First meeting of the Joy and Hope group reading the social doctrine compendium
“Blessed
are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”(Mt
5:6). Hm. If Jesus said it, I guess I can believe it. But this one – dear Lord!
– this one is flat miraculous. “Satisfied”?! The peace and justice folks –
satisfied?!
Friends –
The first
meeting is Tuesday, February 4, 7-9 PM, at the Parish Center. We’ll do some
organization stuff – expectations, schedule, food – and then look at the
Introduction. I told several people it’s 12 paragraphs, but it’s 19 paragraphs.
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is available from
Amazon or Kindle, for $32.95 either way. It is also available on the Vatican
website, free but clunky. If you get it
from the Vatican, you get a pdf file, and can’t read it on a phone unless you have
excellent eyesight or the humility to use a magnifying glass. The address to
get the text from the Vatican is https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
Or google
“Compendium social doctrine church” and the third or fourth item to pop up
should be the Vatican link.
If you can
read the introduction ahead of time, that would be great. But please please
PLEASE don’t hesitate to come without reading ahead! You don’t need to prepare.
You don’t need to bring anything. Kids are welcome, although we are not
providing child care.
In
general, at meetings, I’d like to
·
pray
and sing;
·
summarize
the chapter succinctly;
·
solicit
responses, especially (a) questions, (b) startling assertions, and (c) delights;
·
converse
without rancor.
The conversation will pursue (1)
your responses, and (2) a prepared sheet with a few key points (see below).
The Catechism
of the Catholic Church summarizes the teaching with a short paragraph for
each section. The Compendium has similar one sentence summaries –
italicized at the beginning of each paragraph. In summarizing the summaries of
the Summary (Compendium), I’m tempted to take the first sentence from each
paragraph and dance a bit; I will resist the temptation.
In
general, at meetings, I’d like to
·
pray
and sing;
·
summarize
the chapter succinctly;
·
solicit
responses, especially (a) questions, (b) startling assertions, and (c) delights;
·
converse
without rancor.
The
conversation will pursue (1) your responses, and (2) a prepared sheet with a
few key points (see below).
For the
first session, reading the Introduction, here’s a brutally truncated summary,
with the issues that look like discussion points to me italicized.
Setting:
This is about a pilgrim people celebrating a Jubilee Year at the outset of the
Third Millennium. (par 1)
Scope:
“Jesus came to bring integral salvation, one which embraces the whole
person and all mankind.” Note how often we read universal
words and phrases: all, whole, every … (par 1)
Topic:
“The Church does not tire of proclaiming the Gospel that brings salvation and
genuine freedom also to temporal realities.” Salvation is linked to every
smidgin of reality. Jesus and his Church care about social issues
as well as individual challenges. (par 2)
Audience: Our
traveling companions in our pilgrimage include every single person on earth.
(par 3)
Context:
The social doctrine is an element of the new evangelization. (par 7)
Goal: We
aim for a new civilization on earth, built in solidarity with all
people – “a new social, economic and political order.” (par 17)
