Mark 7, 17-23 + CSDC and CV

Mark 7, 17-23 + CSDC and CV

CV 76b. The question of development is closely bound up with our understanding of the human soul, insofar as we often reduce the self to the psyche and confuse the soul's health with emotional well-being. These over-simplifications stem from a profound failure to understand the spiritual life, and they obscure the fact that the development of individuals and peoples depends partly on the resolution of problems of a spiritual nature.

Christian life and service in the various sectors of social life and in politics

CSDC 573a. A particular area for discernment on the part of the lay faithful concerns the choice of political instruments, that is, membership in a party or in other types of political participation. A choice must be made that is consistent with values, taking into account actual circumstances. In every case, whatever choice is made must be rooted in charity and tend towards the attainment of the common good[1200]. It is difficult for the concerns of the Christian faith to be adequately met in one sole political entity; to claim that one party or political coalition responds completely to the demands of faith or of Christian life would give rise to dangerous errors.

Notes: [1200] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 46: AAS 63 (1971), 433-435.

(Mk 7, 17-23) From within people come evil thoughts   

[17] When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. [18] He said to them, "Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, [19] since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] "But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. [21] From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. [23] All these evils come from within and they defile."

CSDC 552. Among the areas of the social commitment of the laity, service to the human person emerges as a priority. Promoting the dignity of every person, the most precious possession of men and women, is the “essential task, in a certain sense, the central and unifying task of the service which the Church, and the lay faithful in her, are called to render to the human family”[1155]. The first form in which this task is undertaken consists in the commitment and efforts to renew oneself interiorly, because human history is not governed by an impersonal determinism but by a plurality of subjects whose free acts shape the social order. Social institutions do not of themselves guarantee, as if automatically, the common good; the internal “renewal of the Christian spirit” [1156] must precede the commitment to improve society “according to the mind of the Church on the firmly established basis of social justice and social charity”[1157]. It is from the conversion of hearts that there arises concern for others, loved as brothers or sisters. This concern helps us to understand the obligation and commitment to heal institutions, structures and conditions of life that are contrary to human dignity. The laity must therefore work at the same time for the conversion of hearts and the improvement of structures, taking historical situations into account and using legitimate means so that the dignity of every man and woman will be truly respected and promoted within institutions.

 Notes: [1155] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 37: AAS 81 (1989), 460. [1156] Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931), 218. [1157] Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931), 218.

[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)].