Mark 15,16-24 + CSDC and CV

Mark 15,16-24 + CSDC and CV

CV 15b. This is not a question of purely individual morality: Humanae Vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II's Encyclical Evangelium Vitae [28]. The Church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that “a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.” [29]

Notes: [28] Cf. Encyclical Letter  Evangelium Vitae (25 March 1995), 93: AAS 87 (1995), 507-508. [29] Ibid., 101: loc. cit., 516-518.

God's progressive revelation of himself to the people of Israel stands out

CSDC 21a. Against the background of universal religious experience, in which humanity shares in different ways, God's progressive revelation of himself to the people of Israel stands out. This revelation responds to the human quest for the divine in an unexpected and surprising way, thanks to the historical manner — striking and penetrating — in which God's love for man is made concrete. According to the Book of Exodus, the Lord speaks these words to Moses: “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:7-8).

(Mk 15,16-24) Then they crucified him and divided his garments

[16] The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. [17] They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. [18] They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" [19] and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. [20] And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. [21] They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. [22] They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). [23] They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. [24] Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. 

CSDC 396. Authority must be guided by the moral law. All of its dignity derives from its being exercised within the context of the moral order,[804] “which in turn has God for its first source and final end”.[805] Because of its necessary reference to the moral order, which precedes it and is its basis, and because of its purpose and the people to whom it is directed, authority cannot be understood as a power determined by criteria of a solely sociological or historical character. “There are some indeed who go so far as to deny the existence of a moral order which is transcendent, absolute, universal and equally binding upon all. And where the same law of justice is not adhered to by all, men cannot hope to come to open and full agreement on vital issues”.[806] This order “has no existence except in God; cut off from God it must necessarily disintegrate”.[807] It is from the moral order that authority derives its power to impose obligations [808] and its moral legitimacy,[809] not from some arbitrary will or from the thirst for power,[810] and it is to translate this order into concrete actions to achieve the common good.[811] 

    

Notes: [804] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097. [805] John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 270; cf. Pius XII, Christmas Radio Message of 24 December 1944: AAS 37 (1945), 15; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2235. [806] John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 449-450. [807] John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 450. [808] Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 269-270. [809] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1902. [810] Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 258-259. [811] Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 432-433.

[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)]