Are We Created In The Image Of God? Gen 1:27

"Created in the image of God, we are inherently called into Relationship; one with another."

In a pastoral letter on economic justice, United States bishops made efforts to define a model of a just community in a Religious Evangelical society. It was, in that letter, that they made an attempt to replace the usual "U.S. Religious Preoccupation" exclusively with an indivisual's relation with a transcendent God. They pointed out that Religious Social teaching is based on the human dignity of all; each one of us having been created with that inalienable dignity by God. Created in the image of the triune God, we are inherently called into relationship.

Out of gratitude for what we have been given, God asks us, in covenant, to commit ourselves to the community & solid relationships with others, for the common good. Ultimately, whether or not we are living up to that covenant is found in how we treat those who cannot do good to us in return; the poor and marginalized ... the modern equivalent of the widow, orphan and stranger in the land of Old Israel.

Toward others, we are not called just to "works of mercy," but also to "participative justice"; giving others a meaningful place at the table where they can participate in the creation of life as equals.

Justice is based on our faith. It involves more than just economic and political change. The call to justice must be played out in human rights, life, the environment & interdependence in a globalizing world. We must have a special concern for those most excluded.

Henceforth, justice must be allied with reconciliation ... "the firm and preserving determination to commit oneself to the common good of all."

Are We Created In The Image Of God?