Catholic Social Teaching Speakers

I enjoyed going along to listen to the keynote speakers. Some of their teachings challenged my thinking and others confirmed what I already thought. Father John Adams talked about Pope Francis views on God as a verb, a movement, that nothing is static about God. He said Catholic Social Teaching is living and active. It is like an oak tree: the roots are scriptures and the trunk has grown in girth throughout the centuries. Bishop Peter Cullinane talked about compassion being distinctively Catholic. I listen to the scriptures in Church and relate them to my life. I then think about how can I be like Jesus? just as we teach the children to be loving, kind, forgiving just like Jesus was. We are living the gospel values: living and active. I learnt more about how and when the Bishops decide to make statements or submissions. I also have a deeper understanding of the term social justice. One of the big things that stuck with me was the See, Judge, Act that was used as a catalyst for service learning. See: to open others eyes, become aware, Judge: judge effectively, become grounded and Act: encourage action, become responsive. We can take this back into the classroom and get the children to look at our community and see what we can do to help. Especially since we have just decided on our school values and service is one of them.