Catholic Legal Theory

Today I participated in the Ninth Annual John F. Scarpa Conference on Law, Politics and Culture at Villanova Law School, on the theme Catholic Legal Theory: Aspirations, Challenges and Hopes.  The conference gathered many of those with whom I co-blog on Mirror of Justice and who, over the years, have become very good friends.  As always, it was nourishing to spend time with these friends and colleague during a day that included Mass, several sessions of presentations, and some time for spiritual reflection (which I led, on the subject of humility).  We ended the day with dinner and extended time to socialize.

I’m way too tired to write anything substantive about the day.  So for now I’ll simply say that over the course of the day, Rick Garnett summarized the talks of the various speakers in a series of Mirror of Justice posts.  I encourage you to take a look at his posts.  I’ll try to post some further thoughts tomorrow.

 

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Co-Creating with God

Today the United States celebrates Labor Day, a day on which we recognize the achievements of American workers. The Department of Labor calls it a day to “pay tribute… to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.” In Catholic terms, recognizing God’s role as the primary creator of all we have, we more accurately pay tribute to workers as “co-creators” with God.

A central theme in Catholic thought is work as participation in the creative action of God – in the work of creation itself, and therefore as a means of sanctification. From a Catholic perspective, work serves to facilitate and encourage human person in becoming “fully human” and therefore receptive to the divine, playing a tremendously important part in bringing workers to the realization of the fullness of their existence and potential as a human person.

This sense of work as participation in the act of creation, as a means for realizing our full potential as humans comes from our creation in the image of God and the dignity of the human person. The purpose of work is to create, and the purpose of creation is to actualize our potential as beings created in the image of God. Our divine nature is displayed in work.

It is good to remind ourselves that work as participation in the act of creation is not dependent on how a particular type of work is regarded from a secular standpoint. Some work is more glamorous or seems more important than other work. Some work looks to us like mere drudgery. But it is not the nature of the particular job that gives work its dignity. Brother Lawrence, in the classic Christian text, The Practice of the Presence of God, observes that God is as present in the kitchen as in the cathedral.

The Worker, The Co-Creator

Today is Labor Day in the United States, a day on which we formally recognize the achievements of workers. The Department of Labor calls it a day to “pay tribute… to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.”

In Catholic terms, we might describe the day slightly differently, paying tribute to workers as “co-creators” with God.

A central theme in Catholic thought is work as participation in the creative action of God – in the work of creation itself, and therefore as a means of sanctification. From a Catholic perspective, work serves to facilitate and encourage human person in becoming “fully human” and therefore receptive to the divine, playing a tremendously important part in bringing workers to the realization of the fullness of their existence and potential as a human person.

This sense of work as participation in the act of creation, as a means for realizing our full potential as humans comes from our creation in the image of God and the dignity of the human person. The purpose of work is to create, and the purpose of creation is to actualize our potential as beings created in the image of God. Our divine nature is displayed in work.

It is good to remind ourselves that work as participation in the act of creation is not dependent on how a particular type of work is regarded from a secular standpoint. Some work is more glamorous or seems more important than other work. Some work looks to us like mere drudgery. But it is not the nature of the particular job that gives work its dignity. Brother Lawrence, in the classic Christian text, The Practice of the Presence of God, observes that God is as present in the kitchen as in the cathedral.

What Are We Doing for Those Being Left Behind?

When my friend Richard met me for lunch the other day, he gave me a copy of a book title The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. The book will be read by all first-year students at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities this year, and other members of the university community (which includes my friend Richard) are invited to read it along with them. Richard ha an extra copy and thought I might be interested in reading it. He was right. I finished reading it within 48 hours after our lunch.

The book, written by Wes Moore, tells the story of two boys named Wes Moore, one of whom is that author. Both boys grew up fatherless in Baltimore, both had difficult childhoods, both had trouble with the police. But whereas the author grew up to join the military, graduating college with distinction, become a Rhodes Scholar, a White House Fellow and then a successful business leader, the other is serving a life sentence for felony murder.

The book does not try to explicitly answer the question so many people have asked the author: What made the difference between the two Wes Moore’s? How do we explain how two boys with similar backgrounds and identical names ended up in such radically different places?

There is clearly no one answer to that question. It is no more possible to answer it with respect to these two boys than it is to understand why the lives of some people are easier than others. Why do some seem to get all the breaks and others none? Why does every step seem difficult for some and paved for success for another?

One thing is clear, however. As a society we can and must acknowledge that we need to do a better job than we are doing to be sure that all of our young people are given a chance to make the best decisions possible about what to do with their lives. To make sure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. That no one is viewed as expendable. That we are providing a good education to everyone, not just those with family resources. That no young person views selling drugs or other crime as their only way to make ends meet.

