Living the Faith: The Role of Catholic Social Teaching in Our Lives
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.” - Psalm 19:14
by Rosanna Castro
I was invited to speak at the Kenya Catholic Community in America’s 13th Annual Convention, recently. I was there because of my participation in a documentary called Faith in Blackness. Faith in Blackness was chosen for this year's Kenya Catholic Community in America Convention because it directly aligned with the event's theme and its emphasis on inclusivity. Members of the Sisters of Christian Charity, who are also part of the Kenyan Catholic community, strongly advocated for its inclusion.
I was asked to speak about the theme of the convention, which was A Universal Call to Holiness: Faith in Blackness. I was incredibly nervous about providing remarks because though I am Catholic, I do not always feel comfortable within my faith community. It can often be discouraging as a woman of color who supports the rights of others to love who they love and make decisions about their own bodies. But I felt so embraced speaking at KCCA before, during, and more importantly, after my remarks.
When I thought about the Church’s universal call to holiness, it made me reflect on how uniquely positioned Black people are to understand and fulfill Christ’s mission. An understanding that I believe is embedded in the collective DNA of the globally marginalized. Like us, Jesus was/is not white. Despite what most religious depictions of Him would have us believe, scriptural descriptions and the fact that he was born in modern day Palestine, makes this impossible. Like Jesus, many of us know what it is like to be immigrants and refugees. The gospels say his family was from Judea, but he was born in Bethlehem. They fled to Egypt because Herod called for the slaughter of all male born babies. Eventually, they settled in Nazareth, where he lived until he started his ministry, a ministry that occurred under the backdrop of Roman occupation. We also know he was extremely poor. Nazareth is described as an unimportant, poverty-stricken village of Galilee. Like Jesus, many of us have experienced poverty and come from countries that are demeaned by other nations.
Our ability to have close communion with Christ comes from our deep understanding and empathy for who He was as a person. This deeper understanding of Jesus allows us to move in the world in ways that promote the essence of who Jesus was - compassion, grace, mercy, and love.
We have an example of how Christ wanted us to move in the world in the gospels. And we have our own blueprint in Catholic social teaching (CST). CST is a collection of principles and documents that guide Catholics on how to live their faith in the world and build a just society. It is based on the Bible, the teachings of Church leaders, and the experiences of Catholics, and reflects Gospel values like justice, love, and compassion.
The key principles of CST ask us to honor the dignity of human life - from conception until death. To express solidarity with and support the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable. Caring for the environment and all our natural resources. Catholic Social Teaching documents were promoting the rights of workers through unions in the 1890’s when this was a controversial stance to have!
Many people have left the Catholic faith while being fundamentally aligned to everything Jesus and Catholic Social Teaching stands for. My separated peers say the church is too focused on polarizing issues and have lost the essence of who He has called us to be. That we forget that the chance for everlasting life and salvation comes from Him alone. Therefore, no one person or entity (religious or otherwise) can gate-keep the salvation of another, not even because they believe the other person's sins are more egregious than their own.
So, our call to holiness is about focusing on how we (as individuals) act in this world, not trying to control or judge others' actions. Once we internalize that our image of Him is counter to who He actually is, we have to understand that we have also been taught to act in ways that run counter to what He actually wants us to do. That is where my faith finds me. In this space of reconnection and reclamation of Catholicism, not from what it is, but what it is intended to be.
Rosanna Castro
Rosanna Castro has been working in education for 20 years and is currently in a leadership coaching position where she supports 11 NYC high schools. She grew up as a Catholic and became a practicing Catholic after doing her Confirmation in her late 20’s. What feeds her faith are Jesuits, Catholic Social Teaching, The Bible in a Year w/ Father Mike podcast, Rosaries and all things related to the adoration of Mary.
