Explain with reference to catholic teaching the reasons why Roman Catholics feel its a duty to help others.

Jesus chose to associate with the poor, excluded, destitute, and sick – this has been called the Option for the Poor. Jesus’ love enabled people, healed people therefore Christian’s love should be the same. The teaching can be but into practise by mass, the bible or though the Ten Commandments. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus once said to teachers of law in the bible that to inherit eternal life he must love his neighbours, but this confused the teacher as he was unsure as to who his neighbour was. Jesus explained to him through the parable of the Good Samaritan that his neighbour is everyone, so he must love every one o love God.

Catholic social teaching is that the church teaches us what our responsibilities should be as Christians, in relation to the whole of Creation and the development of people – our rights and our responsibilities to live the gospel that Christ preached and lived. The popes write ‘Encyclicals’ which are about lots of different subjects to help us know better how to live our lives and help relate the gospels to many issues in modern life. The key messages of these documents are that God wants us to look at the way we live and to choose to do so simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.

 The church tells us that like God, we should have a ‘preferential option for the poor’, that means we should all ways be on the side of the poor and the oppressed and lives that show this. We should speak out for them when they cannot because of difficult circumstances and we should share whatever we can with them.