Apply Catholic social teaching to the analysis of contemporary social issues
Faith, Religion, and Society
In Faith, Religion, and Society my first semester at Seton Hill University in Fall 2016, I wrote a paper bringing light to environmental issues through the lens of Rerum Novarum and Laudato Sí. I state, "Catholics, and all Christians, believe, as stated in The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World by Theodore M. Ludwig, that, 'All God’s creatures are intrinsically valuable, not only humans but also animals and all the world of nature' (423)" (Betz 2). I even highlight, "Does this mean that Catholics only care about the environment inasmuch as people are not harmed? Looking forward to 2015, with Pope Francis’ writing of his encyclical Laudato Sí, one can see that that is definitely not true" (Betz 3).
Senior Seminar
In Senior Seminar, I gave a presentation and wrote a paper on the integration of the Catholic Church and LGBTQ+ people and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about it. I say that, "Catholic Social Teaching can be applied to the Catholic Church’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ people through the principles of respect for human life and the dignity of the human person.... If LGBTQ+ people are being degraded and are dying, that is an issue that the Catholic Church should stand up for, whether or not they agree with the life choices of the individual." (Betz 3).
Integrate the practice of charity with the skill of justice
Community Service
I participated in at least one service project a semester while at Seton Hill University. All but one Labor of Love and Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Day, I went to St. Emma's Monastery. At St. Emma's, because they are cloistered Benedictine nuns, they do not have hired help. The help that we give them is all they may get all semester in the areas we clean. The sisters pray everyday for us and others around the world.
One service day, I went to Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry. Our Lady of Grace collects food and basic necessities, like diapers, for those who cannot afford to buy them. While there, we helped those coming in to collect what they needed. We pushed a shopping cart for them and helped them load their cars.
Three times, I participated in trash clean ups. Once was with the Biology Club to a park to collect trash along a road. Twice, once with Nature Club and once being an Earth Day event, I cleaned up trash around Seton Hill's campus. Each time, the amount of trash collected by everyone was measured to determine what our impact was. This raises awareness for how everyone needs to work together to take care of our environment.
Social Action
In January 2017, I traveled with Seton Hill and St. Vincent's Pro-Life groups to go to Washington D.C. for the March for Life. The March for Life is one of the biggest events of its type every year, but one of the least covered in the news. We met in the National Mall to hear speakers and see a video from the President. Then, we began to march. For whatever reason, where we were standing, we stood for an hour and ended up at the end of the march. We stopped marching before we got to the Capital Building to head back home, but it was an interesting experience since I had never done anything like it before. To publicly and part of a group stand up for my beliefs and try to promote social and legal change.
In my Topics in Creative Writing: New Voices class, we had to take quotes from Project KIND's website and record them orally. Project KIND has collected quotes from immigrants, parents and children alike, at the U.S. and Mexican border. Since I have done some radio recordings, I tried to bring my voice acting skills to work to give these quotes the life I believe they deserve. I then posted these recordings on Twitter to raise awareness for the horrendous conditions going on in our own country.