The Powerful And Powerless In Jean Vanier's The Vision Of Jesus

The early life of Pope John XXIII shaped his morality and future ideas, and his travelling made him tolerant towards other people, cultures and beliefs. He believed that “No one is excluded by love” and pursued this belief throughout is papacy, even visiting prisons in order to forgive those who had sinned,

“Finding One’s Self in Times of Trouble”: An explication of the Helena Maria Viramontes’ novel

As a member of the Catholic Church, one is called upon to liberate the marginalized and help the weakest members of society. In order to so in a way that is in accordance with the Catholic Church, one is obligated to follow the ten principles of Catholic Social Teachings. These teachings are a guideline that will lead citizens to the way God planned for society to function through the words of the Bible, Popes and Bishops. As society turns to the social issues the world experiences today, the Catholic principles shed light on the acts necessary to carry out God’s plan. A social issue that has been ignored in the past is child labour. This horrendous practice has taken over the lives of over 152 million children, due to money thirsty savages that have no regard for basic human rights. (MORE THAN 40 MILLION, 2017). The Catholic Church is highly opposed to the social justice issue of child labour as she clearly outlines in her teachings that society must protect those who are vulnerable, respect the dignity and human rights of minors, and allow children to live their youth in freedom and free from oppression.

Jesus and the Disinherited begins the first chapter with the interpretation of Jesus. Dr. Thurman explained that Jesus was a poor Jew and was a minority in the midst of a dominate society. Dr. Thurman gives his analysis on the worldviews Jesus. People around the world have their own interpretation of Jesus; yet, people have an orthodox view of him being fully God and fully man. In chapter one, the author references the nonviolent resistance approach, which is a tactic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr used in the civil rights movements. He interprets Jesus as a black man who lived his life as an outsider in the world. Jesus was the disinherited and oppressed like African Americans.

A central idea to Jesuit education is learning how to be men and women for others. Being men and women for others means caring for those in need and standing with the poor and marginalized. Social justice and mercy are key aspects of being men and women for others. Social justice goes beyond charity and making sacrifices. It involves finding the root of problems and fixing them. Mercy starts as a feeling, then internalization of anguish within someone should lead him or her to take action against the problem. Jesus and other key figures of the past can stand as examples of how to be men and women for others.

The Christ figure is a recurring symbol in American literature. Throughout Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, various interactions and events portray McMurphy as a Christ figure. There are frequent visual and concrete references to Christ throughout the novel. Also, the reader discovers that the other patients view McMurphy as an inspiration and someone they wish to emulate. This cooperation enables him to oppose Nurse Ratched and do what he thinks is best for the patients.

Within Christian communities, enthusiasm to respond to injustice around the world with compassion continues to increase. Regrettably, well-meaning people who have good intentions but neglect to consider best practice principles are ultimately doing a disservice to the individuals and communities they intended to help. Moreover, a lack of understanding of holistic social action results in dependency and disregards the dignity of the poor. In From the Roots Up, Dr. JoAnn Butrin challenges Christians, both individually and as the larger body of Christ- the church, to respond to injustice thoughtfully and holistically. Butrin (2010) asserts:

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it. Pablo Casals

The world is very different now, for man holds in his mortal hand the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.

In Lasallian schools the core principle of concern for the poor and social justice invites students and staff to be in solidarity with the poor and advocate for those suffering injustices. This means that people should have awareness of the poor and those who are victims of injustices and respond to their needs by means of community service and advocacy. This core principle is illustrated in the novella, “Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr” by Miguel de Unamuno. The main character, Don Emmanuel is the parson of the city of Valverde. The congregation of this parish look up to Don Emmanuel, admire him, and are overtaken by his words in mass. However, the narrator reveals that Don Emmanuel was not a man of faith. “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, presents a story of a young man who one day wakes up and is transformed into a bug. As a result of this transformation, he is mistreated by his family and considered useless in society. In the case of Saint Emmanuel the Good Martyr, there is a character that does not believe in God, yet practices concern for the poor and social justice on a daily basis. On the other hand, we have a character that yearns what Don Emmanuel gives to the citizens in Valverde, care and concern.

In chapter three, Myer provides a joint of theology, poverty and development from the issue that most people think theology is not a part of poverty or development. He elaborates on the key themes that emerge consistently in Catholic social teaching, God’s expectation from humanity as an individual, as a community and the narratives which comes under God’s story about what God is doing. Clearly in this chapter, Myer addresses that the biblical story is for the rich and the poor, as humans were made in God’s image, experienced the consequences of the fall, and as the focus of God’s redemptive work (52). However, evangelists are in need to be prepared biblically and theologically and know the big story or God’s story as well as understanding the poor and the non-poor which leads to the exploration of poverties cause. In doing this God is actively at work in the

Caritas begun in Australia in 1964 and is the Latin word meaning love and compassion that grew to become the world’s biggest humanitarian agencies. The Catholic Agency for Aid and Development work together with the poorest of the poor to live a life of dignity, in an organisation that helps these people become self-sufficient so that they do not rely heavily on charitable funds. When referring to the big issues of today’s society Caritas work to break the chain of poverty and injustice in over 30 developing countries. These organisations provide a glimpse of hope to many struggling communities, a sign that things will get better. One issue that Caritas is largely focused around is that of climate change, which is discussed firmly in Pope Francis’ Encyclical.

Protecting the rights and dignity of the poor and oppressed is the most important moral duty of the church.’ Critically evaluate this statement with reference to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King.

For the past two days we been watching a video in class call poverty cure. The video focus on groups of Christian traveling to crowed cities and villages because they wanted to learn more they met people from walks of life. The goals was to listen and learn from the people they met in the cities and villages. The mean thing they wanted to find out from the people were what is work, why did it fail. Another mean questions that the groups of Christian had was what are the foundations that allows human and communities to strive. Michael Matheson Miller start the video of by talking about how billion people around the world live in extreme poverty and don’t have the chance to develop the natural talent. Michael miller also talks about how we Christian we are call to do something to help those who are suffering.