Unit Overview

Students will explore how social justice calls Christians to respect the dignity of the human person. Students will explore Scripture and Church Tradition to inform our understanding of social justice and the Church’s mission to build a just world. In their exploration, students will study the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the model of See, Judge, Act, to enable them to review situations of injustice. Students will look at ways the Catholic Church in Australia reaches out to people who struggle to live with injustice.

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Enduring Understanding

Social justice calls Christians to respect the dignity of the human person as demonstrated in the Scriptures and teachings of the Catholic Church.

Objectives

A student will

value and appreciate their personal responsibility for moral decision-making; recognise that moral decision-making can be both complex and demanding; accept the need to work with compassion for justice in the world; believe in their own potential to effect change
develop an understanding of Catholic moral teaching, its relationship to moral issues and place in personal decision-making, including its call to work for justice in the world
research into and reflect on Catholic moral teaching; develop the ability to make responsible moral decisions; apply the principles of justice and compassion in their lives

Outcomes

A student

appreciates their responsibility for moral decision-making according to the teaching of Jesus. (RECVE5)
explores how the Old Testament prophets and the words and actions of Jesus provide a model for social justice. (RECKE5)
applies the, ‘See, Judge, Act’ model to a range of contemporary situations. (RECSE5)

Essential Questions

How does Scripture and Church Tradition inform our understanding of social justice and the Church’s mission to build a just world?
How do the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the model of See, Judge, Act, enable us to review situations of injustice?
How does the Catholic Church in Australia reach out to people who struggle with injustice?

Learning Focus, Statements of Learning & Course Content

Students deepen their understanding of social justice and continuing the Church’s mission to build a just world by

- investigating what influences our decision-making and the role of moral conscience
- Explore the belief that humans “are made in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis1:27) and the characteristics that set humans apart from other beings.
- Explore moral conscience in relation to beliefs and values.
- Explain how our moral conscience influences our decision-making.
- exploring how Old Testament prophets were advocates for social justice.
- Reflect on what it means to be a prophet.
- Explore Amos 5:21-24 Let Justice Flow (storytelling).
- Explore Amos 5:21-24 Let Justice Flow and Isaiah 58:6-9 False and True Worship and identify how they were
  advocates for social justice
- examining how the words and actions of Jesus.
- Explore Luke 4:14-19 Jesus of Nazareth and identify Jesus’ mission to build a just world.
- Explore Matthew 25:31-46 The Judgement of the Nations and examine how Jesus was an advocate for social justice.
- identifying the key messages of social justice proclaimed in Church Tradition.
- Investigate the key messages of social justice proclaimed in Church Tradition, using:
  ○ Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis, 2015) -Chapter 1/V/#48 – Global Inequality
  ○ Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis, 2013) – Chapter 4/II/#191
  ○ Annual Social Justice Statement, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Students deepen their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching by

- naming and describing the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
- Define ‘injustice’ and ‘justice’.
- Explore the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as outlined in the Catholic Social Teaching: A Framework for Faith in Action page 3:
  ○ The Dignity of the Human Person
  ○ Respect for Human Life
  ○ The Right of Association
  ○ The Principle of Participation
  ○ A Preferential Option for the Poor
  ○ The Principle of Solidarity
  ○ Stewardship
  ○ The Principle of Subsidiarity
  ○ Human Equality
  ○ The Common Good
- examining the ‘See Judge Act’ model for Christian living.
- Explore the concept of Christian living, based on right relationships and human dignity.
- Examine the “See, Judge, Act” model, connecting values, Scripture and Tradition, as a framework for Christian living.
- Identify who are the poor, vulnerable, sick and outcasts today.
- Explore and pray KWL Book 5 Chapter 11 The Prayer of St Francis p112.
- exploring people who promoted human dignity through love of God, self and others.
- Explore Matthew 22:34-39 The Greatest Commandment and identify how Jesus teaches us to love God, self and others.
- Research St Augustine and interpret KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii In Tradition: St Augustine’s Song of Love p39
- Read KWL Year 5 Chapter 10 Our Heritage – Light and Fire St Margaret Mary p105-106 and explain how her life has inspired devotion to the Sacred Heart.
- Read KWL Year 5 Chapter 10 Heart to Love p101-102 and discuss the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
- Explore and pray the litany in KWL Book 5 Chapter 10 Heart of Jesus p103.

