You Did It for Me: Care of Your Neighbor as a Spiritual Practice

by Kevin E. McKenna

Overview

Most books dealing with the social teachings of the Catholic Church simply relate those teachings and comment on them.

You Did It for Me breaks the mold and shows that when you live the social gospel you live the spiritual life. Author Kevin McKenna explains that his "underlying reason for writing this book is my belief that spirituality and social concern go hand in hand and that Jesus is our model. He spent much time in prayer, and then went forth in action."

This model of prayer and action also helps dispel the commonly held understanding that only by praying and escaping from the world can we live a spiritual life.

McKenna explores numerous aspects of the Church's social teaching-including care of creation, human life and dignity, call to community, and the dignity of work-and shows through example and reflection, how you too can grow spiritually in the midst of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594710391
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	05/28/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.41(d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction	13
	Abbreviations	21
Chapter 1	Care for God's Creation	23
	Our efforts to serve the poor and vulnerable must be accompanied by concrete efforts to address the causes of human suffering and injustice	27
	We are called to transform our hearts and our social structures, to renew the face of the earth	39
	We cannot celebrate a faith we do not practice	40
	We cannot proclaim a gospel we do not live	42
	Reflection Questions	44
Chapter 2	Life and the Dignity of the Human Person	45
	In the Catholic social vision, the human person is central	49
	All people are a reflection of the image of God and thus all human life, at all its stages from conception through death, is sacred	50
	The human person is the clearest reflection of God among us	53
	Each person possesses a basic human dignity that comes from God	57
	The test of every institution or policy is whether it enhances or threatens human life and human dignity	58
	People take precedence over things and structures	63
	Reflection Questions	65
Chapter 3	Call to Family, Community, and Participation	67
	The mystery of the Trinity involves the relationship of complete love among the three divine Persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit	71
	As people made in God's image, we must model divine love	74
	The human person is not only sacred, but also social	77
	We realize our dignity and rights in relationship with others, in community	79
	The family has major contributions to make in addressing questions of social justice	80
	The family is where we learn and act on our values	82
	We have the right and the responsibility to participate in and contribute to the broader communities in society	84
	A central test of political, legal, and economic institutions is what they do to people, what they do for people, and how people participate in them	84
	Reflection Questions	86
Chapter 4	Rights and Responsibilities of the Human Person	87
	Flowing from our God-given dignity, each person has basic rights and responsibilities	91
	People have a fundamental right to life and to those things that make life truly human: food, clothing, housing, health care, education, security, social services, and employment	97
	Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities-to one another, to our families, and to the larger society, to respect the rights of others, and to work for the common good	99
	Reflection Questions	106
Chapter 5	Option for and With the Poor and Vulnerable	107
	The poor and vulnerable have a special place in Catholic social teaching	109
	The gospel calls Christians to put the needs of the poor first	111
	A basic moral test for society is how its most vulnerable members are faring	112
	The lesson of the parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25)	115
	Our tradition calls us to put the needs of the poor and the vulnerable first	116
	As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our sisters and brothers, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response	117
	Whenever there is structural injustice, Christians are called to oppose it	119
	Reflection Questions	126
Chapter 6	Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers	127
	Work is an expression of our dignity and our involvement in God's creation	134
	Work is more than a way to make a living; it is an expression of our dignity and a form of continuing participation in God's creation	136
	People have the right to decent and productive work, to decent and fair wages, to private property and economic initiative	139
	Workers have the strong support of the church in forming and joining union and worker associations of their choosing in the exercise of their dignity and rights	141
	These values are at the heart of Rerum Novarum, and other encyclicals on economic justice	142
	In Catholic teaching, the economy exists to serve people, not the other way around	143
	Reflection Questions	145
Chapter 7	Solidarity	147
	We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences	150
	We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers (Gn 4:9)	152
	In a linked and limited world, our responsibilities to one another cross national and other boundaries	152
	Violent conflict and the denial of dignity and rights to people anywhere in the globe diminish each of us	155
	This emerging theme of solidarity, so strongly articulated by Pope John Paul II, expresses the core of the church's concern for world peace, global development, environment and international human rights	158
	It is the contemporary expression of the traditional Catholic image of the Mystical Body	161
	Because we realize our dignity, rights, and responsibilities, in relationship with others, we need to continue to build a community that empowers people to attain their full human potential	162
	Reflection Questions	165
	Conclusion	167
	Notes	171
	Sources and Suggested Readings	185