CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION - TRADITION - Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Kwofie
Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities--to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.
Scripture
Leviticus 25:35 - When someone is reduced to poverty, we have an obligation to help.
Ruth 2:2-23 - Boaz cares for Ruth, a widow and a foreigner, giving her far more than the law requires.
Tobit 4:5-11 - Give from what you have received and do not turn away from the poor.
Proverbs 31:8-9 - Open your mouth to speak on behalf of those in need.
Isaiah 1:16-17 - Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.
Jeremiah 22: 13-16 - A legitimate government upholds the rights of the poor and vulnerable.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 - Seek the welfare of the city, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Matthew 25: 31-46 - Just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.
Luke 16:19-31 - The rich man has a responsibility to care for Lazarus.
Acts 4:32-35 - There was not a needy person among them.
Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. It has also to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society. Finally, the common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice; whenever this is violated, violence always ensues. Society as a whole, and the state in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good. (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si'], no. 157) To be continued.
