Matthew 11, 1-6 + CSDC and CV

Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11, 1-6 + CSDC and CV

(CV 15d) Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person. These important teachings form the basis for the missionary aspect [32] of the Church's social doctrine, which is an essential element of evangelization [33]. The Church's social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith.

Notes: [32] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 41: loc. cit., 570-572. [33] Cf. ibid.; Id., Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5, 54: loc. cit., 799, 859-860.

The cognitive paths of the Church's social doctrine: faith and reason, revelation and human nature

CSDC 75a. Faith and reason represent the two cognitive paths of the Church's social doctrine: Revelation and human nature. The “knowing” of faith understands and directs the life of men and women according to the light of the historical-salvific mystery, God's revelation and gift of himself to us in Christ. This understanding of faith includes reason, by means of which — insofar as possible — it unravels and comprehends revealed truth and integrates it with the truth of human nature, found in the divine plan expressed in creation[106]. This is the integral truth of the human person as a spiritual and corporeal being, in relationship with God, with other human beings and with other creatures[107].

Notes:  [106] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration Dignitatis Humanae, 14: AAS 58 (1966), 940. [107] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 13, 50, 79: AAS 85 (1993), 1143-1144, 1173-1174, 1197.  

(Mt 11, 1-6) 

Universal destination of goods and preferential option for the poor   

[1] When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. [2] When John heard in prison of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him [3] with this question, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" [4] Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: [5] the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. [6] And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me." 

CSDC 183. Human misery is a clear sign of man's natural condition of frailty and of his need for salvation[386]. Christ the Saviour showed compassion in this regard, identifying himself with the “least” among men (cf. Mt 25:40,45). “It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize his chosen ones. When ‘the poor have the good news preached to them' (Mt 11:5), it is a sign of Christ's presence”[387]. Jesus says: “You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me” (Mt 26:11; cf. Mk 14:7; Jn 12:8). He makes this statement not to contrast the attention due to him with service of the poor. Christian realism, while appreciating on the one hand the praiseworthy efforts being made to defeat poverty, is cautious on the other hand regarding ideological positions and Messianistic beliefs that sustain the illusion that it is possible to eliminate the problem of poverty completely from this world. This will happen only upon Christ's return, when he will be with us once more, for ever. In the meantime, the poor remain entrusted to us and it is this responsibility upon which we shall be judged at the end of time (cf. Mt 25:31-46): “Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren”[388].

  

 Notes: [386] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2448. [387] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2443. [388] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033. 

[Initials and Abbreviations.- CSDC: Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church; -  SDC: Social Doctrine of the Church; - CV: Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth)]