Solidarity during Social Distancing

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Lesson Overview

These are trying times. COVID-19 has greatly affected our nation, and our government has advised the practice of social distancing, and in some cases quarantining, in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. As many public institutions close down—and even the Church has closed many of her public Masses—our daily lives seem to grind to a halt, and we can begin to feel as though we are isolated. We can even begin to view our neighbor as a threat, or a competitor in the race for supplies, rather than a person made in the image and likeness of God whom we are commanded to love like Christ. Human dignity, and the charity we are called to as members of Christ’s Body, can easily be forgotten and drowned out by fear in these uncertain times.

Yet the Catholic Church, founded and fed by Jesus Christ, and ever strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, confidently confirms to the world the claim of solidarity: we are never alone! As Catholics we are intimately bound to Christ, and to each other as members of His Mystical Body. As such we are also united to the communion of saints in Heaven! All members of the Holy Church face this trial together, and we must keep our ties strong and build one another up in our prayers and in our labor. “For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).

In this lesson your students will:

  • Learn how the Church defines solidarity, and how solidarity can embolden us during these trying times.
  • Consider what the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us about the importance of showing compassion to our neighbor, especially amid social distancing.
  • Explore how to be both charitable AND prudent, and how to treat our neighbors with dignity and charity in these trying times.
  • Explore ways to keep our connections strong and healthy with family and friends.
  • Contemplate how we can follow Christ and draw ever closer to Him, even when we cannot access the Sacraments.
  • Consider ways that each of us can show solidarity towards our neighbors and serve those in need.

Lesson Materials

Activity

First, have your students read over the Gospel passages in the warm-up activity and consider the reflection question.

  • Then, give students Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 1948, 1939, 1942, 2447 & 2444, 953, 1694, 2013, along with the article “US Catholics respond to Coronavirus Prayer and Outreach to the Vulnerable” from the National Catholic Register, found at the following link: SophiaOnline.org/CatholicsAndCOVID-19.
  • Have your students reflect on what they read in the Catechism and compare it with what they read in the article using the focus and reflection questions.
  • Have students share their answers with the class, or write them out if they are studying from home.
  • Finally, have your students read the excerpt “On Living in an Atomic Age from Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays, by C.S. Lewis (1948), and individually answer the reflection questions.
  • First, have your students read over the Gospel passages in the warm-up activity and consider the reflection question.

Answer Key

Focus and Reflection Questions

  1. “In the sanctorum communio [the communion of saints], "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." "Charity does not insist on its own way." In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion” (CCC 953).
  2. Accept reasoned answers. Charity, the highest form of love, seeks the good of the other first and foremost. Charity imitates the perfect love of Christ Himself, who lay down His life for the good of all mankind. Charity is selfless and is directly opposed to the act of “insisting” upon one’s own way, which is selfish.
  3. The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood” (CCC 1939). “The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new paths for, the development of temporal goods as well” (CCC 1942). “Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones” (CCC 1948). The law of solidarity is “dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to. This law is sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity" (CCC 1939).
  4. Accept reasoned answers. Both, with an emphasis on the spiritual goods: “Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones” (CCC 1948).
  5. “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities” (CCC 2447). Accept reasoned answers.
  6. “Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” (CCC 2447). Accept reasoned answers.
  7. Accept reasoned answers.
  8. The article relates that “Like every other epidemic, it’s going to hit the poor the hardest.… I’m hoping and praying that the poor will be well-served right now.” In light of our communion in solidarity with all members of the Church, and all children of God, we share in both the pains and joys of the poor, the sick, and the dying, and we are called to help ease their suffering with our alms, prayers, and other works of charity.
  9. Accept reasoned answers.
  10. Accept reasoned answers.
  11. Accept reasoned answers. Keeping a safe distance from others if we feel sick, washing
    our hands frequently, coughing and sneezing into our elbows, observing safety
    precautions when we go out in public, etc.
  12. Accept reasoned answers. Keep the image of Christ’s face always first in our mind, especially
    when we are in public and encounter other people, remember to treat everyone as we would wish
    to be treated ourselves, see Christ in others and remember that when we serve and care for the
    least among us we are serving Christ Himself, greet people’s guardian angels before we speak to
    them or interact with them, ask the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with Charity and a deep love for
    our neighbor, etc.

Warm up Activity

Luke 10:30-37

But because he [a scholar of the law] wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He [the scholar] answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11:

For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us,so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.

Colossians 3:12-15, 17:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. …And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Reflection Questions:

  1. According to Christ’s parable, who is our neighbor? During these trying times, do you
    think we are tempted to act more like the priest and Levite in the parable? How?
  2. How can we, like the Samaritan, show compassion to our neighbor even while safely
    observing social distancing?
  3. Why do you think compassion is so powerful when it is shown authentically? When have
    you encountered true compassion in your life?

 

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