Growing Our Moral Imagination

A bold and compassionate vision of what health care can become if we allow it to be shaped by our moral imagination.

In a country where more than one in five hospital beds belong to religious institutions, amid skyrocketing costs, deepening inequities, and burnout across the health care system, Growing Our Moral Imagination challenges us to see beyond policies and procedures to the stories and values that shape how we care for one another.

Michael Rozier, a scholar of public health and health care services and a Jesuit priest, turns to the Gospels to explore how foundational stories of healing might guide our response to today's most pressing health challenges. But rather than retell familiar miracles, he instead examines where social stigma, isolation, injustice, and spiritual suffering intersect with physical care. How do we make sense of illness for which there is no cure? How do we respond to needs that medicine alone cannot meet? Through nine compelling contemporary stories inspired by Scripture, Rozier examines the emotional and ethical complexity of topics such as addiction, mental health stigma, elder loneliness, social safety nets, and the crisis of preventable disease. He suggests that the biggest barrier to having the health care system we deserve is not a lack of practical expertise but an inability to imagine what is possible, and he shows how religious insights might guide us toward more responsive, compassionate systems of care.

This book invites readers, both religious and secular alike, to imagine a future where prevention is prioritized, care is communal, and wellness includes the whole person. With theological insight and public health expertise, Rozier helps us see that health care is not merely an industry; it's a reflection of our deepest values and collective responsibility.