Inspired by Mary’s example and the many feast days in May, I would like to present a beautiful opportunity for reflection. This month offers a unique chance to meditate on core attributes of our faith and Catholic teaching, as witnessed by the lives of the Saints.
Catholic social teaching (CST) has been dubbed the “best-kept secret” of the Catholic Church, so if you have not heard of it, you are not alone. However, as followers of Christ seeking a deeper understanding of our tradition, we can look to this month’s Saints to see what it means to live a counter-cultural embodiment of Christ's love.
The Church's social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. The depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents (USCCB).
There are seven key themes of CST that are beautifully and providentially reflected within the feast days of May. These themes are rooted in sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the teaching of the Magisterium.
1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person
This principle of CST calls us back to Genesis where we glean our understanding of the Imago Dei—being made in God’s image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26-31). We share this worldview with all Abrahamic traditions, which acknowledge God as the Creator and giver of all life. Given this identity, we believe that every life has inherent dignity and deserves to be treated as an image bearer of the Divine.
Saint Damien of Molokai (May 10) is a phenomenal example of honoring the dignity of all people, especially those with leprosy. While the world saw lepers as unclean and a threat to others, Saint Damien saw them as children of God, caring for their bodies and souls with the reverence and dignity deserved by all who bear God’s image.
2. Call to Family, Community, and Participation
This tenet of CST emphasizes that we are social beings with a right to participate in our communities—economically, socially, politically, and religiously. This includes subsidiarity: the understanding that individuals, families, and communities are most intimately aware of their own needs and should be encouraged to advocate for themselves.
Our Lady of Fatima’s (May 13) message to the shepherd children is a unique opportunity to reflect on this call. During her apparitions, she encouraged the children to do three things:
- pray the Rosary daily for world peace and the conversion of sinners
- offer sacrifices for the salvation of souls
- seek a conversion of heart to God
Despite their youth, these children serve as a beautiful example of how personal actions impact the world and eternity.
3. Rights and Responsibilities
This principle is foundational to our commitment to the dignity of life and our obligation to care for the vulnerable. We see this demonstrated in Scripture (see Ruth 1:16), and in the necessary care for young children, those with special needs, and the elderly. While we believe that all have a right to life, that right also comes with particular responsibility.
Saint Rita of Cascia (May 22) lived this principle as a wife and mother, and later as a nun. Her arranged marriage was not a happy one. She suffered abuse and was often consumed with worry over the activities her husband was involved in (for which he was eventually murdered), along with her fervent prayers that her sons would not follow in their father’s footsteps. After illness took the lives of her sons, she pursued religious life and committed herself fully to the Augustinian order.
4. Preferential Option for the Poor
This principle reminds us that God’s Heart is focused on those who suffer. Like a parent who remains by the side of an injured child—not loving their other children less, but prioritizing the one who needs healing—God pays particular attention to those who live on the margins of society.
During this month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, it is fitting to reflect on the words of Mary’s Magnificat. Within her fiat, her yes, Mary is cognizant of God’s nearness to the lowly. The Church echoes her words every evening in the Liturgy of the Hours: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53). In imitation of God’s own Heart, we too are called to live with special attention to those who are poor.
5. Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
While our relationship to work is often associated with the consequences of original sin (see Genesis 3), God orchestrated these circumstances to help us understand our own dignity. This means that the gifts and talents we have been given to share allow us to act as co-creators with God. By utilizing our gifts to provide for our families and communities, we reflect the goodness of the Creator.
Saint Joseph the Worker (May 1) offers a tremendous example of the goodness of the work of our hands. As a carpenter, Joseph provided for the Holy Family, while teaching Jesus valuable trade skills, showing us that God gives us a glimpse of our dignity through the work of our hands and minds.
6. Solidarity
Solidarity is best defined as accompaniment. Whether assisting a minor through the legal system, helping a refugee family navigate life in a foreign country, or supporting an aging relative through the complexities of the healthcare system, to accompany is to walk patiently with those in need—maybe even to the point of our own inconvenience.
We see this illustrated in the Visitation (May 31). When Mary goes in haste to the side of her cousin Elizabeth, she is in the early months of her own pregnancy. Traveling alone was not only dangerous at the time, but likely uncomfortable. Yet she practices true solidarity—accompanying her elderly relative through the final months of pregnancy as they both marvel at their divinely inspired circumstances!
7. Care for God’s Creation
No one understands or appreciates the gifts of the created world and the necessity to care for it better than farmers—those who toil upon the land to feed their families and others. This reality reflects back to Genesis, when God assigns Adam and Eve the task of stewarding and cultivating creation (see Genesis 1:28-29). Caring for creation, which was gifted to us, remains our responsibility and the mark of the Christian people who honor God’s gift.
Saint Isidore, patron Saint of farmers (May 15), understood his work in the field as a vocation of stewardship. Many miracles are attributed to Isidore, who reverently went about the work God gave him, while committing to his family, prayer, and feeding the hungry.
What a gift to be offered such a variety of examples of a love for God that is both deeply personal and necessarily social. How is God inviting you to reconsider your faith in action during the month of May?
Katie Cassady is a wife and mom who has worked in young adult and social ministry in a variety of roles over the past 15 years. Steeped in theological reflection, it is her joy to make connections between Scripture, service, and Catholic social teaching through her work at Catholic Charities. She holds a master's degree in Pastoral Ministry and loves to write about the dignity of the human person, stewardship, and Sabbath in a world desperate for the peace of Christ.
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