Lk 8, 4-15 + CSDC and CV

Luke 8, 4-15 + CSDC and CV 

CV 33b. Other causes, however, mentioned only in passing in the Encyclical, have since emerged with greater clarity. A case in point would be the evaluation of the process of decolonization, then at its height. Paul VI hoped to see the journey towards autonomy unfold freely and in peace. More than forty years later, we must acknowledge how difficult this journey has been, both because of new forms of colonialism and continued dependence on old and new foreign powers, and because of grave irresponsibility within the very countries that have achieved independence.

Rerum Novarum dealt with the labour. Its methodology became a lasting paradigm

CSDC 90. Rerum Novarum dealt with the labour question using a methodology that would become “a lasting paradigm” [146] for successive developments in the Church's social doctrine. The principles affirmed by Pope Leo XIII would be taken up again and studied more deeply in successive social encyclicals. The whole of the Church's social doctrine can be seen as an updating, a deeper analysis and an expansion of the original nucleus of principles presented in Rerum Novarum. With this courageous and farsighted text, Pope Leo XIII “gave the Church ‘citizenship status' as it were, amid the changing realities of public life” [147] and made an “incisive statement” [148] which became “a permanent element of the Church's social teaching”[149]. He affirmed that serious social problems “could be solved only by cooperation between all forces” [150] and added that, “in regard to the Church, her cooperation will never be found lacking”[151].

Notes: [146] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83 (1991), 799. [147] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83 (1991), 799. [148] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 56: AAS 83 (1991), 862. [149] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 60: AAS 83 (1991), 865. [150] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 60: AAS 83 (1991), 865. [151] Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 143; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 56: AAS 83 (1991), 862. 

(Luke 8, 4-15) Embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance

[4] When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable. [5] "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. [6] Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. [7] Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. [8] And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold." After saying this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear." [9] Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be. [10] He answered, "Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that 'they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.' [11] "This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. [12] Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. [13] Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. [14] As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. [15] But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.

CSDC 324. Those who recognize their own poverty before God, regardless of their situation in life, receive particular attention from him: when the poor man seeks, the Lord answers; when he cries out, the Lord listens. The divine promises are addressed to the poor: they will be heirs to the Covenant between God and his people. God's saving intervention will come about through a new David (cf. Ezek 34:22-31), who like King David — only more so — will be defender of the poor and promoter of justice; he will establish a new covenant and will write a new law in the hearts of believers (cf. Jer 31:31-34). When sought or accepted with a religious attitude, poverty opens one to recognizing and accepting the order of creation. In this perspective, the “rich man” is the one who places his trust in his possessions rather than in God, he is the man who makes himself strong by the works of his own hands and trusts only in his own strength. Poverty takes on the status of a moral value when it becomes an attitude of humble availability and openness to God, of trust in him. This attitude makes it possible for people to recognize the relativity of economic goods and to treat them as divine gifts to be administered and shared, because God is the first owner of all goods.

[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)]