Matthew 5, 17-19 + CSDC and CV

(CV 5c) Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present.

CSDC 11b. Priests, men and women religious, and, in general, those responsible for formation will find herein a guide for their teaching and a tool for their pastoral service.

(Mt 5, 17-19) To speak a word of life

 [17] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. [18] Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. [19] Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

CSDC 61. Unique and unrepeatable in his individuality, every person is a being who is open to relationships with others in society. Life together in society, in the network of relationships linking individuals, families and intermediate groups by encounter, communication and exchange, ensures a higher quality of living. The common good that people seek and attain in the formation of social communities is the guarantee of their personal, familial and associative good[75]. These are the reasons for which society originates and takes shape, with its array of structures, that is to say its political, economic, juridical and cultural constructs. To man, “as he is involved in a complex network of relationships within modern societies”[76], the Church addresses her social doctrine. As an expert in humanity[77], she is able to understand man in his vocation and aspirations, in his limits and misgivings, in his rights and duties, and to speak a word of life that reverberates in the historical and social circumstances of human existence.

Notes: [75] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 32: AAS 58 (1966), 1051. [76] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 54: AAS 83 (1991), 859. [77] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 13: AAS 59 (1967), 263. 

   

[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)]

Matthew 5, 13-16 + CSDC and CV 

(CV 5b) This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Truth preserves and expresses charity's power to liberate in the ever-changing events of history. It is at the same time the truth of faith and of reason, both in the distinction and also in the convergence of those two cognitive fields.

This document is part of the Bishops' “munus docendi” (to teach)

CSDC 11a. This document is intended first of all for Bishops, who will determine the most suitable methods for making it known and for interpreting it correctly. It is in fact part of the Bishops' “munus docendi” to teach that “worldly things and human institutions are ordered, according to the plan of God the Creator, towards people's salvation, and that they can therefore make no small contribution to the building up of the Body of Christ”[10].

Notes: [10] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Christus Dominus, 12: AAS 58 (1966), 678.

(Mt 5, 13-16) Men and women primary and fundamental way for the Church

[13] "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. [14] You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. [16] Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

CSDC 62. With her social teaching the Church seeks to proclaim the Gospel and make it present in the complex network of social relations. It is not simply a matter of reaching out to man in society — man as the recipient of the proclamation of the Gospel — but of enriching and permeating society itself with the Gospel[78]. For the Church, therefore, tending to the needs of man means that she also involves society in her missionary and salvific work. The way people live together in society often determines the quality of life and therefore the conditions in which every man and woman understand themselves and make decisions concerning themselves and their vocation. For this reason, the Church is not indifferent to what is decided, brought about or experienced in society; she is attentive to the moral quality — that is, the authentically human and humanizing aspects — of social life. Society — and with it, politics, the economy, labour, law, culture — is not simply a secular and worldly reality, and therefore outside or foreign to the message and economy of salvation. Society in fact, with all that is accomplished within it, concerns man. Society is made up of men and women, who are “the primary and fundamental way for the Church”[79].

Notes:  [78] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 40: AAS 58 (1966), 1057-1059. [79] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, 14: AAS 71 (1979), 284. 

 
[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)]

Matthew 5, 9-12 + CSDC and CV

(CV 5a) Charity is love received and given. It is “grace” (cháris). Its source is the wellspring of the Father's love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). As the objects of God's love, men and women become subjects of charity, they are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God's charity and to weave networks of charity. 

The document is an instrument for the moral and pastoral discernment, a guide to inspire

CSDC 10. The document is presented as an instrument for the moral and pastoral discernment of the complex events that mark our time; as a guide to inspire, at the individual and collective levels, attitudes and choices that will permit all people to look to the future with greater trust and hope; as an aid for the faithful concerning the Church's teaching in the area of social morality. From this there can spring new strategies suited to the demands of our time and in keeping with human needs and resources. But above all there can arise the motivation to rediscover the vocation proper to the different charisms within the Church that are destined to the evangelization of the social order, because “all the members of the Church are sharers in this secular dimension”[9]. In short, the text is proposed as an incentive for dialogue with all who sincerely desire the good of mankind. 

