Coffee Talk Redux is a reflection on things God is teaching me. In some cases the ideas for these topics may arise from some conversation I may have had with someone, or a thought that crossed my mind, something I have written, or perhaps something I read somewhere, or maybe a combination of all of these. In any case think of this as a discussion on what God is teaching us to help us grow in our understanding of His will for us.
The challenge facing man is for him to make sense of his life and learn how to live with others. In order to do this man first needs to consider the basic question concerning his existence, that is where did we come from and how were we made? Our understanding of what man is and what he is to do may be found in God’s revelation to man as provided in the Sacred Scriptures. From this source man can begin to understand his origins and God’s plan for man’s salvation through the redemptive act of His Son Jesus Christ. Through the Genesis accounts of creation we find that mankind is the last and the highest of God’s creations. In Genesis 1:26 we learn that man is created in the image and likeness of God and that he is called into relationship with his Creator.God also created man to live in communion with others and the essence of this is the relationship between man and woman, for as told in Genesis 1:27, “male and female he created them.” God therefore did not make man to live his life alone but God willed that man live in a family as well as with others in a society, man by his nature is therefore a social being and he needs others to fully realize his own potential. Through a process known as socialization man learns to associate and to relate with others so that collectively mankind can accomplish more than what one could ever do alone. This socialization of man for the common good arises from an outward expression in the world of the Holy Trinity.
Christ through His life, death, and resurrection revealed to man the mystery of His life in the Holy Trinity. The essence of the Holy Trinity is the presence of three coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial Persons known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of these Persons is God whole and entire. Through what is known as the relations of opposition Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are truly three distinct Persons. The relations of opposition therefore explain how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to each other. Hence the Father relates to the Son in paternity and the Son relates to the Father in filiation. Both the Father and the Son relate to the Holy Spirit by spiration and the Holy Spirit relates to the Father and Son by procession. Although the relations of opposition defines their distinction as Persons the principle of circumincession states that each of the Divine Persons may be found completely in each of the other two Divine Persons. This means that the Father is completely present in the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son is completely present in the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is completely with the Father and the Son. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God in a relationship grounded in love to each other carrying out their activities in the world as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier respectively. Through these activities of the Holy Trinity, God is able to communicate Himself to man through His acts of creation, redemption, and sanctification.
The internal life of the Holy Trinity as revealed by the relations of opposition and the principle of circumincession also reflects the bond of love between the Father and the Son and this love is known as the Holy Spirit. These internal relationships found within the Holy Trinity are the image of the relations that man is to form in his own society. Therefore the Holy Trinity can be viewed as the first family of love and serves as a model of human socialization. This is why the social teaching of Christianity has its theological foundation in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. When man recognizes that his life in society is to be a reflection of the Holy Trinity he becomes transformed and is drawn into the Trinitarian life of the Triune God. This participation of man in the Trinitarian life of God means that man has become trinified. Man becoming trinified reflects a realization on his part that his relationship with others must have its basis in the communion and internal life that exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
However, because of man’s fallen nature man suffers and he is less than what he was meant to be, man is not fully human. Part of this suffering that man endures is a result of his freedom and his ability to choose a life without God. This suffering impacts not only the individual but also society as well. When man suffers it is difficult for him to live in harmony with others. However, by this same freedom man can bring himself back to that goodness that is only found in God. To assist man in this endeavor to restore his communion with God, the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ. God chose to send His Son so man would not have to suffer alone. Christ through His life and especially through His suffering and death on the Cross showed man what Trinitarian love is all about. His suffering on the Cross showed man what it means to be separated from God and how through the love and power of the Holy Spirit this separation from God can be overcome. Christ’s suffering and death was conquered by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through faith in Christ, and by the action of the Holy Spirit given by Baptism, man can become a member of the Body of Christ that is His Church. The Church as the Body of Christ participates throughout time in the mission of redemption started by Christ that continues as a result of the action of the Holy Spirit that resides in each of us. Through Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection man has become trinified into the Triune God and His Church is the instrument that reaches out to others trinifiying man’s societal relationships. Hence it is through Christ and the love of the Holy Spirit that man is brought back to the Father who is man’s Creator. In this way the image of God is restored in man and he learns to live in communion with others and to participate in the Trinitarian life of the Holy Trinity. This socialization means that man can also associate and live in a society that is focused on the common good while being compassionate to the poor, the weak, and the suffering.
A society that mirrors the Holy Trinity and the love of the Holy Spirit must respect the dignity found in man as well as his personal freedom. Because man is a social animal he will form a variety of social structures and institutions that in many cases will be ordered in a hierarchical sense. For example, these structures range from man as an individual, to man in a family, to his relationship with the state that governs his society. God has provided man a model for the governance and power that should be followed in these social structures and institutions, for “God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing (CCC,1884).” Thus on this basis the social teaching advocates the principle of subsidiarity that argues, “a community of higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good (CCC, 1883).” The principle of subsidiarity protects man from the extreme of collectivism wherein higher order institutions interfere excessively in the life of a lower order, for example the family. In addition, the principle of subsidiarity protects man from becoming a tool, where man is just seen as a means to an end. The principle of subsidiarity also recognizes the inherent dignity and freedom of man as a result of being created in the image of God.
Life in a society also means that there must be social justice. Man must recognize the dignity that lies in each person since all of mankind is created in the image of God. As members of the Body of Christ man is united by the redemption that was won by Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Justice flows from this equality that is founded on man’s dignity and “although rightful differences exist between men, the equal dignity of persons demands that a more humane and just condition of life be brought about. For excessive economic and social differences between the members of the one human family…cause scandal, and militate against social justice, equity, the dignity of the human person, as well as social and international peace (GS 29).” Man therefore needs others since he is not complete in and of himself, “these differences belong to God’s plan, who wills that each receive what he needs from others, and that those endowed with particular ‘talents’ share the benefits with those who need them (CCC, 1937).” This is the essence of charity, the sharing within a society of one another’s material and spiritual goods. Hence all of this leads to the definition of another social principle known as solidarity, the recognition that man is in this together. Solidarity is a unique Christian virtue, a trinification of the cardinal virtue of justice by the theological virtue of charity or love. In this sense justice can be seen as love with legs or a faith in action. Solidarity means that man takes care of his fellow man with a preferential option for the poor, the weak, and the suffering. Through the principle of solidarity man also protects himself from the opposite extreme that is an individualism that emphasizes the individual over the common good.
Solidarity and subsidiarity form the two foundational principles of the church’s social teaching. Together they form the basis of human socialization. Their theological foundation comes from the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Church as the Body of Christ. Subsidiarity reflects how God interacts with man and solidarity reflects the Gospel of Christ, as He says in Matthew 25:40, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” The internal nature of the Holy Spirit and the relationships between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is also the source for the church’s understanding of the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. The principle of subsidiarity respects the dignity of the human person as a distinct individual and this is reflected in the relations of opposition found in the Holy Trinity wherein there are three distinct Persons in one God. In a similar manner, the principle of solidarity reflects the fact that man needs to look out for his fellow man, that man is in this life together with others in the same way as the principle of circumincession wherein each of the Divine Persons is completely present in each of the other two Divine Persons. All of this shows that the church’s social teaching is based on the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity which have their source in the sacrifice of Christ and the mystery of the Holy Trinity. (Ronald L. Fournier © 2010)
