One onto my self and one among many is consistent with\nconventional thinking. Presuming a democracy and free market system, an\nindividual can move freely from one societal structure to the next. Being any\npart of a household does not preclude one\u2019s status in the economy, the\npolitical structure, the denomination, or general social setting. On the other\nhand, one onto my self and one in the body of Christ, His Church, becomes\nparadoxical. Saint Paul uses the analogy of the human body to better explain\nthis paradoxical interconnection. Yes, the eye is one onto itself, and yes, it\nis a unique entity, yet the eye only has substantive meaning within the context\nof the body; it is what it is because it is in the body and the body is what it\nis because the eye is what it is. All this gibberish is to utilize\nfunctionality, unity, and the comprehensible distinction between the worldly\nand transcendental. Using parody as our model we can conceivably better\nunderstand paradox as analogy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us work backwards, let\u2019s begin with a conclusion\nconcerning this unity in a worldly way and how the individual through his\ninalienable rights can create the common good. Understanding paradox as a\nfoundational factor in this discussion, let\u2019s conclude government works better\nwhen some of the government functions are not performed by the government.\nLet\u2019s return to the early days of our Constitution and reestablish the notion\nthat promoting the common good means the government will not do anything to\nimpede the common good. Today\u2019s understanding of government is to design and\nexecute programs and legislation which function as the common good. By its very\nnature, the government is created from and for empire building. When government\nmakes the decisions concerning human rights and promoting the common good, a\nsociety can easily gravitate into a Fascist Germany or an Imperialistic Japan. Today\u2019s\nChina is more than a world competitor, China has become a global predator. Similarly,\nwhen religion takes the task of governing the society, a present-day Iran can\nemerge. OK, so how did we get to this conclusion that government in some areas should\nnot govern? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, we examine in a paradoxical way, human rights as\nthe vehicle which gets us to the common good which are the same human rights that\nare found in the common good. In other words, the society has to have basic\nhuman rights to create the authentic common good and the common good will expand\nthese human rights. Either way, we will\nbegin with human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope John XXIII, in his encyclical letter of 1963, titled\n\u201cPeace on Earth\u201d, listed some of these rights as: the right to life and a\nworthy standard of living, food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and necessary social\nservices. Rights pertaining to moral and cultural values, such as the search\nfor truth, to worship God, to meet and associate with others, and to immigrate.\nThere are certainly political rights and far reaching economic rights: a right\nto work and work in a safe environment, receive a just wage, and a right to\nhave private property. Certainly, these are all worthy rights and these rights\ncan be easily expanded into greater detail pointing the way to the common good.\nWe find the Catechism of the Catholic Church continues with this idea of worthy\nrights. Firstly, and foremost by putting the concerns of the common good on the\nrights and social conditions which allow the people to reach their fulfillment,\nemphasizing the individual\u2019s participation and responsibility in and for the\ncommon good. The CCC beautifully ties the rights of a person to the common good\nby presupposing respect for and the wellbeing of the person. Human rights and\nthe common good are strengthened by the social development of a group within a\npeaceful, secure, and just order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, we might want to look at how the transcendental\ntransitions into the worldly. We might see this as the abstract into the\npractical, theory into practice, interpretation into application, or subjective\ninto objective. How we view this transition is not as important as getting it\nright, actually having the worldly model be expressive of the vision. I suggest\na few mental steps into the process. Looking at the subjective into the\nobjective can be accomplished by agreeing on a standard by which we can measure\nand evaluate the clarity of the vision, and the results of the implementation.\nConsidering the human rights brings to mind the personal responsibilities\nassociated with these rights, and in some worldly ways the burdens of the\nblessings. I offer you this, there is a God Standard we can use which demands\nwe act out of love and humility. Taking ourselves out of the equation and\nloving as Bishop Baron explains, loving for the sake of others, as other. Also,\nwhen asking what I am about to do, will it appeal to everyone\u2019s highest ideals\nand best intentions? Finally, is the underpinning based on right thinking, in\nother words, kindness, compassion, empathy, and bringing joyous motivation as\nin giving with a happy heart? If the answer is yes, to these prerequisites,\nthen I can proceed in confidence that I am beginning to move forward in the\nright direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another step in this idea of moving from theory into\npractice might be to consider, what is, what should be and what ought to be? Considering\nEinstein\u2019s life work was never completed. On his death bed were his notes and\nequations as he spent his final hours working on the mathematical path from the\nsub-particle mechanics to the world of physics. I am suggesting we do the same\nby considering problems such as this have solutions, but mysteries do not. Problems\nwill eventually