THE CHRISTMAS season was checkered with a plethora of charitable works from private individuals to community and business entities. As we conclude the secular Christmas celebration, I share my personal dream for Jamaica.

Catholic social teachings wisely distinguish between private charity and social justice. The Christmas charitable work is an example of private charity. It is exercised by good, honest, generous, and prayerful church-going people who are inspired by personal goodness and personal actions. Social justice, on the other hand, has to do with the social systems of which we are a part and within which we participate.

There is a story frequently utilised in the field of social justice that illustrates this interpenetrative relationship between private charity and social justice. There was a town located above the bend of a river. One day, the towns-people discovered three bodies floating down. One body was dead, and they buried it. Another was ill, so they put him in a hospital. The third was a healthy child, so a family adopted it. For years, more and more bodies kept floating down the river, so they perfected the art of burying, hospitalising, and adopting. During those years, no one ever thought of going up the river to investigate the cause of the bodies floating down. Personal charity attends to immediate needs, while social justice changes systems that intentionally or unintentionally victimise certain people.

I dream of a Jamaica whose citizens actively listen to the prophetic voices pointing to the root causes of our socially dysfunctional society and invite a societal response. There are organisational prophetic voices that point to issues such as corruption (National Integrity Action), crime (UWI research papers), education (Patterson Report), electoral process (Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections), and justice issues (Jamaicans for Justice). Then, there are individual prophetic voices, such as community activists, focused parents, and individuals who write and speak on critical issues affecting society.

If we imagine Jamaica as a nation attempting to fly on the wings of personal charity and social justice towards a 'place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business', we are struggling to take full flight. This is because our social justice wing, despite the evidence of historical attempts to strengthen same, is still evidently weak.

I, therefore, dream of a nation strengthening its social justice wing to enable us to soar towards that ideal “place” of charity and justice.

Fr Donald Chambers, JP. Email: frdon 63@ hotmail . com