“Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Mt. 6:10)
TENET OF SOCIAL JUSTICE: In a world where some speak mostly of rights and others mostly of responsibilities, the Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only when human rights are protected and responsibilities met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to theee rights are duties and responsibilities to one another, to our families, to our communities and to the larger society. There will be legitimate differences and debate over how these challenging moral principles are applied in concrete situations. Differing judgments on specifics, however, will not deter us from pursuing the common good and defending the dignity of the human person.
SALESIAN THEME: Living between the two wills of God. Those of us who are devoted to God need to discern how to recognize God’s will. The divine will may be understood in two ways: 1) God’s declared will, namely, the Commandments of God and the Church, the evangelical counsels and inspirations, and 2) the will of Cod’s good pleasure, which we see in all the events and circumstances that may befall us.
Salesian Spirituality calls us to live between what we perceive to be the two wills of God. To this dynamic field we are invited to bring our own will. We have been readied for this encounter in the strengthening of our will by the“love of God poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us” (Romans 5:5b). God’s love guides our choices and God’s love makes the call. In Salesian Spirituality, the appropriate response to our heartfelt love, nurtured by reflecting on and listening to the goodness of God, will bring us to seek and carry out the will of God.
REFLECTIONS
- What is my reaction when the unexpected happens in my life?
- How do I recognize the will of God’s good pleasure?
- Give an example of how you have had to look at your rights through the lenses of responsibility.
- We have gifts and limitations that help define our choices. We are called to embrace who we are and where we come from. What does this imply?
- Our will is as much the will of our hearts as it is the will of our minds. How do I nurture this balance?
- We are empowered by God’s indwelling presence and by the Spirit of Jesus generating life in each moment. Am I open to channeling this power in a life giving way? How do we channel this prower?
- How do I recognize the will of God’s good pleasure?
- What is my reaction when the unexpected happens in my life?
Source: Justice Shall Flourish booklet