Providing access to health care, organizing a business, making decisions about consumption and participating in politics — all should be geared first to helping the weakest and most vulnerable, said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, as he reflected on ways to live out Catholic social teaching.
Jason Adkins
“We have to start from the standpoint of putting the most vulnerable and weakest among us first,” Adkins said in an interview with Patrick Conley for the 9 p.m. April 2 “Practicing Catholic” show on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. It’s important to help those most in need, he said, including the unborn, “who have no voice at all.”
In addition to the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, several themes to bear in mind are people’s rights and responsibilities; the call to participate; care for God’s creation; life and dignity of the human person; and the dignity of work and the rights of workers, Adkins said.
A Catholic understanding of the world, for example, recognizes freedom to fulfill responsibilities, not freedom from any responsibility at all, Adkins said. While freedom of speech and religion provide opportunities to speak and live the truth, they do not give people license to say or do whatever they want, he said.
And the call to participation means Catholics jump into the fray with feet of charity and justice to create a better world, he said. One important way to participate is to sign up by April 8 for MCC’s April 15 Catholics at the Capitol, in-person in St. Paul or virtually online at catholicsatthecapitol.org, Adkins said.
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa, will address this year’s attendees and there will be Mass, advocacy training and prayers, Adkins said.
People are encouraged to attend to be “formed in the faith and informed on the issues, so that you can transform our state,” Adkins said.
In addition to the Friday evening show, “Practicing Catholic” also airs at 1 p.m. April 3 and 2 p.m. April 4 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the first April weekend show also includes interviews on the importance of Catholic communicators with Julie Craven, director of communications and strategic initiatives at Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, and a look back at Easters of the past with Allison Spies, archives program manager with the archdiocese’s Office of Archives and Records Management.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired:
soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic
Practicing Catholic on Spotify
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