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Catholic identity provides foundation at Catholic Charities

By Jerry Eaton LMSW
Executive Director
Catholic Charities

We often get caught up in the daily activities of our lives without including the overall perspective our faith brings to our lives. Pope Benedict XVI has written three encyclicals that take us back to the foundations of the Catholic faith. They are short, easy to read and very profound. They give a real sense of direction and lead us to a return to our faith as the most useful lens to use to view our relationships, not just in our own society but also in the world. What is it we are called to do?

At Catholic Charities our Catholic identity provides the foundation for our work and Pope Benedict XVI in his three encyclicals has emphasized the role of charity in our faith. In his newest encyclical “Charity in Truth” he writes that “Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthy life and especially his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love – caritas – is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has as its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth.”… “Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine.”

“…The driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity.” In 30 years at Catholic Charities if I have witnessed anything it is the importance of the authentic development of the person and of all humanity. We begin our lives with the love of God and the ability to care for one another deeply embedded in our hearts.  At birth we are totally dependent upon the love and care of others; we couldn’t survive on our own. As we become toddlers, young children, adolescents, young adults, and move into full adulthood it isn’t only our bodies that change and develop.

If we are to be successful and lead a healthy and good life, the successful development of our humanity and care for one another is a crucial aspect of that process. Over 30 years many of the reasons people come into Catholic Charities for our services cluster around difficulties that disrupt the process of the authentic development of the person and of humanity. Nothing is more barren than a world without love or charity and when our clients have had experiences that have undermined the development of their own ability to love, to be loved, and feel like an accepted and respected part of society, the foundation of the love and ability to care placed in our hearts by God is under attack.

The more areas of a person’s life under attack the greater the problems. We are all aware of the difficulties that arise from not just the lack of love and care in a person’s life and the added difficulties of full blown abuse in the place of love and care in a person’s life. The abuse of a child, sexually, physically, and emotionally are rightfully seen as abhorrent behavior because they do greatly undermine the successful development of the child. The sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of an adult is also rightfully seen as abhorrent behavior for the same reason.

We understand what the Pope is talking about under these circumstances, but what he is talking about in this encyclical is also about the other areas of our every day lives. Are we adding to, or subtracting from, the successful development of the human person and of all of humanity in our dealings economically, politically, socially, and spiritually? Are we involved in the authentic development of our own being and that of others for the common good of all, or not?

It is easy to understand the impact of the lack of love and charity in our most intimate and personal relationships without often considering the impact of the lack of love and charity in our every day lives with others. Yet, doesn’t the development of a safe, good, healthy, and successful society depend upon the same things as the development of our children, our families, our marriages?

Is the development of our economy just based on profit? Is the development of a free, honorable and good society just based on laws? The Pope is helping us find the direction that is needed right now at this time, in this world, as we face an economic crisis that impacts the daily lives of people throughout the world. We have a chance to do the right thing that will stabilize not just economies so that greater profits can again be derived; we have a chance to accept the very real responsibility to care for God’s creation.

We are all created in the image of God, we are deserving of the love and charity of God. God has place love and charity in our hearts. Without that love and charity the world would be a very barren place indeed. What is missing in our modern world is the acceptance of the responsibility to develop the love and charity in our hearts so that they can play their rightful role in creating what we all truly want for our lives and the lives of others.

In 30 years at Catholic Charities I have witnessed some extremely difficult situations and some extremely difficult people to work with and the key to success has been taking advantage of what is placed in our hearts, knowing that all people want the same thing, and helping people develop and utilize their God given abilities to live a life that they can be proud of and that they know honors the dignity and value of the lives of others as well.

The Pope’s new encyclical is an important document and simply starting to read it for a few minutes each day, giving ourselves time to think about what it means to us in our development, until we have complete the reading of the encyclical is really a small task that can have a real impact for our good and the good of all.