UNIT II Lesson A: The Social Mission

of the Church
Presented by:

Activity: Picture Analysis (Hapag ng Pag-asa)

Reflections:

• What does the picture tell us?

• Historically, how did Jesus respond to the issue of poverty?

• Does the Church imitate the example of Jesus in responding to pressing social issues?

Further Reflections

• Is the Church a church for the poor or the elite?

• How should one understand the principle of the separation of the church and state?

• Are Filipino Catholics merely sacramentalized but not evangelized?

The Church and the Questions of ‘Just Relations’ among People

• The Church as the forerunner of truth and justice among the Filipinos regardless of ethnicity, gender
and religion.

• Itandis nottruth;to and

be identified with any political partisan in order to become a credible herald of peace, justice
proponent of unawa (understanding), awa (mercy) and gawa (deeds) among people
particularly the marginalized.
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just Relations’ among People

• Respect versus Discrimination

• The Church in the Philippines is expected to be the advocate of impartiality that shuns any
form of discrimination, conflict and political animosity.

• The Church is also called to promote respect for races, genders, religions and point of views
so that national unity and healing are attainable.
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just Relations’ among People

• Respect versus Discrimination

• Discrimination
whole.
and neglect are obstacles to the full development of persons and of society as a
 • Everyone has a role and needs to have the opportunity to improve themselves so that they can
take their place in society and participate fully in the community they find themselves in.

• This aspiration can only be achieved through the recognition of people’s capacities, potentials,
and rights as well as in ensuring that the structures in the communities and in society as a
whole support this goal.
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just Relations’ among People
b. As Agent of Hope and Transformation

• Itinisthethrough baptism that members of the Christian community “are called to a holiness of life
world befitting disciples of Jesus.”

• “Discipleship
meaning.”
is the fundamental vocation in which the Church's mission and ministry find full

• Asmission
disciples of Jesus, we are called into communion with both God and others and are sent in
to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom.

• Asanddisciples, all members of the Church “should everywhere on earth bear witness to Christ
give an answer to everyone who asks a reason for hope.
Responding to the Demands of our Contemporary Communities

• The Fact of Religious Pluralism

• The Church recognizes and defends the fundamental dignity of man to be free from coercion in
matters religious.

• “All men are called in freedom to Jesus Christ and to his Church, which has a divine
mission…to evangelize the whole world… so that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bend…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Phil 2:10–11).

Responding to the Demands of our Contemporary Communities

b. Truthful Tolerance

• Dignitatis Humanae states: “… the human person has a right to religious freedom. This
freedom means that

• all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or social groups and
of any human power

• no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs

• Not to be restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs, whether privately
or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.
 • The right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person, as
this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.”
Responding to the Demands of our Contemporary Communities
c. Fidelity to Proclaim the Kingdom of God

• The Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of
charity, humility and self-denial, received the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all
peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is, on earth, the seed and the beginning of
that Kingdom.”

• The Church’s mission is the same as it was yesterday, today, and tomorrow: to evangelize the
whole world. “It is the duty of the Church, therefore, in her preaching to proclaim the Cross of
Christ as the sign of God’s universal love and the source of all grace
Individual Activity
Write a four-line poem of how the Catholic Church responds to the issues of injustice.