Christian participation in society

We increasingly see society becoming enmeshed in a selfishness that hinders progress, with struggles over differing ideas or opinions that displease a certain group. But is it necessary for a Christian to be involved in these matters? If we think about it, we might say no, or simply ignore it and focus on our Christian life, but is that right?

The participation of all citizens cannot be excused as being outside their purview, because in a society every individual is important. But what is society for a Christian? If we turn to the catechism, we find a beautiful explanation: “Some societies, such as the family and the city, correspond more directly to human nature. They are necessary. In order to encourage the participation of the greatest number of people in social life, it is necessary to promote and encourage the creation of associations and institutions of free initiative.” (1882) Society is part of human nature, so why not actively participate in it? 

Christians are called to participate in the world, but not in a hateful way, but rather to show that society is embraced from a perspective of good, “embracing the whole of those conditions of social life by which men, families and associations can more fully and easily achieve their own perfection” (GS 74) 

If we look closely, living in community is not intended as something merely external, for convenience or simply for pleasure, but rather it entails relationships between people that embody the fact that we are made in the image of God. This does not forget the equality and dignity that each human person possesses by virtue of the simple, yet simultaneously magnificent, fact of being created and being a child of God. This is where prudence comes in. If we turn to St. Thomas Aquinas, we find that prudence does not correspond to one's own opinion, but rather to that of the common good: “Since it is proper to prudence to deliberate, judge, and order the means to reach the proper end, it is evident that prudence encompasses not only the particular good of a single person, but the common good of the multitude” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 47, a, 10). Thinking about the common good also means attending to charity, knowing at every moment what is most appropriate, diligently analyzing the needs of others, and thus fulfilling a divine mandate. This cardinal virtue puts our judgment into practice; therefore, it is not something done for myself alone, but also for the service of others. 

If we look at our daily life, it is full of judgments where prudence is present, and it is where thinking about others is often necessary for healthy participation; immersing oneself in the world, in the sound of the world, in the knowledge of the world without becoming worldly, is also a characteristic of our ordinary life. 

Prudence also encompasses the right to actively participate in the future of a society, its organization, and its representation, and to recognize when something of which they are a part, as a society, fails to defend what is most important: the dignity of each person. Each individual is important: “Their loyal collaboration entails the right, sometimes the duty, to exercise just criticism of what seems harmful to them to the dignity of persons or the good of the community” (CCC, 2238). Our duty is not only to participate when everything is running smoothly, but also, with prudence, to identify what attacks the integrity of society and its foundations, which are people, with their dignity, from conception to death, because it is sacred.

In this, an important text was Caritas in veritate, Benedict XVI, when he managed to find that connection between the common good, vocation, and participation. Every Christian is called to charity, but, as I said before, this is not simply about providing financial assistance to someone in need, but also about helping society so that fewer and fewer people are disadvantaged, each according to the vocation from which the Lord has raised them. “To desire the common good and to strive for it is a requirement of justice and charity” (Caritas in veritate, 7). The requirement for each person to participate in the same reality is, ultimately, to contribute to a hope: that everyone will know the good and that their dignity will not be violated by a lack of justice and equity. 

It is also important to consider that we live in times where the awareness of the common good is increasingly degraded by constant selfishness, as well as by a fleeting desire for things that are quick and ephemeral, completely abandoning any thought of others and instead focusing on satisfying our own needs. It is a mistake to think that progress can only be achieved in a society that satisfies our own needs, in many cases our ego. It is almost irrational to think so. “When nature, and human beings in particular, are considered the product of chance or evolutionary determinism, the sense of responsibility in consciences diminishes” (Caritas in veritate, 48). If we consider that nature has a divine mind behind it, we will begin to see that it is truly a gift given freely. On the other hand, if we think of chance, we do not think of the divine, and the dignity of the person is so diminished that we come to believe we can play with them as if we owned them. Therefore, awareness of divine creation is important for thinking about progress and the common good.

An important role, and something we can also consider, is that of freedom: the freedom to decide and to judge, to express opinions and also to act. Here, if we look closely, prudence is essentially embedded in the decisions we make freely. On this point, Saint Josemaría tells us: “A person who knows that the world—and not only the church—is the place of their encounter with Christ, loves that world, strives to acquire a good intellectual and professional education, and continues to develop…” —with complete freedom— his own criteria regarding the problems of the environment in which he lives; and consequently, he makes his own decisions which, being the decisions of a Christian, also stem from personal reflection, which humbly attempts to grasp God's will in those small and large details of life” (Conversations, 116). It is about seeing, at every moment, the formation of the character that each moment needs above all to make work and ordinary life a place to reveal God's will, and it is there, where God's will prevails as the reference point, it is there that the common good is seen. A society that forgets these factors, such as work or intellectual enrichment, to contribute to the common good will never achieve that good.

Therefore, being Christian, especially as we are in the world, cannot be confined to a reality that is alien to us; rather, this is a selfish way of thinking about the relationship between charity and prudence. We don't think about others, and at the same time, we think in terms of an egocentric view of our own good.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ, children of God, and we live in a society that helps us grow and recognize these two things. Society, or rather human reality, doesn't take anything away from us; on the contrary, it gives us something. This is true as long as we remember that we are all participants in something where we are not alone, but where others are also involved.

Thus we can bring to life the affirmation of Saint Augustine: “You say that the times are bad; be better, and the times will be better: you are the times” (Sermon 80). This is truly what is happening today. We cannot complain and condemn a society when we ourselves are part of it. We are looking at ourselves, but each one contributes according to the talents the Lord has given them (cf. Mt 25:14-30). The best talents, even if only one, are the best expression of how the Lord acts through us as instruments, and what better example of this than the saints, especially Saint Mary, who was a faithful instrument of the Lord until the very end.