What is SPIRITUALITY?

 An inspiration within a
person to live a
particular way of life,
 It is based on one’s
beliefs or religious
conviction to live a
particular way of life.

CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
 A call to all the members
of the Christian
community to live and
think, to make judgments
and always discern in
relation to God, in the
light of the Gospel, and
the teaching of the
Church (CBCP &PCP II)
 Following of “Jesus-in
mission” or journeying in
the spirit of Jesus.
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
 An effort to bring
harmony or
“kaayusan” in our
society.
 A process that seeks
to heal and liberate
the society from its
social problems and
injustices and
transform it into a
more humane society.
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY OF
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
 Is a life-long task of
responding to the
challenge of Jesus’
Gospel of Justice and
love by committing
oneself to the mission
of adjusting the social
order to the “radical
demands” of the
Christian faith.
 Elements of SST

 a) Enduring & intimate

commitment to Jesus
 b) Seeking of the Kingdom of
God
 c) Sharing the Good News joy
 d) Heeding God’s Word
 2 Manifestation of SST

 1) Social Service –helping

someone in need, an action
rooted in charity & compassion.
Corporal works of mercy.
 2) Social Action- a response to
the cause of social problems.
Action in behalf of justice.
 SST and Christian Mission
 “This is the time of fulfillment; the
Kingdom of God is at hand. Change
your ways and believe the Good
News”.( Mk.1:15)
 “The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He
has anointed me to bring good news
to the poor, to proclaim liberty to
captives and give new sight to the
blind; to free the oppressed and
announce the Lord’s year of mercy”.
 (Lk.4:16-21)
 3 Criticisms of Jesus

 a) Cultic worship – love of

God and neighbors are divorced.
 b) Legalistic Understanding –
of the relationship between God
and man.
 c) Religious Elite – leaders
used religion for their own
selfish reasons.
 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
 With her social teaching the Church seeks
to proclaim the Gospel and make it
present in the complex network of Social
relations.
 As Christians we need to make a choice,
faith should always be preferential, never
neutral, and this can be expressed
through our social, economic, political and
cultural involvement here and now.
 Jesus Christ

Three-fold Mission of Jesus

SALVATION

Kingly Priestly Prophetic

(Service) (Prayer/Worship) (Proclamation)
Towards peace founded
Towards Towards a deeper on truth, built
integral human relationship with according to justice,
development God integrated by charity,
practiced in freedom

Mission of Every Christian (Priestly, Kingly, Prophetic)

Salvation
liberation from all forms of oppression (personal, spiritual, socio-political, cosmic)
Four Steps in the Cycle of Christian Social Praxis

