Guidelines for Action:

1
Chapter 4

• Guidelines for Action
• Doing Justice, Living Justly

2
Doing Justice

• Starting point for justice
• Asking the question
• _____________________
• _______________
• Individual actions that lead to problems or good
  results
• _______________
• Ways society is structured that affect people
• Two Approaches for easing suffering
• _______________
• Charitable actions by which we come to the aid of
  our neighbor
• Two types
• __________________
• __________________
• _______________
• Changing the structures of society

3
Works of Mercy

• Corporal Works
• Feed the hungry
• Give drink to the thirsty
• Clothe the naked
• Visit the sick
• Shelter the homeless
• Visit the imprisoned
• Bury the dead

• Spiritual Works
• Counsel the doubtful
• Instruct the ignorant
• Admonish the sinner
• Comfort the sorrowful
• Forgive injuries
• Bear wrongs patiently
• Pray for the living and the dead

4
Social Structures

• Social Structures
• _______________________________________
• Determines who is in power/wealth and who is not
• Involve many interactions at different levels
• ________________________________________
• Must be based in justice and act with compassion
• Two types of structures
• ______________________
• Encourage and strengthen life, dignity, and
  community development
• ______________________
• Discourage and weaken life, dignity, and
  community development
• Any social structure that blocks justice
• Determined not by chance, but by personal sinful
  choices
• Social sin
• __________________________________

5
Changing Social Structures

• Long-term solutions
• Answers which provide __________________
  _________________
• Social Action
• Examining the ______________________ combined
  with seeking long-term solutions and a shared
  sense of _________________
• Constitutive aspect of the Church and the life of
  a follower of Christ
• Not just asking What would Jesus Do?
• Commitment to What will I do?

6
Circle of Faith in Action

• 1971 Paul VI A Call to Action called for
• Bringing about the social, political, and
  economic changes seen to be urgently needed
• ___________________________
• The idea of a circle of faith in action
• 3 steps
• __________
• __________
• __________
• Each step is guided by faith and rooted in
  Scripture
• Words and actions of Christ

7
Step 1 - Awareness

• Awareness
• We must see, hear, and know the world in a spirit
  of friendship
• ______________________________
• How does God see the worlds people, especially
  the poor and vulnerable?

8
Step 2 Analysis

• Analysis
• ______________________________ ___________________
  ___________
• Not _________others evaluating situations
• What is needed for the people of the world,
  especially the poor and vulnerable, to experience
  justice?

9
Step 3 - Action

• Action
• Only after ______________we are able to act
• Required for Christian living as
  ____________________ and others
• How are we called to act so that the poor and
  vulnerable may live in dignity?

10
Result New Awareness

• ________________ to the reality of the world
  leads to a new understanding of the way that the
  world is
• This cycle _________, and each time we move
  through it we draw closer to _____________________
  ___ ________________

11
Action

• Acting for justice ______________
• We must stand up against injustice and work for a
  just world based on love
• ACTS Hours
• ______________
• Not just a graduation requirement
• 2 Thessalonians 3 6-16

12
Direct Action Social Action

• Two ways in which we seize the opportunities to
  act for justice
• Direct Action
• Occurs on the level of individual relationships
  and is usually aimed at meeting an immediate need
• Social Action
• Occurs on the level of social structures
  attempts to change the behavior of society and
  its institutions in a way that promotes justice

13
Two Feet of Christian Justice

• Two feet of Christian justice
• Works of Mercy Direct Action
• Works of Social Action
• Refers to the necessity of both direct and social
  action in order to work for justice
• Without both feet, justice cannot move forward
• Example
• Direct ? give a person a fish eat for a day
• Social ? teach a person to fish eat for a
  lifetime

14
Awareness Friendship with the World

• Perception Reality
• Too often this is true in our lives
• First impressions are the most important
• This may not be correct
• External influences
• Mood, peer pressure, etc. Influence how we look
  at the world

15
Awareness Friendship with the World

• We need a more faith centered approach
• ______________
• The starting point of justice
• _______________________ the world in a spirit of
  friendship as God does
• Awareness can dictate how we ____ ______________
• Do you hear what I hear

16
Awareness Worldviews

• Worldview
• ________________________________
  ________________________________
• Answers the following questions
• What is most important in life?
• Do all people have the same rights?
• What responsibilities do individuals have to
  society?
• Are most people basically good or bad?
• What is God like, if God exists?

17
Worldviews (cont)

• Worldviews come from two main sources
• _____________
• Our own _______________shape the way we see the
  world
• A child growing up in a slave based society will
  have strong feelings regarding slavery
• ___________
• All of the __________________, and ways of
  relating that __________________________
• Peer pressure

18
Analyzing Power

• Human power
• The God given ability to _______________________
  _________________________in either positive or
  negative ways
• There are two ways to understand power
• _____________
• Belief that human beings are their own power
  source recalls Original Sin
• Often acquired at the expense of the poor
• _____________
• Love-centered God as the source
• To be used with and for others
• Realizing that ________________of power helps
  people practice justice

19
Analysis Asking Why?

• Why are so many people unable to live as fully as
  God intended?
• _____________________________ ___________________
  __________
• Remember human choice and freedom allow for
  suffering
• More appropriate question
• ___________________________ ______________________
  _____ ___________________________?

20
True Understanding

• Analysis
• Process of understanding how peoples lives are
  affected by the relationships that shape the
  society in which they live
• _________________________
• Really caring about a situation or person
• What if anything can I do?
• Not random or polite questioning
• How are you?

21
Living Justly and Compassionately

• Requirement of Christian Life
• Matthew 25
• Judgment of the Nations
• Compassion
• _____________________
• Living compassionately requires
• Compassionate _______
• Compassionate _______
• Compassionate _______

22
Building Communities

• __________________________
• Resist movements, trends, and cultural practices
  that are violate human dignity
• ______________________
• Groups that take a unified stand against
  injustice
• Importance of ____________
• Justice is not practiced alone
• Community effort _______________

23
Doing Justice Living Justly

• Personal Cultural Commitment
• ___________________
• Leads to an increasing sense of what is right and
  then acting on that knowledge
• ________________
• Living justly and with compassion can help us to
  ______________
• __________from a sign of punishment and evil to a
  sign of love and redemption