Friday, August 14, 2020 –
In order to have a proper discussion about community in Catholic terms, we would need to read the many lengthy sections in the Catechism about community. Then we would need to move into the similarly lengthy sections on the existence of man, natural and divine law, moral law, fundamental rights, freedoms, authority (including political authority), solidarity, subsidiarity, just and unjust laws, just and unjust authority, rights and duties of citizens, and, of course, the dignity of the human and equality of persons. By then, we have simply read the entire Catechism as well as a right-high stack of Papal documents and encyclicals.
That is not a bad thing. In fact, we all could use a bit more nose-in-the-books time. The point, however, is that community is such a large chunk of…well…EVERYTHING!
While it would be best to have a thorough hashing of everything surrounding the behemoth that is community, you would be looking at hunkering down for a several-volume dissertation lofty even for the most astute PhD candidate, which I assure you is NOT me. With nothing much to do in the world currently, we all have the time to read such a massive undertaking. However, I am fairly certain we would run out of migraine meds long before we even scratched the surface.
With that in mind, here is the cliff-notes of the cliff-notes version:
Father Hardon in his Catholic Dictionary defines community as:
A group of persons who share the same beliefs, live together under authority, and co-operate in pursuing common interests for the benefit of others besides their own members. The degree of common belief, living, and activity determines the intensity of the community and its distinctive identity as a human society. (Etym Latin communitas, community, common possession; association; congregation, parish; generality.) (CD-H, p. 100)
Breaking this down, we can list out five “parts” to the formation of a community:
- Group of persons
- Share a same belief
- Under authority
- Cooperate in pursing common interest
- That common interest is for the benefit of others, including those outside its members
This definition is, of course, not wrong. However, it also does not fully encompass the intricacies of community in all its Catholic understanding.
For (a terrible) example of the definition above:
The toddler across the street and I (group of persons) both think cupcakes are quite tasty (same belief). We have duly instituted the Cupcake Command who sets the rules of how many and how often we eat cupcakes (under authority). We have discussed that we should eat no less than one cupcake, but no more than five cupcakes a day (common interest) because we know that eating cupcakes makes us happy, but also recognize that too many makes us irritable, bat-guano crazy, and unwilling to take afternoon naps (benefit of others, including said toddler’s parents, who happen to be outside the Cupcake Command).
Is this what the Church means when she talks about community? Heck no!
The discussion we really need to have regarding community in the Catholic sense is about man: what is man; what is his end; what is the common good; man’s relation to society; and the vocation of humanity. Even all of that is quite a lot to chew on! Thankfully we can fall back to an even easier source that the Catechism, the Baltimore Catechism (BC#2).
Let’s dig in!
3. Q. What is man?
A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God. (BC#2)
4. Q. Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?
A. This likeness is chiefly in the soul. (BC#2)
5. Q. How is the soul like to God?
A. The soul is like God because it is a spirit that will never die, and has understanding and free will. (BC#2)
6. Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven. (BC#2)
7. Q. Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?
A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body. (BC#2)
8. Q. Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?
A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness. (BC#2)
9. Q. What must we do to save our souls?
A. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart. (BC#2)
Now we need to tie the easy “what is man” and “what is our purpose” from above into community…
What is the Common Good?
The Common Good is “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment” (Gaudium et Spes, 26§1). It has three “essential elements” (CCC 1906-1909):
- It presupposes respect for the person
- It requires the social well-being and development of the group itself
- It requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order
What is the “fulfillment” of man?
See questions 6-9 above. “All men are called to the same end: God himself.” (CCC 1878) In short, we are fulfilled when we know God, love God, and serve God. We are made to be with God forever in heaven!
What is the “vocation of humanity”?
It is the universal call to holiness of all of humanity. It “is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father’s only Son. This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole.” (CCC 1877)
What is man’s relation to society (AKA why do we need a community)?
“1878 All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
“1879 The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation.” (CCC)
See!? Isn’t that a much more encompassing idea! Community is not for the mutual benefit of cupcake eaters or for earthly pursuits. Rather, it is for our mutual benefit to fulfill our nature as creations of God made in His image and likeness. To put it even plainer: we enter into a community to help each other get to heaven.
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness, have mercy on us.