4 1
Action Experience

Prayer

3 2
Theological Social

Reflection Analysis
 4 steps in the Christian Praxis
 1) Experience – answers the
questions: Whose experience is
being considered? What is the
experience all about? And What do
people feel?
 2) Social Analysis – to analyze and
examine the causes, probe
consequences, delineate linkages
and identify actors. Answer the
questions: What’s behind all this?
 4 steps continues…
 3) Theological Reflection –the
questions we ask ourselves are:
“What is the role of my faith
regarding this issue? And What does
my faith tell me to do?
 4) Action – we ask the questions:
What can we as a group or individual
do about this problem? What
resources do we have to help us with
our plan of action? What is the step
we should take?
 THE NEED FOR CONVERSION
 a) Realization of one’s
sinfulness- as the root cause of
our social problems.
 b) A new and deeper
understanding - seeing the
world in a new way ( the evil
effects of social sins and poverty
causes much pain in the world)
 c) A radical response –
change in lifestyle, vocation or
way of life (personal & political)
 PCP II DREAMS & VISION
 INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS  Wealth is used
for sharing
 1) Alive & Life-giving  Power is
 2) Free & Freeing exercised for
service
 3) Responsive & Responsible  Values create
 4) Loving & Lovable solidarity
 5) Caring & Community minded
 TYPE OF COMMUNITY  Makatao,
makabayan,
 1) Speaks & Listens makakalikasan
 2) Discerns & Decides together ,maka-dyos at
 3) Prays & Celebrates together may
kakayahan.
 4) Honest (done & failed to do)
THE FILIPINO EXPERIENCE:
Signs of the Times
 5 BASIC PROBLEMS
 1) ECONOMY - consists of the economic system of a
country or other area, the labor, capital and land
resources, and the economic agents that socially
participate in the production, exchange, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services of that area.
 5 BASIC PROBLEMS
 2) ENVIRONMENT- encompasses all living and
non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or
some region thereof. It is an environment that
encompasses the interaction of all living species.
 5 BASIC PROBLEMS
 3) EDUCATION -is any act or experience that has a
formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability
of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the
process by which society deliberately transmits its
accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one
generation to another.
 5 BASIC PROBLEMS
4) SOCIO-CULTURAL –socio-cultural evolution can be
defined as "the process by which structural
reorganization is affected through time, eventually
producing a form or structure which is qualitatively
different from the ancestral form....
 CULTURAL VALUES
 Suspect for Negative
Influence
 1) Hiya, Pakikisama, Bahala
na, Utang na loob,
Delicadeza, Close family ties
at Paki-usap
 Strength Values
 1) Paniniwala sa Dyos
 2) Pagdadamayan
 3) Paggalang
 4) Pakikipagkapwa-tao
 5 BASIC PROBLEMS
5) POLITICAL -is a process by which groups of people
make collective decisions , is generally applied to
behavior within civil governments, It consists of "social
relations involving authority or power“, refers to the
regulation of public affairs within a political unit, to
formulate and apply policy.
 The reality of SOCIAL SINS
* Have social implications
* Have repercussions to communal life
* Contrary to the love of GOD &
Neighbors
* Sinful structures, situations,
behavior or attitudes
* The root cause of massive
poverty & structural injustice
 3 types of SOCIAL SIN

1) SINFUL STRUCTURES
* Step on the people’s dignity and
rights
* Habitual pattern of sins and
injustices
* Perpetuate disvalues
( Martial law, International debt,
trade, usury & etc. )
 Social sins continue…

2) SINFUL SITUATIONS
* Lead people to become greedy
and selfish
( culture of graft & corruption,
Padrino system, vote-buying,
drug-trafficking, illegal logging,
tax evasion & etc.)
 Social Sins Continue…

3) SINFUL ATTITUDES
* People allowing or directly
participating in the evil that is
being done against others.
( Sin of omission, conspiracy,
closing their eyes, do not care,
buying stolen things, etc.)
 SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

“THE ROOT PROBLEM OF POVERTY IN

OUR COUNTRY IS NOT THE LACK OF
RESOURCES AND OPPURTUNITIES FOR
WORK, BUT IT IS THE GROSS
UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF
WEALTH, WHERE SOME PEOPLE HAVE
MORE THAN THEY NEED WHILE THE
REST DO NOT HAVE EVEN THE BASIC
NECESSITIES OF LIFE”.
…INEQUALITY
 PCP II’s VISION OF FILIPINO NATION SHOULD BE:
( THAT ALL MAY HAVE LIFE)

FREE NATION:
* Human dignity & solidarity are
promoted
* Moral principles prevail in socio-
economic life structures;
* Justice, love & solidarity are the
driving forces of development
 PCP II Continues…

SOVEREIGN NATION:
* Tribe and faith are respected
* Diverse tongues & traditions for
common good
* Participation & membership is a
call
 PCP II Continues…