And each of us has a role to play. Whether it is providing necessary mentoring for young people without reliable adult figures in their lives. Or advocating on behalf of the vulnerable. Of contributing resources to those who do. Or finding some other way to make a difference.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church speaks of the need to have the good of all people as it primary goal, reminding us that everyone “has the right to enjoy the conditions of human life brought about by the quest for the common good.” It also advises us of the fact that no one is exempt from cooperating in advancing the common good. Right now, a lot of people are being left behind and we can all do a better job of helping them.

In the book, one boy was given a chance and the other wasn’t. My heart rejoices for the Wes Moore who had people who went out of their way to ensure that he has options. And my heart grieves for the Wes Moore who will remain in jail for the rest of his life.

Welcoming the Stranger

Immigration has been a large topic of public debate in recent times. Almost everyone believes we need some kind of immigration reform, although there is vast disagreement on what that should look like.

I’m not interested here in taking a position on the specifics of what immigration reform should look like. But I do believe that we need to acknowledge that Christians have an obligation to think about the question in a way different from the way the secular world looks at it. In their 2003 letter, Strangers No Longer, the bishops of the U.S. and Mexico reminded us that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were immigrants in Egypt, something Richard Rohr has accused many Christians of forgetting and ignoring. In Contemplation and Action, Rohr wrote:

A Christian by identification with Jesus must by necessity identify with those that he called “blessed” by at least four different standards (Matthew 5:3-6, 10). He told us that if we did not “welcome the stranger” we were “cursed” (Matthew 25:40), and yet, this has had almost no effect on the typical Christian’s attitude toward outsiders in almost all countries.

I have little patience with people who call the USA a Christian nation when I see our attitude toward the very poor who are doing all the hard jobs that we are unwilling to do. Such self serving hypocrisy will meet a firm judgment later, and deserves our judgment now.

Again, my point is not that one proposal or another is of necessity one that all Christians must agree on. But we do have to make sure that our thinking about immigration policy reflects Jesus’ command to welcome the stranger and that when we look at our immigrant brothers and sisters, the face we see is that of Jesus.

CST 101

Earlier this week I gave a talk at St. Peter’s parish in St. Paul aimed at giving the parish’s social justice committee and other interested parishioners a basic introduction to the principles of Catholic Social Thought.

I began by talking about the anthropoligical foundations of Catholic social thought, specifically the underlying view of the human person as being both sacred and social and some of the implications flowing from that view of the human person. I then turned to a discussion of the basic principles of Catholic social thought, using the rubric of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops explication of the themes of Catholic Social Teaching. I spent most of the time focusing on the principle of the dignity of the human person, because it is the foundation for the other principles, but also talked about the other principles.

Following my talk, participants spent some time considering the application of the issues to some issues of current public debate (such as immigration reform, health care and taxation levels), first in individual reflection and then in small group discussion. The small group discussion convinced people both of the importance of finding ways to bring the principles of Catholic thought into public discussion and of the difficulty of applying principles to concrete problems. We also talked about how conversations can fruitfully be had with people who possess opposing views. Although the group will have much more to discuss among themselves as the year goes on, it was good start to their efforts as a parish to provide a greater focus on issues of social justice.

You can find a copy of the talk here. (The podcast runs for 49:49.)

Pray for Immigrants Weekend

The Justice for Immigrants Campaign of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked Catholic parishes around the country to pray as one at Eucharistic celebrations this weekend for fair and just immigration reform. This is not about advocating a particular proposal, but about recognizing the critical importance of ensuring that Catholic values are an essential component of the ongoing dialogue surrounding the issue of immigration reform in this country.

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) As Christians, we are people of love. Can others see how we love one another? Do they know we are Jesus’ disciples by the way we love immigrants? How we treat our immigrant brothers and sisters speaks volumes of who we are and who we wish to be.

Let us pray together this weekend for immigrants and their suffering, for their needs and their hopes. And let us pray that we achieve fair and just reform of a system that is sorely in need of of fixing. The MSP Office for Social Justice has drafted some suggested petitions for Masses this weekend. You might consider including them in your own prayers.

For the immigrants, migrants, refugees and all people on the move, that they may find hope and safe haven, remain true to their rich traditions and heritage, and help to build harmonious communities wherever they live.

For all organizations dedicated to assisting refugees, migrants and other vulnerable populations, may their mission bring about justice and reflect God’s infinite love.

For our elected officials, that they may find the wisdom and courage to help reform our broken immigration system, so that the basic human dignity of all persons is protected and that immigrant families are able to remain together.