The roots of Catholic Social Teaching are found in the Hebrew prophets who announced God’s special love for the poor and called God’s people to a covenant of love and justice. It is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind”(Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45). Catholic Social Teaching is built on a commitment to the poor, which arises from our experiences of Christ in the Eucharist. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, “To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren” (no. 1397). (from the USCCB document Catholic Social Teaching Challenges).

“All throughout Scripture and history, the principle suffering of the poor is not that they can’t pay their rent on time or that they are three dollars short of a package of Pampers. As Jesus scholar Marcus Borg points out, the principal suffering of the poor is shame and disgrace. It is a toxic shame – a global sense of failure of the whole self.” (from Tattoos on the Heart by Father Gregory Boyle (Simon and Schuster))

Our Diocese of Orange reminds us that “The Gospel calls Christians to put the needs of the poor first. A common moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable people. Wherever there is structural injustice, Christians are called to oppose it. Those with the greatest need require the greatest response.” The US Catholic Bishops offer us an Examination of Conscience in Light of Catholic Social Teaching: Do I give special attention to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in my community and in the world? Am I disproportionately concerned for my own good at the expense of others? Do I engage in service and advocacy work that protects the dignity of poor and vulnerable persons?

“This call is to all of us, not only to be in solidarity with the poor but also to act on their behalf and with them to address the reasons for poverty and bring about radical transformation in society. Jesus tells us, “Whatever you did for the least of these brethren, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40) … The people of Kenya and Tanzania taught me that I too am among the “poor” to whom Jesus addressed many of his teachings. I’ve learned not only to live my daily life more simply and more fully in the present moment, but also to recognize that “poverty of spirit” means to embrace my ultimate dependence on God. I have chosen a “preferential option for the poor” because it is they, more than anyone else, whom God uses to reveal to me who I am and to show me the way. (From Stretching the Heart by Maryknoll’s Father Robert Jalbert, M.M.)

If you would like to watch a short video on this principle or theme, please either (a) click on this link:  http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching or (b) go to www.usccb.org, click on Beliefs and Teachings in the menu bar to drop down options, then click on What We Believe, then click on Catholic Social Teaching in the left column. When the lead video pops up, click on the upper left Playlist icon, and choose the CST 101 theme you are looking for (Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable).

One of the many things we can be thankful for – and proud of – is the tremendous work done by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Please go to the CRS website at http://crs.org to learn more, and support CRS and its mission however you can. CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, working to alleviate suffering and provide assistance to people in need in nearly 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. For example, within two years after the earthquake which devastated Haiti in 2010, CRS built 10,600 transitional shelters, provided 10 million meals to more than 1 million people, and hired more than 12,000 people in temporary cash-for-work programs.

In addition to poverty and disaster relief in many countries, CRS has a number of innovative and extremely effective programs to assist the needy, including microfinance and peace-building efforts. CRS also carries out international relief and solidarity efforts. Programs include relief and resettlement for victims of persecution, war, and natural disasters; development projects to improve living conditions for the poor; legal and support services for poor immigrants; peace and reconciliation work for people suffering from violence; and advocacy on behalf of the powerless.

Catholic Relief Services partners with local charitable and development organizations to cost-effectively bring needed services to impoverished communities around the world. As examples of CRS success stories, below are two brief excerpts from “Solidarity Will Transform the World – Stories of Hope from Catholic Relief Services”, copyright 2007 by Jeffry Odell Korgen, reprinted with permission of the publisher Orbis Books, Maryknoll NY.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Partner Story – Microfinance in Mexico

… Despite the challenges of life in Nogales (Mexico), Engracia and her husband, a leather worker, now meet many of their basic needs (food, clothing, school supplies, and medical care) through her growing income as a small business owner. Engracia is a seamstress, and also the president of one of the first microfinance groups formed in Nogales, the Bank of the United. “Microfinance” refers to small-scale savings and loan products that provide an alternative to the loan sharks and coyotes who prey on the very poor. In 2004, Engracia met … Bancomun, the microfinance institution created by CRS and its partner BorderLinks. Engracia began to pursue a dream of owning her own sewing business through Bancomun because, “I knew that it would help me have a better life and work from home.” … Successive Bancomun loans ranging from $200 to $300 helped Engracia purchase specialty sewing machines that cut and sew, do embroidery, and manipulate denim and leather. She makes school uniforms, wedding garments, first communion dresses, and some adult clothing.

… Engracia’s quality of life has improved greatly since she began participating in the Bancomun. Her family now has adequate supplies of food, basic medical care, and, above all, hope for the future. That hope was not always there. “Something has changed in me,” she explained. “Participating in the bank has helped me have a vision for the future, to think that this is my work right now, but someday it is going to be an opportunity for my children.” … The bank’s savings requirements have helped her save about $20 a month. When asked what she planned to do with her savings, there was no talk of consumer or household goods, no plans to replace her cardboard walls with cinder block. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Engracia prefers to invest her profits in the business. Instead of leveling the rocky floor of her home, she has flattened the uneven parcel of land outside, building a supportive cinder block wall to prepare for the construction of her own sewing workshop. There she might employ another seamstress or two, multiplying the hope that the Bank of the United has given her by providing living-wage jobs for others.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Partner Story – Hope for the Family Farmer

… Few occupations illustrate the “push” factors of Mexican immigration better than apple farming … in Mexico’s apple belt, sixty miles southwest of the city of Chihuahua. Oscar Villagran has been growing apples, along with corn, and beans, for thirty-eight years. He is a relatively small producer, growing from 120 to 140 metric tons of apples annually from one thousand trees planted over twelve acres of land. Previously, Oscar was at the mercy of coyotes, middlemen who flood Chihuahua at harvest time, looking for desperate farmers willing to sell entire harvests cheaply. Every October, small apple producers flush with their crop try to sell their harvest in Chihuahua at the same time. Since the price of apples dropped precipitously in the 1980s, supply and demand variables have consistently yielded the same result: meager prices at harvest. Oscar has always sold to the first buyer to approach him, for outlays ranging from 15 to 28 cents a pound. Considering that the average cost of production is 44 cents a pound, apple farming has lately been a losing proposition for Oscar. The crop simply does not provide the income he needs to support his wife, young son, and daughter … Oscar manages to eke out a living for his family from the other crops, but he always lives on the edge of poverty, and decent schools for the children have been out of reach.

… Small-scale Mexican apple producers have given up apple farming in droves over the last decade, switching to cattle ranching or abandoning their farms outright, migrating to the United States or cities in Mexico. Such migration has typically replaced one kind of poverty with another. Oscar considered uprooting his apple trees in 2005, but Emiliano Solamente, technical director for the FDC, approached him about participating in a pilot “pledge-loan” project. Emiliano explained the process: at harvest, the FDC would provide Oscar with a 10,000 peso loan. He would in turn pledge not to sell his crop to the coyote and to use the loan funds as follows: Three thousand pesos would cover his production costs, paying the harvesters. One thousand pesos would cover the cost of transportation to a cold storage facility that would chill the apples and maintain a relatively oxygen-free environment. Six thousand pesos pay for a four-month lease at the facility. Oscar enrolled and sold his crop in November, when prices rebounded to 70 cents a pound … On average, farmers participating in the pilot pledge-loan program earned 170 percent of previous earnings after deducting costs for transportation and storage.