John 12, 44-50 + CSDC and CV

John 12, 44-50 + CSDC and CV 

CV 7d  Man's earthly activity, when inspired and sustained by charity, contributes to the building of the universal city of God, which is the goal of the history of the human family. In an increasingly globalized society, the common good and the effort to obtain it cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family, that is to say, the community of peoples and nations [5], in such a way as to shape the earthly city in unity and peace, rendering it to some degree an anticipation and a prefiguration of the undivided city of God.

Notes: [5] Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963): AAS 55 (1963), 268-270.  

Perseverance in seeking the best solutions to the serious and urgent problems of food supply and health care

CSDC 477. Scientists and technicians involved in the field of biotechnology are called to work intelligently and with perseverance in seeking the best solutions to the serious and urgent problems of food supply and health care. They must not forget that their activity concerns material — both living and inanimate — that belongs to the patrimony of humanity and is destined also to future generations. For believers, it is a question of a gift received from the Creator and entrusted to human intelligence and freedom, which are themselves also gifts from heaven. It is hoped that scientists employ their energies and abilities in research characterized by enthusiasm and guided by a clear and honest conscience.[1004]

Notes: [1004] Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (23 October 1982): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, V, 3 (1982), 889-893. John Paul II, Address to the participants in a convention sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, for the bicentenary of its foundation (21 September 1982): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, V, 3 (1982), 511-515.

(John 12, 44-50) Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me

[44] Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, [45] and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. [46] I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. [47] And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. [48] Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, [49] because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. [50] And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me."

CSDC 34. The revelation in Christ of the mystery of God as Trinitarian love is at the same time the revelation of the vocation of the human person to love. This revelation sheds light on every aspect of the personal dignity and freedom of men and women, and on the depths of their social nature. “Being a person in the image and likeness of God ... involves existing in a relationship, in relation to the other ‘I'”[36], because God himself, one and triune, is the communion of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the communion of love that is God, and in which the Three Divine Persons mutually love one another and are the One God, the human person is called to discover the origin and goal of his existence and of history. The Council Fathers, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, teach that “the Lord Jesus Christ, when praying to the Father ‘that they may all be one ... as we are one' (Jn 17:21-22), has opened up new horizons closed to human reason by implying that there is a certain parallel between the union existing among the divine Persons and the union of the children of God in truth and love. It follows, then, that if man is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake, man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself (cf. Lk 17:33)”[37]. 

Notes: [36] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, 7: AAS 80 (1988), 1664. [37] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 24: AAS 58 (1966), 1045. 

[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)]