Who am I supposed to listen to?

I thought I knew which choices were the right ones.

I used to think I knew what it meant to be a good Catholic. Then, I learned about Catholic Social Teaching. I realized there was so much about the Catholic faith that I didn’t know about.

Through Catholic Social Teaching, I learned that God calls us to respect one another’s human dignity—to organize our society so that every person and family is supported, encouraged to grow, and contributes to the common good.

I learned that every person is a welcome participant in society, with human rights and responsibilities that afford them the basic needs of human decency.

I learned that we must put the poor and vulnerable first, and respect and make available meaningful, productive work that recognizes the gift of a day’s labor.

I learned that we are asked to do all of this in solidarity with our fellow children of God across the globe, caring for God’s creation by ensuring its resources are mindfully used and shared by all in a responsible manner, thereby preserving it for generations to come.

The principles of Catholic Social Teaching serve as points on our moral compass, each one guiding our conscience as we strive to live a life of holiness and build a just society.

Modern Catholic has been our weekly series exploring the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching and how they can be our compass in the modern world. We’ll be back in 2021!

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