Sabria Reuss

SRT 280 45
April 21, 2021
A Follower of Jesus

Catholic Social Teaching provides insights on what it means to be a follower of Jesus

today. A life of discipleship is focused on imitating God’s divine love, mercy, forgiveness, and
choosing to walk by faith. The teachings and life of Jesus provide guidelines on how to imitate
the divine qualities of God through one’s inner and outer journey of life.
One of the most important aspects to following Jesus is to have compassion for others.
Compassion is a feeling and a way of life that is expressed through personal, social, and global
dimensions. Since compassion is the central quality of God, Jesus embodied God’s divine
compassion and uses his gift to share the suffering of humanity, transforming their hurt into
new life. For one to devote their life to following god, their own central moral quality must be
compassion towards others. Compassion is important when understanding and experiencing
the emotion that goes along with the suffering of others. A compassionate person is willing to
accept and share the suffering of another with the will to help that person. It is evident that this
principle is regarded as being highly valuable to God because of the way that Jesus showed
compassion for all.
The most important aspect of Jesus’ embodiment of God is unconditional love. Jesus
insisted on the power of love and expressed that through loving all people, especially those
who are less fortunate. He encourages everyone to love their enemies as this will affirm the
image of God and gain freedom from sin. The suffering that Jesus endured from others was
brutal, but he chose to forgive and expressed love to those who came against him. He loved the
outcasts of society and accepted them for who God saw them to be, not what the world’s
perception was. Love provides the opportunity to truly experience the Kingdom of God.
Catholic Social Teaching encourages followers of Jesus to express love to the
wrongdoers and oppressors through responses of creative resistance. One should never
respond to violence with more violence but only through divine love and compassion. The
Sermon on the Mount offers alternative responses to the natural fight or flight instinct during a
stressful situation of injustice. One method is to turn the other cheek, not to run or flee from
the situation. By demanding courage in the response to evil and by standing their ground, the
inferior will reveal the injustice within the situation. Another brave form of resistance to the
injustice of indebtedness is through clowning and nudity. This form of a response is done when
a creditor seeks collateral from a person that does not have much of anything to give in return.
The person should willingly give all that they have to the creditor, to seek justice by revealing
the reality of the consequences of their unjust actions. The third form of creative resistance
occurs when a person goes the extra mile when they are forced to do something against their
will. Going above and beyond in a response of love allows the oppressed person to maintain
their dignity in a situation of injustice. These methods of response are important for everyone
to follow and will assist in creating a peaceful social and religious community.
Social justice is a significant aspect of Catholic Social Teaching. It is the duty of a follower
of Jesus to be actively engaged within their society. Each person has the obligation to
participate in political and economic decisions to promote a just community, while it is the duty
of society to provide each person with the opportunity to do so. This encourages human dignity
within the individual and gives a sense of freedom knowing they can encourage positive
changes in the lives of others. The role of government is also valued by CST in a society to
provide for those who do not have the means or opportunity to provide for themselves. Social
justice is focused on promoting the common good within a community.
A follower of Jesus should seek to create peace within their personal relationships and
in society, as he brought peace to humanity. The only way to achieve true peace is through
promoting justice and forgiving others which will provide moral freedom. Catholic Social
Teaching promotes conflict resolution though alternative methods that do not involve violence.
War, military power and spending are viewed as moral questions instead of being used as a
necessary tool to resolve the issues of society. The conditions of peace are created through the
virtue of solidarity, acting with intentions to promote the common good for all humanity.

Thompson, J. M. (2019). Justice and peace: A Christian primer. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books