OUR PEOPLE:
* Harmony through unity in
diversity
* Harmony with creation, humanity
& God
* Civilized in life and love.
 The 8 BEATITUDES/Blessings
1)Blessed are you POOR, for yours is the kingdom of
God.
2)Blessed are you that HUNGER, you shall be satisfied.
3)Blessed are you that WEEP, you shall laugh.
4)Blessed are those who MOURN, they shall be
Comforted.
5)Blessed are the MEEK, they shall inherit the earth.
6)Blessed are the MERCIFUL, they shall obtain mercy.
7)Blessed are PURE IN HEART, they shall see God.
8)Blessed are PEACEMAKERS, they shall be called
children of God.
SOURCES OF PINOY’S HOPE
STEADY ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
UNWAVERING FAITH OF FILIPINO PEOPLE
INCREASING SOCIAL AWARENESS AND
CONCERN FOR SOCIAL CHANGE AND
DEVELOPMENT.
THE GROWING NUMBER OF NGO’S AND
PO’S
COMMONALITIES THAT EXIST AMONG
DIFFERENT CULTURES.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS
“An effort to fully understand a particular
social situation.”
Objective dimension – external structures
such as various organizations and
institutions
Subjective dimension – includes
consciousness, values, ideologies and
attitudes of the members of the society.
Historical analysis – it is a study of the
changes in terms of time,
Structural analysis – on what is happening
to a particular structure.
LIMITATIONS OF SOCIAL
ANALYSIS

1) It is not designated to provide an answer

“what do we do?”
2) It is simply like a diagnosis of a sickness
but not a cure.
3) It is not done for purely academic
purposes but it is for the service of
justice.
4) It is not value-free, there is a need to
wrestle with our own biases,
commitments, and values in life.
SUMMARY of the CONCEPT

1) Social analysis is indispensable in

any Christian Praxis.
Its main focus is to study the social
reality piece by piece, both its
objective and subjective dimension,
historical and structural: “what’s
behind all these issues”?
It has to consider its 4 limitations.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
 Social Teaching of the Church
(STC) – the “best kept secret of the
Church” ; only a small percentage
of Catholics know about it and a lot
of people are surprised to know
that the Catholic Church has such
teachings.
 It’s too radical and demands
changes in the social structure,
thus it remains unpopular and
unknown to many Catholics.
LOCI (places) OF STC
 1) Papal pronouncements and
proclamations on matters of
Faith and Morals
 2) Apostolic letters
 3) Code of Canon Law
 4) Pronouncements made by
Ecumenical councils
 5) Pronouncements made by
the Synod of Bishops
Clarification of terms
 Encyclical – 2 Gk words: “en” is in and
“kyklos” “enkyklike” to go in circle.
 Letters that are meant to be passed
around until it goes back to the original
sender.
 “Ecumenical Council” is a meeting of all
sectors in the society (secular/religious)
 “Synod of Bishops” is a meeting of all
bishops, e.g. CBCP, FABC & PCP II
 People behind STC: Pope, and Bishops
SOURCES OF STC
 1) SACRED SCRIPTURES –written
 2) SACRED TRADITION - practiced
 3) NATURAL LAW – light of reason

 CONTENTS OF STC
 1) TRUTH -moral and religious
 2) PRINCIPLES - put into practice
 3) VALUES- respect, defend & cherish
 THE ENCYCLICALS OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
1) RERUM NOVARUM
Pope Leo XIII, 1891
On the Condition of labor
-Right to work, own property
-just wage & social benefits
3) DIVINI REDEMPTORIS
Pope Pius XI, 1937
Divine Redemption
-Exposed the errors and Evils
of communism
2) QUADRAGESIMO ANNO
Pope Pius XI, 1931
40TH Anniversary of RN
On Social Reconstruction
-decries the effect of greed &
economic power on working
people and society.
4) SUMMI PONTIFICATUS
Pope Pius XII, 1939
On the Unity of Human Society
-church’s opposition against racial
Hostility, totalitarianism and the
Idea of state becoming
- Respect the Freedom of Religion
 Encyclical continues…

