I’m involved with RCIA at our local parish and over the past two weeks we covered the topic of Catholic Social Teaching under four subheadings.
- Not just for Catholics: The Church has something important to contribute to social and economic discourse for the flourishing of all people.
- The dignity of the human person: All human life is sacred and must be protected from conception to natural death.
- Love for the poor: A responsibility to care for those in need.
- Rights and responsibility: Both should be equally promoted in society.
The discussion on rights and responsibility piqued the interest of the candidates and catechumens. Perhaps this is because many today confuse “rights” with “wants”. Think of children when they don’t get what they want and say, “It’s not fair!” This implies an injustice has occurred or a violation of some right.
But rights are intrinsically linked to responsibility; a responsibly to others, often called “the common good”. When rights are confused with wants, then anything which is desired very, very much…ends up being called a “Right”. For example, the desire to end one’s life becomes the right to die.
I’ve written about rights with right reason before, but during the NFL playoffs a football analogy seemed most appropriate in one of the RCIA sessions.
If someone has the right to wear the uniform of the Cincinnati Bengals, this implies some responsibly on the football field. Even if you are the back-up punte
r, you have a responsibility to be ready if the starting punter goes down or is otherwise unavailable. Now suppose a Bengals fan, who has been a die-hard fan since their inception in 1967, also wants to be properly fitted with a Bengals uniform, and he wanted it very badly saying, “It’s my right!” The answer from the Bengals organization would likely be, “No.” because the fan has no responsibility on the field. But then people may protest and say, “It’s not fair! Look how much he loves the team”, and in fact he may love the team just as much or more than some players, but in the final analysis it’s not about a self-focused desire, but an obligation to others on the field of play.
In terms of rights in society we then spoke of…
- Voting rights and the duty to participate in elections.
- Marriage rights and the responsibility to rear children.
- Religious rights and our obligation to serve & worship God.
- Side Note: Have you ever heard the term “Holy Day of Opportunity” in place of “Holy Day of Obligation”? – Not a fan!
- And finally, property rights, and the responsibly to use what we have to help those in need.
The class seemed impressed that Church has such a comprehensive view of rights and social teaching, and I’ll leave you with a glimmer of hope. Although we currently only have four candidates and catechumens, they are all twenty-something, single and enthusiastic about RCIA. None of them are engaged to be married, so it’s not a case of some pressure to be Catholic for a fiancé. They truly want to be Catholic, and it is a delight to journey with them!
The four candidates should be grateful for the qualified instructor they have in you.
Your football team analogy is clear and appropriate. The culture has ignored the difference between wants and rights. It’s convenient to bury the responsibilities of living in a free society if those responsibilities interfere with the want. Abortion has always been wrong. The responsibilities of the parents are ignored and the want to erase their responsibilities have lead to a country’s soul being darkened.
If people must suffer their livelihood, their right to life, because of a lack of taking responsibility for that life, then all the pro-aborts have is a license to kill, not a right to abortion.
Truth is the foundation.
Having a consensus that believes that there is only an opportunity and not an obligation for Truth, then there isn’t a societal cohesion that is necessary for the future of a free society. A right to kill another because of inconvenience is nothing but a dismantling of a free society, hence the importance of Truth as a solid obligation. A rock to build a society upon. Without truth no structure will stand. It cannot withstand the weights of corruptible conduct.
For myself, RCIA was both ecstasy and agony, as mine involved revisiting a 40 years ago marriage and divorce for annulment. The painful reflection of a past life glibly lived, necessarily revisited in pursuit of the annulment, nearly squelched my fervor.
Much appreciation for all you who are involved with RCIA.
People have probably never heard a non-partisan discussion of these issues before. We hear homilies on these subjects and we think that the priest is just trying to walk a diplomatic path between the sane leftish side of America and the sane rightish side of America. In truth, these sides (again, the sane elements within them) developed from these teachings, some dating back before and helping to found the Enlightenment. These are the thoughts that get us to the thoughts we have today, largely unexplored because people are afraid of recognizing the Catholic Western roots of our framework. Learning about the Faith is like touring your home town with the local historian.
. . .on a completely different note, Don, why am I seeing SIU-Carbondale ads on TAC? 😉
Have no idea Tito. My son graduated from law school there in 2017 and since then I have had zip interest in it.
Thanks for the post, Mr. B, and thanks to Philip and Pinky for your reflections.
I enjoyed teaching RCIA. The adults tend to be far more engaged than the high school kids waiting for confirmation. So far, the only thing I’ve managed to get them excited about is Bible Trivia (which is still something, I suppose) and I introduced them to the CCC (my mind was blown when not a single one of them had ever heard of it, so I got them each a copy).
Thank you for sharing your diligent and outstanding catechetical work, Mr. Butera
At Nekofanatic
I used to teach R.E. before RCIA. Try “The occult”. Always gets their attention. Especially around Halloween. I wrote about it here https://the-american-catholic.com/2017/10/27/the-occult-r-e-and-me/
Ben Butera:
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There are some resources that cover the occult. On the EWTN show “On Location” Demonologist Adam Blai gave a presentation about exorcism. It is available on YouTube and is titled: “Exorcism in the Modern Church and How to Keep the Doors to the Demonic Closed.” The URL is:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKnGdr9WMqs
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Adam Blai has a mental health background. He stated that the spiritual world is legalistic. That the demons are bound by rules. That our actions can give demons rights to us. In light of the current debate about legalism, I find the legalism of the spiritual world to be very interesting. He went into other areas as well. He went into the paranormal with things like the ghost hunting and paranormal investigation shows that popularize the paranormal. He said that people in this area have personal problems related to their involvement in this area. He advises caution about involvement in the field of exorcism. Only the priest exorcist has the power of the Church to back him when performing solemn exorcism. A lay person doesn’t have this benefit. They are on their own if they involve themselves in this area. He gives a very interesting presentation.
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Adam Blai also has an article on the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology that gives a presentation of this subject. It is titled “What to Know About Catholic Deliverance and Exorcism”
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https://stpaulcenter.com/what-to-know-about-catholic-deliverance-and-exorcism/
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I read the article that you linked to. To me the rest of the seventh day was that of contemplation, where God contemplated His creation. Seven is a word that can be used to signify an oath or a covenant. In the second creation story God created the animals and Adam named them. This was a process of discovery and education where Adam was learning his place in the created order. I’ve been told that naming things can imply the exercise of dominion. Adam was engaged in the first beginnings of taxonomy.
Thank you. I think I needed to hear this Ben.
I’ll also be using it on the kids every-time they tell me something is “not fair.”
God Bless you in your RCIA work.