This Land is Home to Me: The Cry of Appalachia

Course Summary

This course will introduce participants to the complex realities of poverty, powerlessness and suffering experienced by the people of Appalachia as seen through the lens of Catholic social teaching and witnessed in the pages of the Pastoral Letter This Land is Home to Me. Participants will reflect on the responsibilities that all baptized members of the Church have to respond and act justly everywhere and always, in the face of such marginalization.

Successful completion of this course earns 1.5 CEU's.

General Course Objectives

• Week 1: Understand how we the baptized are called to respond to suffering and poverty like that explored in Part 1 “The Land and its People” in This Land is Home to Me.
• Week 2: Gain deeper insight into the Church’s mission to the poor as this is focused on in Part 2 “The Answer of Jesus and his Church:” in the Pastoral Letter, This Land is Home to Me, as well as a clearer understanding of the social justice teachings of the Church as mentioned in the letter.
• Week 3: Review the comprehensive plan of action grounded in the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the presence of the Spirit called for in Part 3 “Facing the Future” in This Land is Home to Me, and examine contemporary responses to the question: where are we today in meeting this call to answer the needs of the poor?

Course Materials

• No books required. All readings are online.

Course Structure and Highlights

• Week 1: The Cries of Powerlessness
  • Understand how we the baptized are called to respond to suffering and poverty like that explored in Part 1 “The Land and its People” in This Land is Home to Me.
• Week 2: The Living God is the God of the Poor

  • Gain deeper insight into the Church’s mission to the poor as focused on in Part 2 “The Answer of Jesus and his Church:” in the Pastoral Letter, This Land is Home to Me, through a clearer understanding of the social justice teachings of the Church as mentioned in the letter.

    
    

• Week 3: Facing the Future: A New Social Order is Born
  • Understand the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the presence of the Spirit in the Catholic people of Appalachia as these shape how we are to respond to the needs of the poor.

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