Life Concerns: Memo for Interested Parishioners
Memo: Forming a Committee for Life Concerns: Preparation and Guiding Principles
To: Interested Epiphany community members
From: Sister Larraine Lauter
Date: April 1, 2010
Introduction:
A sincere thank you for bringing forward your interest in creating a pro-life, or "life concerns" committee. What we call this effort right now is not so important as getting set up in a way that will truly promote a well-rounded and effective ministry in this area. This memo sets forth the context for this ministry, including leadership, resources for familiarizing yourself with the broad scope of this issue.
We will hold an organizational meeting on Tuesday April 20, at 7 pm. I hope you will consider attending this meeting and possibly serving on a committee. To begin, please read through this email, and study the materials that you find via the links. Then we will all be on the same page (more or less!) to get started!
Part 1
First, let's look at The Context: Catholic Social Teaching
The US Catholic Bishops clearly identified violence as the underlying impetus for socially sanctioned acts against life, be they abortion, euthanasia, or the death penalty; pointing out that our society has an addiction to violence as a means of solving problems. This teaching is most clearly laid out in the 1994 Pastoral Message of the US Catholic Bishops: "Confronting a Culture of Violence: A Catholic Framework for Action".
Within that context, our bishops continue to uphold the "Consistent Ethic of Life", as expressed in the 2001 teaching document: "Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life" which draws heavily from John Paul II's encyclical "The Gospel of Life".
Part 2
Second, let's be clear about Issues Leadership: that is, who sets the guiding principles by which we discern the activities of the group.
As is implied above, and as in all matters of social teachings, we look to the leadership of the Church, particularily as it is applied to our own U.S. society by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.
We can most easily see the broad scope of this teaching by reviewing the USCCB website, under two of the headings on the left-hand sidebar: Life Issues and Social Justice Issues.
So, why is it this an important matter for clarification?
There are any number of organizations that address social justice life issues, representing a wide variety of perspectives and activities. One of our leadership tasks for our community is to discern whether we will promote/engage in these activities.
Of special note are activities related to legislative awareness: having to do with law and resulting policies. Both the USCCB and the CCK work continually to track and assess both current and pending legislation, and to offer an analysis of legislation that is well-grounded in Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching.
Part 3
If you have read the Pastoral Plan, and explored various issues on the websites, then you have already begun the third organizational task: to become familiar with the issue and the related teachings.
This page in the USCCB website contains links to pro-life teaching documents. Please review at least the introductions to acquaint yourself with the full scope of this issue.
Part 4
Now, let's consider the possibilities for the work of this committee. Reviewing this in advance will help us to move quickly into effective organization. There are no links here...just a couple of basic concepts to think about as the frame for your work.
We encourage all committees to keep two aims in mind as they seek to lead our community: formation and action.
Formation: enabling the entire community to come to a deeper understanding of this issue, in the light of Gospel values and Church teaching.
Action: enabling the entire community to participate in works of justice, peace and compassion, in relation to this issue.
Summary
This is a challenging area of Catholic social teaching that calls all of us to assess our life in Christ, examining the ways that our own colusion with violence contributes to the violent society in which we live--the violent society that advocates abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment as solutions for problems. Before we can take action or engage in the formation of others, we must ourselves enter into formation, through study and reflection.
Our committees are encouraged to see themselves as leaders for the entire community. A committee may be small but mighty! The goal need not be to get who cares about life concerns into the committee--but rather, to lead the entire community in formation and action.
- Ministry:
