Rerum Novarum

I have added a link directly to the Vatican archives.  Rerum Novarum was published in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII and is as relevant today as it was the day it was written.  As future Catholic businessman you will be faced with a dilemma.  Profit or People?  Pope Leo calls on employers to pay their employees a "just wage".  A just wage guarantees that a man or woman can support a family on the salary they are being paid.  Have a conversation at home with your parents and ask them what they think is a just wage. 

Disturbing article about an abortion doctor in Pennsylvania

 Take a look at this article and reflect on the comments by Mother Theresa.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/19/kermit--gosnell-charged_n_810976.html

What is Law?

What, then, is law?  It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.  Each of us has a natural right- from God- to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.  These are the three basic requirements of his life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two.  For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality?  And what is property but an extension of our faculties?  If every person has the right to defend- even by force - his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly.  Thus the principle of collective right- its reason for existing, its lawfulness- is based on individual right.  And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute.  Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force- for the same reason-cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups.


The Law by Frederic Bastiat

John F. Kennedy and Conscience

 In his inaugural address in 1961, JFK makes specific reference to the concept of conscience and its role in good decision making.

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."

Transcription courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Video from Fr. Barron

Below in the Video link there is an excellent piece addressing the significance of St. Thomas Aquinas.  This is why we pray to him in class every day.

What does Vatican II say about conscience?

"In the depths of our conscience, we detect a law which does not impose, but which holds us to obedience.  Always summoning us to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to our heart: do this, shun that.  For we have in our heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of being human; according to it we will be judged (2 Cor. 6:10).  Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person.  There we are alone with God, Whose voice echoes in our depths (John 1:3, 14).  In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor (Eph. 1:10).  In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of humanity in the search for the truth, and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals from social relationships. Hence the more right conscience holds sway, the more persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and strive to be guided by the objective norms of morality.  Conscience frequently errs from invincible ignorance without losing its dignity.  The same cannot be said for those who care but little for truth and goodness, or for a conscience which by degrees grows practically sightless as a result of habitual sin." 

Gaudium Spes paragraph 16. Documents of Vatican II

The Power of the Rosary

"The rosary is a prayer which gradually takes the form of an intimate conversation with Jesus and Mary.  It is easy to see how saintly souls have found it a school of contemplation...the words are a kind of melody, which soothes the ear and isolates us from the world around us, the fingers being occupied meanwhile in allowing one bead  after another to slip through.  Thus the imagination is kept tranquil and the mind and the will are set free to be united to God"   Pere Garrigou -Lagrange O.P.  In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives this is motivation enough to take time out of our busy schedule and make time to pray the rosary.  Let's make that a class New Year's Resolution!