Matthew 7, 13-20 + CSDC and CV

(CV 11b) The Council probed more deeply what had always belonged to the truth of the faith, namely that the Church, being at God's service, is at the service of the world in terms of love and truth. Paul VI set out from this vision in order to convey two important truths. The first is that the whole Church, in all her being and acting — when she proclaims, when she celebrates, when she performs works of charity — is engaged in promoting integral human development. She has a public role over and above her charitable and educational activities: all the energy she brings to the advancement of humanity and of universal fraternity is manifested when she is able to operate in a climate of freedom

Profound links exist between evangelization and human promotion

CSDC 66b. Profound links exist between evangelization and human promotion: “These include links of an anthropological order, because the man who is to be evangelized is not an abstract being but is subject to social and economic questions. They also include links in the theological order, since one cannot disassociate the plan of creation from the plan of Redemption. The latter plan touches the very concrete situations of injustice to be combated and of justice to be restored. They include links of the eminently evangelical order, which is that of charity: how in fact can one proclaim the new commandment without promoting in justice and in peace the true, authentic advancement of man?”[86].

Notes: [86] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Evangelii Nuntiandi, 31: AAS 68 (1976), 26.

 (Mt 7, 13-20) Her right to proclaim the Gospel in the context of society

[13] "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. [14] How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few. [15] "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. [16] By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] So by their fruits you will know them.

CSDC 70. The Church has the right to be a teacher for mankind, a teacher of the truth of faith: the truth not only of dogmas but also of the morals whose source lies in human nature itself and in the Gospel[95]. The word of the Gospel, in fact, is not only to be heard but is also to be observed and put into practice (cf. Mt 7:24; Lk 6:46-47; Jn 14:21,23-24; Jas 1:22). Consistency in behaviour shows what one truly believes and is not limited only to things strictly church-related or spiritual but involves men and women in the entirety of their life experience and in the context of all their responsibilities. However worldly these responsibilities may be, their subject remains man, that is, the human being whom God calls, by means of the Church, to participate in his gift of salvation. Men and women must respond to the gift of salvation not with a partial, abstract or merely verbal acceptance, but with the whole of their lives — in every relationship that defines life — so as not to neglect anything, leaving it in a profane and worldly realm where it is irrelevant or foreign to salvation. For this reason the Church's social doctrine is not a privilege for her, nor a digression, a convenience or interference: it is her right to proclaim the Gospel in the context of society, to make the liberating word of the Gospel resound in the complex worlds of production, labour, business, finance, trade, politics, law, culture, social communications, where men and women live.

 Notes: [95] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Declaration Dignitatis Humanae, 14: AAS 58 (1966), 940; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 27, 64, 110: AAS 85 (1993), 1154-1155, 1183-1184, 1219-1220.

[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)]