be solved; mysteries will be experienced. Moving into practice,\nwe will by necessity decide, what is. What are the current conditions, what\nhave our institutions, agencies, government legislations and bureaucracies\ncreated or failed to create? We know our vision of a kinder and softer world\ndemands we take the next step, what should be? This is where our clear and\ncritical thinking becomes paramount. Not only are we capturing our vision, we\nare also considering all the resources available and how these resources will\nelevate what is, to what can be experienced. We are looking for the best of all\nworlds, the one we have, the incremental transition steps being taken and the\naccomplishment of our goals, unfolding before us. Ours is a quest of\ninflorescence, what the Bible calls fruits of our labor. This is the process of\nnurturing and cultivating, growth and harvesting in the season of plenty. This\nis much different than the deliberation of what ought to be. What ought to be\nis that Utopian idea of pie in the sky; what can be imagined but is beyond\nreach. What ought to be has no prerequisites, there can be no transition from\ntheory to practice because the vision has no foundation. Granted the vision\ndoes incorporate love and harmony, virtues, unity, and every platitude known to\nman, but it lacks character and energy; it has no substance only a clouded\nvision of heaven on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope John XXIII laid out our human rights as a pathway to a\nrich and rewarding life. Considering the human rights in and of themselves are\nnot experiences, they are to be experienced. Virtue is only virtuous because of\na worldly experience, something accomplished in our world, perceived as\nauthentic goodness. The idea leads to action, without the action the idea is\nonly a shadowy reflection of what ought to be. The spoken idea is only\nrhetoric, without the man-made action, the Holy Spirit has no arena. The human\nrights capture the vision; the worldly event captures the experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our mission becomes the work of the Church, with or without\nthe church, moving from the abstract into the practical. Taking what was once\nthe function of government or what was perceived to be a necessary function and\ncreating a new structure for the common good. The goal being collaboration.\nCommunication to coordination and cooperation, all leading to collaboration. In\nthis way the government can become a recipient rather than the originator. In\nthe light of the Covid-19 pandemic, much has been said about the restructuring\nof government and the opportunities to make changes for the common good, what\nthe pundits see as a way forward through existing structures and the\nstrengthening of government. What the laity sees as strengthening government as\nthey promote the common good with structures tangent to the normal operations\nof government. We have all seen these unique entities in ordinary ways, such\nas, neighborhood watch groups, private and home schooling, nonprofits, rural\nvolunteer fire departments, foundations for charities and church sponsored\ncharities. I will leave structuring and labeling to the sociologists, the\npolitical scientists, and economists. Its time to put away the clich\u00e9s like,\nhuman dignity for workers of the world or capitalism not corporatism. Its\nobvious some platforms make a better starting point than others, again, its not\nabout empire building, its about saving our souls, human rights and promoting\nthe common good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, here\u2019s how it worked. As a representative of Catholic\nCharities, I met in committee with West Palm Beach Food Bank, United Way, other\ncharity groups and some non-profit food providers. Our goal was to establish nutritional\nrequirements for children of different age groups, base line pricing,\ndistribution schemes, and coordination between entities to provide weekend food\nfor kids living in insecure home kitchens. This program is customarily called,\n\u201cThe BackPack Program.\u201d Our program is designed for kids up to the ages of ten\nto twelve. The school systems provide breakfasts and lunches for children in\nneed, but nothing was being done for their weekend meals. Through the effective\nadministration and fund raising of Catholic Charities, the work of a field\nliaison, and the volunteers at the Churches, approximately 400,000 meals have\nbeen given away over the last six years. The program evolved to a point where\nthere are no prerequisites, reordering and inventories are controlled by\ndistribution logs. Recipients are simply asked to sign a form with the kids\nname and the adult who is picking up the food. There are no questions asked,\njust show up and pick up the meals. The program is so popular and successful\nthat the school districts are now directly sub-contracting with the non-profit\ndistributors so the kids can take the food home after Friday\u2019s school day. The\nprogram could continue indefinitely as long as there is private funding, on the\nother hand, this is a case where government did step in to promote the common\ngood based on the work of a unique entity whose sole goal was to further the\nsanctity of the individual and the promote the common good. Blessings for all\nof us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One onto my self and one among many is consistent with conventional thinking. Presuming a democracy and free market system, an individual can move freely from one societal structure to the next. Being any part of a household does not preclude one\u2019s status in the economy, the political structure, the denomination, or general social setting. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13,49,56,55],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","tag-catholic-faith","tag-catholic-spirituality","tag-common-good","tag-human-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}