Lk 7, 24-35 + CSDC and CV

Luke 7, 24-35 + CSDC and CV

CV 32c. It should be remembered that the reduction of cultures to the technological dimension, even if it favours short-term profits, in the long term impedes reciprocal enrichment and the dynamics of cooperation. It is important to distinguish between short- and long-term economic or sociological considerations. Lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country's international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development. Moreover, the human consequences of current tendencies towards a short-term economy — sometimes very short-term — need to be carefully evaluated.

Pope Leo XIII promulgated the first social Encyclical, Rerum Novarum

CSDC 89a. In response to the first great social question, Pope Leo XIII promulgated the first social Encyclical, Rerum Novarum [143]. This Encyclical examines the condition of salaried workers, which was particularly distressing for industrial labourers who languished in inhumane misery. The labour question is dealt with according to its true dimensions. It is explored in all its social and political expressions so that a proper evaluation may be made in the light of the doctrinal principles founded on Revelation and on natural law and morality.

Notes: [143] Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 97-144.

(Luke 7, 24-35) I am sending my messenger ahead of you 

[24] When the messengers of John had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. "What did you go out to the desert to see - a reed swayed by the wind? [25] Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces. [26] Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. [27] This is the one about whom scripture says: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you.' [28] I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." [29] (All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, and who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God; [30] but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.) [31] "Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? [32] They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.' [33] For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' [34] The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' [35] But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

CSDC 451. The living experience of the divine presence in history is the foundation of the faith of the people of God: “We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand” (Deut 6:21). A look at history permits one to have an overview of the past and discover God at work from the very beginning: “A wandering Aramean was my father” (Deut 26:5); of his people God can say: “I took your father Abraham from beyond the river” (Josh 24:3). This reflection permits us to look to the future with hope, sustained by the promise and the covenant that God continually renews. The faith of Israel is lived out in the space and time of this world, perceived not as a hostile environment, nor as an evil from which one must be freed, but rather as the gift itself of God, as the place and plan that he entrusts to the responsible management and activity of man. Nature, the work of God's creative action, is not a dangerous adversary. It is God who made all things, and with regard to each created reality “God saw that it was good” (cf. Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25). At the summit of this creation, which “was very good” (Gen 1:31), God placed man. Only man and woman, among all creatures, were made by God “in his own image” (Gen 1,27). The Lord entrusted all of creation to their responsibility, charging them to care for its harmony and development (cf. Gen 1:26-30). This special bond with God explains the privileged position of the first human couple in the order of creation.

[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)]