Mark 1, 12-15 + CSDC and CV

Mark 1, 12-15 + CSDC and CV

CV 63a. No consideration of the problems associated with development could fail to highlight the direct link between poverty and unemployment. In many cases, poverty results from a violation of the dignity of human work, either because work opportunities are limited (through unemployment or underemployment), or “because a low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a just wage and to the personal security of the worker and his or her family” [143]. For this reason, on 1 May 2000 on the occasion of the Jubilee of Workers, my venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II issued an appeal for “a global coalition in favour of decent work” [144], supporting the strategy of the International Labour Organization. In this way, he gave a strong moral impetus to this objective, seeing it as an aspiration of families in every country of the world.

Notes: [143] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 8: loc. cit., 594-598. [144] Jubilee of Workers, Greeting after Mass,  1 May 2000.

Social Weeks: emerging problems and identification of new operative approaches

CSDC 532b. The “Social Weeks” of Catholics that the Magisterium has always encouraged are important examples of formational opportunities. They represent privileged moments for the expression and growth of the lay faithful, who are then capable of making their specific high-level contribution to the temporal order. Various countries find that these Weeks are veritable cultural laboratories for the exchange of reflections and experiences, the study of emerging problems and the identification of new operative approaches.

(Mk 1, 12-15)  This is the time of fulfillment       

 [12] At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert, [13] and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. [14] After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: [15] "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

CSDC 41. Personal and social life, as well as human action in the world, is always threatened by sin. Jesus Christ, however, “by suffering for us ... not only gave us an example so that we might follow in His footsteps, but He also opened up a way. If we follow this path, life and death are made holy and acquire a new meaning”[41]. Christ's disciple adheres, in faith and through the sacraments, to Jesus' Paschal Mystery, so that his old self, with its evil inclinations, is crucified with Christ. As a new creation he is then enabled by grace to “walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). This “holds true not for Christians alone but also for all people of good will in whose hearts grace is active invisibly. For since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal Mystery”[42].

Notes: [41] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 22: AAS 58 (1966), 1043. [42] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 22: AAS 58 (1966), 1043.

[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)]