Each of the religious traditions we have studied stand upon the principle of helping thy neighbor and thy brother. The depth of this statement is determined by the individual religions’ emphasis on the society and their role in that society. When examining the Jewish ethical tradition, we are able to understand that they stand on a very strong bond and belief in helping another. This strong bond of devotion and dedication is exclusive in many ways, to each other, rather than the outside world. A radical shift came with the Christian moral tradition, who stand openly in believing that all those around us are our neighbors and brothers, from Jews to Gentiles, we all stand as one, and further it is our utmost responsibility to help and protect all of our neighbors. The Catholic moral teachings drive this idea further in establishing and striving to influence world issues, understanding that it is our responsibility as Catholics to defend and respect those unable to help them no matter what the sacrifice may be. As Catholics we are driven to liven solidarity with those we help, to understand and became a part of the journey they were traveling in hope that we not only help the individual group or person we have set out to help, but immerse ourselves in the community to ultimately make s prominent difference in the entire community, retaining the belief that thins in turn can help to change the world.
For me, entering my school on the first day,
to be perfectly honest I was out of my element.
I had never been able to serve in an underprivileged area where students
struggle not just, because home life may be rough, but because of severe
instability and incredible strife, that constantly surrounds them. I was truly excited about working with those
with autism but I wondered how I would fit in, how I would be accepted by
them. I learned very quickly, as Jesus
had taught us, that if you express genuine intentions and leave the
preconceived notions and ideas behind, and try to become one with them, they
respond and they do embrace what you offer and how you can help them. This to me is how I have discovered what it
means to forge a more just society for the common good. It is built and prides itself upon respect,
and the responsibility we have to respect each other. Often we hear stories that these people do it
to themselves, they are poor because they want to be, which is an insane
comment in itself, but the bigger question is do we punish children for
this? As Catholics and Christians, we
should not even punish the adults, we should accept them and bring them closer
to us, harbor them and do all we can to bring them out of the position we are
in. It is our responsibility as we learn from all three traditions to do this, to make their responsibility, our responsibility. This can be a difficult situation to
fully divulge ourselves, and live in solidarity as Father Boyle has incredibly
done. But it can begin small, with
respect, respecting their soul, their heart, their mind, their dignity, and
preserving their dignity the best we can.
We simply must believe in those that cannot believe in themselves, and act on that belief by volunteering and investing our time in their future, and though it may be a small fraction of our society we are working toward forging a more just society for the common good.
No comments:
Post a Comment