by Joan Mitchell, CSJ
The common good is the heart of Catholic social teaching. The Second Vatican Council defined this principle as the sum of all that is necessary for people to thrive. Government sits at the intersection of private and public good. Politicians have the work of creating and funding laws that calibrate the budget to provide all citizens with at least minimally adequate food, shelter, water, education, health care.
The United States Conference of Bishops provides the table on this page to illustrate how business, government, religious groups, and individuals work together to provide for folks who need support or a leg up out of poverty.
We set the table for our brothers and sisters together. We set the table by getting to know our neighbors. In her book The New Better Off, Courtney Martin reports people actually live longer where they know one another and create social capital through interacting.
As Jesus teaches in the temple courtyards, he engages controversial questions like those that provoke our 24/7 news coverage today. Can a faithful Jew pay Roman taxes? Cultural tensions underlie this question. How does a Jew keep God’s law faithfully under the rule of foreigners, who do not worship one God, hold the same moral standards, or celebrate the same feasts?
Immigration concerns many countries. Who deserves to be admitted? What benefit will they be to our economy? Not only are many immigrants fleeing poverty and war as did many people in earlier crises. Now climate change has made formerly habitable and farmable land totally inhospitable to human beings. Where does our responsibility lie? What does love of neighbor ask us to do? As the the 2024 elections heat up, so do our public conversations. As followers of Jesus and faithful citizens of our country, what does our public life ask of us?
The Catholic Framework for Economic Life below illustrates ways four segments of society form the legs on the table of plenty for all. We seek our common good together.
- How do you participate inactivities on each leg of the table?