Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
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The primary virtue at play in social justice is a sense of personal responsibility<br />
for the basic needs of those who are most vulnerable and struggle<br />
to support themselves. The commitment to social justice is what makes<br />
certain that no one falls through the cracks of society because of extreme<br />
poverty, oppression, or social exclusion. As a virtue, this responsibility obligates<br />
us to help our neighbor if we are able or to support services like food<br />
banks if we have no other way to help.<br />
These acts are not a matter of charity but of justice; each of us is<br />
responsible for ensuring that no one is deprived of their basic needs. As<br />
Scripture teaches us, we are our neighbor’s keeper. Jesus’ parable of the<br />
Good Samaritan illustrated the point beautifully (Luke 10:29–37). And as<br />
the Church teaches, “The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others<br />
and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it<br />
involves the disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. ‘As you<br />
did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’” ( CCC<br />
1932). While this responsibility is a social responsibility for everyone, we<br />
exercise it individually as we do what we can to make sure that social<br />
conditions are not marginalizing or excluding anyone. For each individual,<br />
the practice of social justice depends on their unique circumstances and<br />
social position.<br />
High School Chapter: Different Types of Justice<br />
The commitment<br />
to social justice<br />
is what makes<br />
certain that no<br />
one falls through<br />
the cracks of<br />
society because of<br />
extreme poverty,<br />
oppression, or<br />
social exclusion.<br />
187<br />
19 Read the parable. What<br />
prompts Jesus to tell the<br />
parable? How does His<br />
response demonstrate a more<br />
loving and merciful approach<br />
to the definition of neighbor?<br />
Accept reasoned responses. The<br />
man who posed the question<br />
to Jesus was a lawyer, which<br />
indicates that the response he<br />
may have hoped for was less<br />
inclusive than the response<br />
he received. Jesus offered a<br />
different insight that pushed the<br />
man beyond a traditional, easy<br />
definition of neighbor. Ancient<br />
Jews and Samaritans loathed<br />
each other; the wounded man,<br />
presumably Jewish, was ignored<br />
by his own kinsmen and was<br />
rescued by an enemy, and so this<br />
story demonstrates an important<br />
insight regarding how we ought to<br />
see others.<br />
Marx and Engels at the Rheinische Zeitung by E. Capiro (1849).<br />
Karl Marx and Friedrich<br />
Engels published The<br />
Communist Manifesto<br />
in 1848, asserting<br />
therein that the basis<br />
of all human history is<br />
class struggle and social<br />
confl ict.<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers<br />
© Sophia Institute for Teachers<br />
High School Chapter: Different Types of Justice<br />
157