UNIT II Lesson A: The Social Mission

of the Church
Activity: Picture Analysis (Hapag ng Pag-asa)

Look at the picture. What

does the picture tell us?
 Activity: Picture Analysis (Hapag ng Pag-asa)

Reflections:
1. What does the picture
tell us?
2. Historically, how did
Jesus respond to the
issue of poverty?
3. Does the Church imitate
the example of Jesus in
responding to pressing
social issues?
 Further Reflections
1. Is the Church a church for
the poor or the elite?
2. How should one
understand the principle of
the separation of the
church and state?
3. Are Filipino Catholics
merely sacramentalized but
not evangelized?
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just
Relations’ among People
• The Church as the forerunner of truth
and justice among the Filipinos
regardless of ethnicity, gender and
religion.
• It is not to be identified with any
political partisan in order to become a
credible herald of peace, justice and
truth; and proponent of unawa
(understanding), awa (mercy) and
gawa (deeds) among people
particularly the marginalized.
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just
Relations’ among People
a. Respect versus Discrimination
• The Church in the Philippines is
expected to be the advocate of
impartiality that shuns any form of
discrimination, conflict and
political animosity.
• The Church is also called to
promote respect for races,
genders, religions and point of
views so that national unity and
healing are attainable.
 The Church and the Questions of ‘Just
Relations’ among People
a. Respect versus Discrimination
• Discrimination and neglect are obstacles to the full development of
persons and of society as a whole.
• Everyone has a role and needs to have the opportunity to improve
themselves so that they can take their place in society and
participate fully in the community they find themselves in.
• This aspiration can only be achieved through the recognition of
people’s capacities, potentials, and rights as well as in ensuring that
the structures in the communities and in society as a whole support
this goal.
The Church and the Questions of ‘Just
Relations’ among People
b. As Agent of Hope and Transformation
• It is through baptism that members of the Christian community
“are called to a holiness of life in the world befitting disciples of
Jesus.”
• “Discipleship is the fundamental vocation in which the Church's
mission and ministry find full meaning.”
• As disciples of Jesus, we are called into communion with both God
and others and are sent in mission to proclaim the Good News of
the Kingdom.
• As disciples, all members of the Church “should everywhere on
earth bear witness to Christ and give an answer to everyone who
asks a reason for hope.
Responding to the Demands of our
Contemporary Communities
a. The Fact of Religious Pluralism
• The Church recognizes and
defends the fundamental dignity
of man to be free from coercion in
matters religious.
• “All men are called in freedom to
Jesus Christ and to his Church,
which has a divine mission…to
evangelize the whole world… so
that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bend…and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord…” (Phil 2:10–11).
 Responding to the Demands of our
Contemporary Communities
b. Truthful Tolerance
• Dignitatis Humanae states: “… the human person has a right to
religious freedom. This freedom means that
• all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or social
groups and of any human power
• no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs
• Not to be restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs, whether
privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due
limits.
• The right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity
of the human person, as this dignity is known through the revealed
word of God and by reason itself.”
 Responding to the Demands of our
Contemporary Communities
c. Fidelity to Proclaim the Kingdom of God
• The Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully
observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, received
the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the
Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is, on earth, the seed and the
beginning of that Kingdom.”
• The Church’s mission is the same as it was yesterday, today, and
tomorrow: to evangelize the whole world. “It is the duty of the
Church, therefore, in her preaching to proclaim the Cross of Christ as
the sign of God’s universal love and the source of all grace