The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church defines solidarity as a moral virtue that commits us more surely to the common good of others. While the term 'solidarity' is relatively new, the concept itself is ancient, one that finds its full development in the teaching and example of Jesus. Since solidarity is connected to love for our neighbor, we will trace the teachings of Jesus on this theme, and see an ever gradual development of solidarity to which Jesus calls us.The commandments of the old law were summed up in two simple commandments: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, meaning that whatever we would give to ourselves we should also give to our neighbor. This teaching is a basic one of justice, and is connected to the concept of the universal destination of goods. Here is Jesus' first teaching on solidarity - love based on justice.
Yet, this command has a certain egoism connected to it. In thinking of our neighbor we are thinking of ourselves in relation to our neighbor. Thus, Jesus then calls us to the next level. When the lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus proceeds to give us the parable of the Good Samaritan in an attempt to answer that question. The answer is that everyone is our neighbor, including our enemies. Jesus himself commanded us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. It is easy to love those who love us, and to see ourselves in them. It is a much harder thing to see our enemy as a neighbor and to see ourselves in their place. That, however, is the next step on the way to solidarity: the circle is expanded to include everyone, including our enemies.
We are still, however, on the level of seeing ourselves in our neighbor, which carries with it the possibility of egoism. Jesus then takes us to the next level of solidarity: to see Jesus in each and every person. In the only teaching on the last judgment, Jesus gives us the criteria by which we are to be judged: by the way we treat others are we to be treated by God. Here, however, Jesus gives us a new criteria: "As often as you did it to one of these least ones, you did it to me." Now, we no longer look to find ourselves in our neighbor, but to see Jesus in him or her. That is a new step, one that takes us away from thinking about ourselves and moves us toward thinking about Jesus who is in each and every person created in the image and likeness of God. Solidarity now grows ever deeper.
However, there is still one final step on the way to a complete notion of solidarity. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us the new commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you." We are now commanded to love others in the way that Jesus himself loved us - in a divine way, to the point of living and dying for others. We are now no longer ourselves, but we are now Christ. Our neighbor, who was once identified with ourselves and then with Jesus, is still those things, but now we are the ones who change. We now become Christ and no longer ourselves. It is only then that we achieve true solidarity - when we lose our own identity and become Christ himself.
