Catholic Strategic Thought for Politics
Overview
Vision—For the human person to enter into unity with God.
Central value—For the human person to transform into the image of Jesus Christ.
Mission—For the human person to make decisions that will allow him or her to transform into the image of Jesus Christ and thus enter into unity with God.
Details
The vocation of the human person is to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. This transformation is accomplished through knowing, loving, and serving God.
God makes this transformation possible through grace—"[t]he free and undeserved gift that God gives us to respond to our vocation to become his adopted children." (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, pg. 881.)
As human persons and members of the human community, there is a personal and communal element to a vocation. The human person is an individual, is social, and exists in societies.
Being an individual, the human person has an intellect and will. The human person uses their intellect and will to make decisions. Decisions allow the human person the opportunity to actualize his or her potential to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
Being social, the human person interacts with others and develops his or her potential. These interactions allow the human person the opportunity to make decisions to actualize his or her potential to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
Society must be well-ordered and prosperous. The human person has the capacity to order and make prosperous society. The human person has an obligation to order and make prosperous society through decisions.
In order for society to be well-ordered and prosperous, it must reflect the personal and communal relationship of God as Trinity.
God is all-loving, all-true, all-good, all-powerful, and all-present. He created the universe " 'in a state of journeying' (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it." (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, pg. 80.)
Divine providence is "the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection". (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, pg. 80.)
As an all-loving, all-true, all-good, all-powerful, and all-present being, God guides his creation towards perfection in the best way.
The role of the human person in this perfection is to be sons and daughters to the Father, through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Being a son or daughter is the best way for a Catholic person to live their daily life.