A Christian presenter is encouraging Moose Jaw’s Catholic division employees to better integrate the Church’s social teachings into their lives to help them heal a divided world.
Vallimar Jansen, a contemporary Christian musician, public speaker and university professor from Los Angeles, spoke to Holy Trinity Catholic School Division staff during the division’s Opening Faith Day conference on Aug. 29 at the Heritage Inn.
The title of her presentation was “Walking together in the light of Christ,” which focused on the Catholic Church’s seven social teachings, rights and responsibilities, and walking with other Christians and non-Christians.
The Roman Catholic Church’s seven social teachings are:
- Respecting the human person
- Promoting the family
- Protecting property rights
- Working for the common good
- Observing the principle of subsidiarity, or encouraging the government to play a positive role in securing the common good
- Respecting work and the worker
- Pursuing peace and care for the poor
Applying the teachings
“I think there’s a way that we can apply them to our lives to make the world make sense to us, in times where there’s lots of division in the world right now,” said Jansen. “But when we focus on those seven tenets … (they help) us to kind of make sense of all that’s going on around us and gives us a moral, ethical centre from which we can work.”
The teachings are not worth having if they can’t be applied everywhere, the Louisiana-born speaker continued. Teachers can apply these principles by treating students and fellow educators well, allowing them to observe that treatment and emulate that authentic behaviour.
It doesn’t matter whether someone is a teacher, sanitation worker or accountant, that person can apply the teachings in how they treat others at work.
“Again, it’s how to be social beings. We first learn to be social beings in family settings. That’s how we first learn to socialize, (is) we watch our parents … ,” said Jansen.
“And then these teachings teach us how to leave the family unit, the domestic church, and how to connect with the larger church and how to live the same things that we’re taught how to be in the family setting … in the world.”
Educators specifically should work to teach and apply the social teachings in their classroom no matter what subject they teach, she continued. Even if students fail to remember the class material, they will remember how their teachers treated them.
Purpose in life
God has a plan and purpose for everyone’s life and a reason to speak lives into existence, Jansen said. The basic reason we exist is to glorify the Lord, while “the rub” is how we do that and make the planet better for everyone.
The world would be different without musicians or entertainers or accountants, while during the pandemic and lockdowns, many people discovered the importance of delivery people and trash workers, she continued.
“… I think the pandemic and quarantine showed us we’re like cogs in God’s machine. And we all have a reason and purpose for being on Earth … ,” she remarked.
Loving God and neighbour
Another of life’s purposes is for people to love themselves so they can love God and love their neighbour just as Jesus instructed, Jansen continued. Even if people can’t determine what they are supposed to “do,” they should instead “be” someone who fulfills Jesus’ two main commandments.
Changing hearts and minds
Jansen used songs and singing to communicate her message to Holy Trinity staff during her presentation.
She pointed out that scientists have discovered how music is the only activity that “fires up” every part of the brain simultaneously. This discovery gives her chills, knowing that music effectively reaches people, which is likely why parts of the Catholic mass are sung.
Besides music, Jansen also works storytelling into her presentations since that combination can change people and tweak their thinking.
“I believe it’s not debates, (but) it’s not even scientific empirical evidence that’s going to change people’s hearts. I believe it’s story (because) that’s how Jesus changed hearts,” she said. “He told stories; we call them parables.”
Catholics must learn how to take what they hear in the Bible and through the liturgy and put those messages into action, Jansen stated.
“We need to get it from the head and heart and lips into our working hands,” she added. “And that’s the crux of what I would like to leave people with.”
