International Solidarity Reflections

In many countries around the world, people enjoy summer as a special vacation time and experience what a gift nature is to them. Nature can be a visible sign of the invisible God and teach us to marvel, be grateful, and transform ourselves. Whether watching a sunset or meditatively walking through meadows and fields, nature leads us to deeper joy and helps us find ourselves.

In Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) the papal encyclical published on March 25, 1995, Pope John Paul II reaffirms the value and inviolability of every human life and appeals to all people to respect, protect, love, and serve every human life. It defines the “culture of life” and commits us to work against violence, manipulation of the truth, attacks on the family, dehumanization of women, and the abandonment of children, what John Paul II referred to as the “culture of death”.

For School Sisters of Notre Dame, taking action to Raise Consciousness and Awareness is fundamental. As it says in our Shalom Document, “We School Sisters of Notre Dame will raise our consciousness and that of those with whom we minister by announcing justice, denouncing injustice, strengthening just structures, and changing unjust structures.” It is reflected in our commitment to education, “We educate with the conviction that the world can be changed through the transformation of persons.” (You Are Sent, Constitution 22) “We are educators in all that we are and do, exploring concrete avenues to eliminate root causes of injustice.” (Call of the 25th General Chapter)

O God, authentic development includes efforts to bring about an integral improvement in the quality of human life, and this entails considering the setting in which people live their lives. These settings influence the way we think, feel, and act. Help us to express our identity by responding to environmental limitations in a way that is sustainable through our human actions. We make this prayer through our brother, Jesus Christ, who is the source of life and all that is good. Amen.

Millions of people are on the move, fleeing persecution, authoritarian regimes, political corruption, gang violence, extreme poverty, and climate disasters. Will they find the security they seek for themselves and their families? Will we welcome them as Jesus would? Or will we label them “other,” avert our eyes, and allow them to be abused by those who would deny their dignity and exploit their labor? 

Human rights, opportunities, dignity, defense of life, education, sustainability, solidarity, and cooperation are closely linked to the search for social justice and liberation. In the Old Testament, justice is seen as “God’s faithfulness, doing what is right and just.” (cf. Deut. 32:4) According to the Church’s Social Teaching, the realization of justice aims to promote the total and integral liberation of the human person in its earthly and transcendent dimensions, contributing to the building of the Kingdom of God.

As a principle of the Catholic Social Teaching, solidarity is about recognizing our interconnectedness with all that God created and actively working together and taking action for the common good. It is a moral virtue and a social attitude that emerges from personal and communal ecological conversion in our shared humanity; we strive to build right relationships in a spirit of unity among peoples, nations and organizations.

Anti-Slavery International defines modern slavery as “when an individual is exploited by others, for personal, political, social, or commercial gain. Whether tricked, coerced, or forced, the person loses her freedom. This includes but is not limited to human trafficking, forced labor, debt bond-age.” Modern slavery takes many forms, all include control, involuntary actions, and exploita-tion. It is a global phenomenon and affects nearly 50 million people trapped in slavery world-wide, including women, children, migrants, and refugees. The climate change crisis and the new forms of slavery are related in different ways.

Following Pope Francis’ lead, we SSNDs and Associates join peoples around the world to “Care for our Common Home.” We are a Laudato Si’ community. This leads us to become more and more at home with integrating our very lives and relationships as peoples who are one with all creatures. Hesitantly, yet urgently, we dare to commit ourselves to integrate our concerns for the economy, environment, culture, family and daily life.

The Association for Living Values Education International is a collective of organizations and individuals in more than 40 countries that provides professional development workshops and curriculum resources to educators. Its mission states that people around the world share basic human values and that constructive solutions to many of the challenges facing communities today will emerge more easily when there is an emphasis on a value-based approach to life. Simplicity is among these universal values, described at livingvalues.net.

From September 1 to October 4, Christian churches celebrate the Season of Creation, during which they pray for the protection of God’s creation. They also call for all to take responsibility for God’s creation and to act. This period includes the UN International Day of Peace on September 21.