Students deepen their understanding of how to respond to injustice by

- investigating contemporary prophets who demonstrate Christian living based on the life, values and teachings of Jesus.
- Examine Christ Has No Body by St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) and explore how we are called to follow Christ’s example to give life to others.
- Read KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii Her Secret is Love: St Teresa of Calcutta p40-41 and explore how St Teresa of Calcutta is an example of a contemporary prophet.
- Read KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii St Therese of Lisieux: “My God, I love you!” p42 and explore how St Therese of Lisieux is an example of a contemporary prophet.
- Explore examples of contemporary prophets, including Pope Francis.
- researching Catholic social justice organisations that respond to injustice.
- Investigate Catholic organisations who contribute to the Church’s mission for justice.
- applying the, ‘See, Judge, Act’ model to a range of contemporary social justice issues.
- Using the ‘See, Judge, Act’ model, reflect, evaluate and decide on responses that promote justice, locally and globally. Include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice issues, homelessness, poverty, modern slavery, living with disability, people seeking asylum and refugees, ageing in Australia, and fair and dignified working conditions.

Compulsory Scripture

Unit Content 1
Amos 5:21-24 Let Justice Flow
Isaiah 58:6-9 False and True Worship
Luke 4:14-19 Jesus of Nazareth
Matthew 25:31-46 The Judgement of the Nations

Unit Content 2
Matthew 22:34-39 The Greatest Commandment

Storytelling

Unit Content 1
Amos 5:21-24 Let Justice Flow

Church Documents

Catechism of the Catholic Church

375 – The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original “state of holiness and justice”. This grace of original holiness was “to share in. . .divine life”.
1776 – “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.”
1929 – Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. The person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him:
What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.
1930 – Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.
1931 – Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that “everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as ‘another self,’ above all bearing in mind his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity.” No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every man a “neighbor,” a brother.
1932 – The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
1934 – Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.
1939 – The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of “friendship” or “social charity,” is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.
An error, “today abundantly widespread, is disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to. This law is sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity.”
2093 – Faith in God’s love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity. The first commandment enjoins us to love God above everything and all creatures for him and because of him.

Encyclical Letter
Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis, 2015) -– Chapter 1/V/#48 – Global Inequality

Apostolic Exhortation
Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis, 2013) – Chapter 4/II/#191 – The inclusion of the poor in society

KWL

Unit Content 2
KWL Book 5 Chapter 11 The Prayer of St Francis p112
KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii In Tradition: St Augustine’s Song of Love p39
KWL Book 5 Chapter 10 Light and Fire: St Margaret Mary p105-106
KWL Book 5 Chapter 10 A Heart to Love p101-102
KWL Book 5 Chapter 10 Heart of Jesus p103

Unit Content 3
KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii Her Secret is Love: St Teresa of Calcutta p40-41
KWL Book 5 Chapter 2iii St Therese of Lisieux: “My God, I love you!” p42

Prayer

Prayers of Tradition
The Prayer of St Francis
Heart of Jesus

Eucharist and Liturgical Rites
Mass of the Poor

Other Prayer Forms
Litany
Spontaneous Prayer
Prayer of Blessing
Prayer of Thanksgiving

General Capabilities

Australian Curriculum
Cross Curriculum Priorities		The General Capabilities
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures		Critical and creative thinking
	Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia		Ethical understanding
	Sustainability		Information and communication technology capability
Other important learning identified by the NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA):			Intercultural understanding
	Civics and citizenship		Literacy
	Difference and diversity		Numeracy
	Work and enterprise		Personal and social capability

E5 – Social Justice