Ask Ellen: Could you explain the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church in a way Middle School students would understand? Kim, PA

I received this very intriguing question from a principal of a Catholic school.   Yikes!

The more I thought about the request, the more I knew I needed to answer her.  I needed to answer her so I would begin to understand it.  Over the next eight Ask Ellen questions, I will attempt to explain these Social Teachings of the Catholic Church is very simplified terms.

I begin today by explaining what it means to be social.  Merriam- Webster tells us that it means “of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society.”

What does that mean?  It means that we are all part of something way larger than ourselves.  We are members of a family, a city, a state, a country, a race, a religion etc. 

How we behave as members of all of these larger groups is important.  The Catholic Church knows that.  The Church asks us to behave as responsible members and to respect all other people of all the other groups.   In short, these teachings tell us how we should act and relate to the world.

Over the next seven weeks we will look at these teachings.  They include: respect for life, participation, responsibilities, caring for the weak, the value of work, loving our neighbors and caring for the earth.

These themes will help us understand what role we are to play in society.  These may be the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church but certainly there is something all of us can learn about our place in society.  I encourage you to think about these issues and how you address them in your own life and how you teach your children about them.  Hopefully, by the time we finish learning about them we will all be better citizens.