Call to Family, Community & Participation

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
The person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society—in economics  and politics, in law and policy—directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community.  Marriage and the family are the central  social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We  believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking  together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and  vulnerable. 
"The family is thus an agent of pastoral activity through its explicit proclamation of the Gospel and its legacy of varied forms of witness, namely solidarity with the poor, openness to a diversity of people, the protection of creation, moral and material solidarity with other families, including those most in need, commitment to the promotion of the common good and the transformation of unjust social structures, beginning in the territory in which the family lives, through the practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy." (Pope Francis, On Love in the Family, Amoris Laetitia #290).

Quotes:

We’re not supposed to be bystanders or mere observers, but instead, we’re supposed to get in there and live, and listen, and love the people that God has placed around us.
— Msgr. Ray East
“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” ~ Dorothy Day, from The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist

Resources 

CST 101: Call to Family, Community, and Participation Discussion Guide  (CRS/USCCB) Quotes from Church documents in regards to family (Catholic Charities Twin Cities)

From the USCCB:
Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice 

"The Word of God calls believers to become 'the salt of the earth, the light of the world.'  The Pope and the bishops are called to teach and lead, but unless the Church's social teaching finds a home in the hearts and lives of Catholic women and men, our community and culture will fall short of what the Gospel requires. Our society urgently needs the everyday witness of Christians who take the social demands of our faith seriously. The pursuit of justice is an essential part of the Catholic call to holiness, which is our true vocation: to live 'in Christ,' and let Christ live and work in us in our world today."

"Our families are the starting point and the center of a vocation for justice. How we treat our parents, spouses and children is a reflection of our commitment to Christ's love and justice. We demonstrate our commitment to the Gospel by how we spend our time and money, and whether our family life includes an ethic of charity, service and action for justice. The lessons we teach our children through what we do as well as what we say determines whether they care for the "least among us" and are committed to work for justice."

We are Salt and Light

Click HERE to discover more about Pope Francis' reflections on "encounter" and community. 

"For me this word is very important. Encounter with others. Why? Because faith is an encounter with Jesus, and we must do what Jesus does: encounter others. . . with our faith we must create a "culture of encounter,” a culture of friendship, a culture in which we find brothers and sisters, in which we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith. They all have something in common with us: they are images of God, they are children of God."
- POPE FRANCIS, 5/18/13

Lessons from a Monastery on Building Christian Community

From the beginning, God created us to be members of a community. God Himself is a communion of persons. We humans that are made in His image and likeness are called to commune with one another, to be one like the Holy Trinity is one.
​Click here for 5 practical tips on being community.

Everyone with a part to play

The Catholic social teaching principle of Participation is recognizing that everyone has a part to play in our communities.  Promoting participation - nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou - means recognizing we each have something unique and important to contribute to society. We are called on to be active members of our local and global communities. (​Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has focused on the organisation L'Arche. ​)
Pax Christi
Diocese of Helena