Jn 4:19) All service has its first moment in God.”
The question becomes: How do we best express the love of God in matters related to politics and the social order? Again, the Holy Father gives us good guidance.
Our faith requires more than giving our money and time to help people in need. These things remain essential and can never be overlooked. But Christian love requires more. Pope John Paul II says that we must speak up for the poor. We must become a voice for the voiceless. We must work hard to “reform structures which cause or perpetuate their oppression.”
In calling for Catholics to “purify the social structures of all society,” Pope John Paul II acknowledges that there is such a thing as “ ‘social’ sin.”
That’s a complex and controversial concept. But it’s a core element of the church’s social teaching. (Catechism, no. 1869) Essentially, it means that some institutions and policies result in conditions that are sinful — contrary to God’s intentions for his children.
But Pope John Paul II reminds us that at the root of all social sins is personal sin. It is selfishness, greed, bigotry and other “personal choices” and attitudes, “operating through (social) structures that breed and propagate situations of poverty, oppression and misery.”
This is a crucial point. It alerts us that all true and lasting social reform must begin first with interior reform — spiritual renewal — what Pope John Paul II called “the conversion of our hearts.”
As he often did in talking about America, Pope John Paul II expresses deep concern in this address about the spiritual poverty caused by materialism and consumerism. Spiritual poverty is “the poverty of those who have and will not share, of those who could be rich by giving but choose to be poor by keeping everything they have.”
This is the poverty we are called to fight, beginning in our own hearts we must root out all selfishness.
This is the start of embracing what the Holy Father called the “duty of Christian love.” Let us pray this week for the grace to become better missionaries of Christian love. In Pope John Paul II’s words, let us lend God our own flesh, our hands and feet and hearts, “so that his work may be done in the world.”
Let us pray for greater faith in the God who revealed himself as love. (1 Jn 4:16) The words of assurance that John Paul II spoke 20 years ago are true: “Love can overcome great obstacles, and God’s love can totally transform the world.”