Notes:  [9] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 15: AAS 81 (1989), 414.

(Mt 5, 9-12) Peace is reconciliation with one's brothers and sisters

[9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [10] Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [11] Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

CSDC 492. The peace of Christ is in the first place reconciliation with the Father, which is brought about by the ministry Jesus entrusted to his disciples and which begins with the proclamation of peace: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!”' (Lk 10:5; cf. Rom 1:7). Peace is then reconciliation with one's brothers and sisters, for in the prayer that Jesus taught us, the “Our Father”, the forgiveness that we ask of God is linked to the forgiveness that we grant to our brothers and sisters: “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt 6:12). With this twofold reconciliation Christians can become peacemakers and therefore participate in the Kingdom of God, in accordance with what Jesus himself proclaims in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).

[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)]

Matthew 5, 1-8 + CSDC and CV  

(CV 4b) In the present social and cultural context, where there is a widespread tendency to relativize truth, practising charity in truth helps people to understand that adhering to the values of Christianity is not merely useful but essential for building a good society and for true integral human development. A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world. Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations. It is excluded from the plans and processes of promoting human development of universal range, in dialogue between knowledge and praxis.

The passing of time and the changing of social circumstances will require a constant updating of the reflections

CSDC 9b. The exposition of the Church's social doctrine is meant to suggest a systematic approach for finding solutions to problems, so that discernment, judgment and decisions will correspond to reality, and so that solidarity and hope will have a greater impact on the complexities of current situations. These principles, in fact, are interrelated and shed light on one another mutually, insofar as they are an expression of Christian anthropology[8], fruits of the revelation of God's love for the human person. However, it must not be forgotten that the passing of time and the changing of social circumstances will require a constant updating of the reflections on the various issues raised here, in order to interpret the new signs of the times.

Notes: [8] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 55: AAS 83 (1991), 860.

(Mt 5, 1-8) That full humanism which the Church hopes for  

[1] When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. [2] He began to teach them, saying: [3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [4] Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. [5] Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. [6] Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. [7] Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. [8] Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

CSDC 449. At the beginning of the New Millennium, the poverty of billions of men and women is “the one issue that most challenges our human and Christian consciences”.[935] Poverty poses a dramatic problem of justice; in its various forms and with its various effects, it is characterized by an unequal growth that does not recognize the “equal right of all people to take their seat ‘at the table of the common banquet' “.[936] Such poverty makes it impossible to bring about that full humanism which the Church hopes for and pursues so that persons and peoples may “be more” [937] and live in conditions that are more human.[938] The fight against poverty finds a strong motivation in the option or preferential love of the Church for the poor.[939] In the whole of her social teaching the Church never tires of emphasizing certain fundamental principles of this teaching, first and foremost, the universal destination of goods.[940] Constantly reaffirming the principle of solidarity, the Church's social doctrine demands action to promote “the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all”.[941] The principle of solidarity, even in the fight against poverty, must always be appropriately accompanied by that of subsidiarity, thanks to which it is possible to foster the spirit of initiative, the fundamental basis of all social and economic development in poor countries.[942] The poor should be seen “not as a problem, but as people who can become the principal builders of a new and more human future for everyone”.[943]

Notes: [935] John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 14: AAS 92 (2000), 366; cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1993 World Day of Peace, 1: AAS 85 (1993), 429-430. [936] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 33: AAS 80 (1988), 558; cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 47: AAS 59 (1967), 280. [937] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 6: AAS 59 (1967), 260; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 28: AAS 80 (1988), 548-550. [938] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 20-21: AAS 59 (1967), 267-268. [939] Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Third General Conference of Latin American Bishops, Puebla, Mexico (28 January 1979), I/8: AAS 71 (1979), 194-195. [940] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 22: AAS 59 (1967), 268. [941] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 38: AAS 80 (1988), 566. [942] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 55: AAS 59 (1967), 284; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 44: AAS 80 (1988), 575-577. [943] John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Peace 2000, 14: AAS 92 (2000), 366.

[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)]