MATER ET MAGISTRA PACEM IN TERRIS

( Mother and Teacher ) Pope John XXIII, 1963
Christianity & Social Progress Peace on Earth
Pope John XXIII, 1961 -Magna Carta for
-”Magna Carta for Human Rights
Agriculture”

POPULORUM
GAUDIUM ET SPES PRORESSIO
( JOY & HOPE ) Vatican II, 1965 Pope Paul VI, 1967
Ecumenical Council On the Development of
A Pastoral Constitution People
Of the Church in the -Authentic development is
Modern World -Dignity as basis for another term for peace.
political & Economic decisions.
 Encyclical continues…
OCTAGESIMA ADVENIENS
Pope Paul VI, 1971
80th Anniversary of R.N.
-A call to Political Action for
change and economic justice
EVANGELII NUNTIANDI
Pope Paul VI, 1975
Evangelization Today
-Social justice is integral
to FAITH
-Liberation from all forms of
oppression an essential elements
of Christian Evangelization.
JUSTICE IN THE WORLD
Synod of Bishops, 1971
Action on behalf of justice
& participation in the social
transformation as constitutive
dimension in proclaiming
the Gospel.
REDEMPTOR HOMINIS
Pope John Paul II, 1979
Redeemer of Mankind
-Reiterated human rights
as fundamental principle
for all programs, systems
and regimes.
 Encyclical continues…
LABOREM EXCERCENS
Pope John Paul II, 1987
On Human Work
The dignity of Human Work
-Just wage and joint
ownership, sharing in management
and profits of labor
CENTESIMUS ANNUS
Pope John Paul II, 1991
Commemorates 100 years of
Rerum Novarum
-Calls for disarmament, development
of policies for employment and job
security of all nations
SOLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS
Pope John Paul II, 1987
Social Concerns of the Church
-Development with respect
for the Nature
-Option for the poor, conversion of
sinful structures to solidarity and
reform in the financial system.
TERTIO MILLENIO ADVENIENTE
Pope John Paul II,
( The Jubilee Year 2000 )
The coming of the third Millennium
-Commitment to justice and peace,
pro-poor policies & structures,
reduction or cancellation of int’l debt,
solution to unity and human rights.
 Encyclical continues…
ECCLESIA IN ASIA
Pope John Paul II, 1999
( Jesus Christ, Savior & His mission
of love and service in Asia )
Inter-religious Dialogue & communion
Among Asian countries
COMPEDIUM OF THE
SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF
THE CHURCH (CSDC) 2004
-Systematic presentation of the
Social Teaching of the Church.
THE PARTICIPATION OF
CATHOLICS IN THE
POLITICAL LIFE ( 2002 )
Pope John Paul II,
-Coherence between faith &
life, Gospel & culture as taught
by Vatican II.
DEUS CARITAS EST
Pope benedict XVI, 2010
God is Love
-Theological-philosophical
reflection on love of God and
human love.
-Necessity of loving others as
central element of STC.
 Other Church documents

MEDELLIN CONFERENCE PUEBLA CONFERENCE

DOCUMENTS ( 1968 ) DOCUMENT ( 1979 )
Inculturation and dialogue -Liberation Theology in
-liberation theology Latin America

FEDERATION OF ASIAN
BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, 1995
-denounces the forces of death
2nd PLENARY COUNCIL
that plague the continent, envision
OF THE PHILIPPINES
unity & diversity & holistic integral
( PCP II ) 1991
human development
-Aims to reanimate Filipino’s life
in Christ & unite all things in Him.
- Envisions renewed integral Evangelization.
 PURPOSE OF STC
 STC is the entire teaching of the Catholic
Church’s magisterium (teaching authority) that
applies revealed truth and Christian moral
principles to the social order. It aims to present
to all human beings the plan of God for the
society and guide people in the realization of
God’s kingdom here on earth.
 STC also integrates holistic salvation; that is a
liberation of the total living person from all
forms of oppression, be it psychological,
emotional, physical, social or economic
oppression.