Monday, December 31, 2012
401. In what does the social dimension of man consist?
(Comp 401) Together with the personal
call to beatitude, the human person has a communal dimension as an essential
component of his nature and vocation. Indeed, all are called to the same end,
God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the communion of the divine
Persons and the fraternity that people are to establish among themselves in
truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
“In brief”
(CCC 1890) There is a certain resemblance between the union
of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among
themselves. (CCC 1891) The human person needs life in society in order to
develop in accordance with his nature. Certain societies, such as the family
and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1877) The vocation of humanity is to show forth the
image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son.
This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into
the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole. (CCC 1878)
All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance
between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to
establish among themselves in truth and love (Cf. GS 24 § 3). Love of neighbor
is inseparable from love for God.
Reflection
(CCC 1879) The human person needs to live in society.
Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature.
Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his
brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation (Cf. GS
25 § 1). (CCC 1880) A society is a
group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes
beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is at once visible and spiritual,
a society endures through time: it gathers up the past and prepares for the
future. By means of society, each man is established as an "heir" and
receives certain "talents" that enrich his identity and whose fruits
he must develop (Cf. Lk 19:13, 15). He rightly owes loyalty to the communities
of which he is part and respect to those in authority who have charge of the
common good.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
400. What are structures of sin?
400. What are structures of sin?
(Comp 400) Structures of sin are social situations or institutions that are
contrary to the divine law. They are the expression and effect of personal
sins.
“In brief”
(CCC 1869) Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and
causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give
rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine
goodness..
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1869) Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and
causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give
rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine
goodness. "Structures of sin" are the expression and effect of
personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an
analogous sense, they constitute a "social sin" (John Paul II, RP
16).
Reflection
(CCC 1887) The inversion of means and ends (Cf. CA 41),
which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a means for
attaining it, or in viewing persons as mere means to that end, engenders unjust
structures which "make Christian conduct in keeping with the commandments
of the divine Law-giver difficult and almost impossible" (Pius XII,
Address at Pentecost, June 1, 1941). (CCC 408) The consequences of original sin
and of all men's personal sins put the world as a whole in the sinful condition
aptly described in St. John's expression, "the sin of the world" (Jn
1:29). This expression can also refer to the negative influence exerted on
people by communal situations and social structures that are the fruit of men's
sins (Cf. John Paul II, RP 16).
(Next question: In what does the social dimension of man consist?)
Saturday, December 29, 2012
399. Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others?
399. Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others?
(Comp 399) We do have such a responsibility when we culpably cooperate with them.
“In brief”
(CCC 1868) Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a
responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1868) Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a
responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them: - by participating directly and voluntarily
in them; - by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them; - by not
disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so; - by
protecting evil-doers.
Reflection
(CCC 1736) Every act directly willed is imputable to its
author: Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this
that you have done?" (Gen 3:13). He asked Cain the same question (Cf. Gen
4:10). The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed
adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered (Cf. 2 Sam 12:7-15). An
action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding
something one should have known or done: for example, an accident arising from
ignorance of traffic laws.
(Next question: What are structures of sin?)
Friday, December 28, 2012
398. What are vices?
398. What are vices?
(Comp 398) Vices are the opposite of virtues. They are perverse habits which darken
the conscience and incline one to evil. The vices can be linked to the seven,
so-called, capital sins which are: pride, avarice, envy, anger, lust, gluttony,
and sloth or acedia.
“In brief”
(CCC 1876) The repetition of sins - even venial ones -
engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1866) Vices can be classified according to the virtues
they oppose, or also be linked to the capital
sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John
Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because
they engender other sins, other vices (Cf. St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, 31, 45: PL 76, 621A).
They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.
Reflection
(CCC 1867) The catechetical tradition also recalls that
there are "sins that cry to heaven":
the blood of Abel (Cf. Gen 4:10), the
sin of the Sodomites (Cf. Gen 18:20; 19:13), the cry of the people oppressed in
Egypt (Cf. Ex 3:7-10), the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan (Cf.
Ex 20:20-22), injustice to the wage earner (Cf. Deut 24:14-15; Jas 5:4).
(Next question: Do we have any responsibility for sins committed by others?)
Thursday, December 27, 2012
397. How does sin proliferate?
397. How does sin proliferate?
(Comp 397) Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the
same acts.
“In brief”
(CCC 1876) The repetition of sins - even venial ones -
engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1865) Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders
vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations
which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus
sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the
moral sense at its root.
Reflection
(CCC 401) After that first sin, the world is virtually
inundated by sin. There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal
corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests
itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the
Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. And even after Christ's
atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among Christians (cf. Gen
4:3-15; 6:5, 12; Rom 1:18-32; 1 Cor 1-6; Rev 2-3). Scripture and the Church's
Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin in man's history: What Revelation makes known
to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when man looks into his own heart
he finds that he is drawn towards what is wrong and sunk in many evils which
cannot come from his good creator. Often refusing to acknowledge God as his
source, man has also upset the relationship which should link him to his last
end; and at the same time he has broken the right order that should reign
within himself as well as between himself and other men and all creatures (GS
13 § 1).
(Next question: What are vices?)
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