Lk 13, 1-9 + CSDC and CV

Luke 13, 1-9 + CSDC and CV 

CV 43b. A link has often been noted between claims to a “right to excess”, and even to transgression and vice, within affluent societies, and the lack of food, drinkable water, basic instruction and elementary health care in areas of the underdeveloped world and on the outskirts of large metropolitan centres. The link consists in this: individual rights, when detached from a framework of duties which grants them their full meaning, can run wild, leading to an escalation of demands which is effectively unlimited and indiscriminate. An overemphasis on rights leads to a disregard for duties. Duties set a limit on rights because they point to the anthropological and ethical framework of which rights are a part, in this way ensuring that they do not become licence. Duties thereby reinforce rights and call for their defence and promotion as a task to be undertaken in the service of the common good.

The family contributes to the social good in an eminent fashion

CSDC 232. The family contributes to the social good in an eminent fashion through responsible motherhood and fatherhood, the spouses' special participation in God's work of creation[519]. The weight of this responsibility must not be used as a justification for being selfishly closed but must guide the decisions of the spouses in a generous acceptance of life. “In relation to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised both in the duly pondered and generous decision to have a large family, and in the decision, made for serious reasons and in respect of the moral law, to avoid for a time or even indeterminately a new birth”[520]. The motivations that should guide the couple in exercising responsible motherhood and fatherhood originate in the full recognition of their duties towards God, towards themselves, towards the family and towards society in a proper hierarchy of values.

 Notes:  [519] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 50: AAS 58 (1966), 1070-1072; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2367. [520] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, 10: AAS 60 (1968), 487; cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 50: AAS 58 (1966), 1070-1072.

(Lk 13, 1-9) I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish

1 At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. 2 He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? 3 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! 4 Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? 5 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!" 6 And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, 'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. (So) cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?' 8 He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9 it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'"

CSDC 532. Catholic educational institutions can and indeed must carry out a precious formative service, dedicating themselves in a particular way to the inculturation of the Christian message, that is to say, to the productive encounter between the Gospel and the various branches of knowledge. The Church's social doctrine is a necessary means for an efficacious Christian education towards love, justice and peace, as well as for a conscious maturation of moral and social duties in the various cultural and professional fields. 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. CSDC 533. No less important is the commitment to use the Church's social doctrine in the formation of priests and candidates to the priesthood who, in the context of their preparation for ministry, must develop a thorough knowledge of the Church's teaching and her pastoral concerns in the social sphere as well as a keen interest in the social issues of their day. The Congregation for Catholic Education has published a document, Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the Church's Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests, which gives specific indications and recommendations for a correct and appropriate plan of studies for this teaching.

 
[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)]