Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Matthew 9, 27-36 + CSDC and CV
(CV 13b) Paul VI clearly understood that the social
question had become worldwide [25] and he grasped the interconnection between the
impetus towards the unification of humanity and the Christian ideal of a single
family of peoples in solidarity and fraternity. In the notion of
development, understood in human and Christian terms, he identified the heart
of the Christian social message, and he proposed Christian charity as the
principal force at the service of development. Motivated by the wish to make
Christ's love fully visible to contemporary men and women, Paul VI addressed
important ethical questions robustly, without yielding to the cultural
weaknesses of his time.
Notes: [25] Cf. Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 3: loc. cit., 258.
CSDC 71a. This right of the Church is at the same
time a duty, because she cannot forsake this responsibility without denying
herself and her fidelity to Christ: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”
(1 Cor 9:16). The warning that St. Paul addresses to himself rings in the
Church's conscience as a call to walk all paths of evangelization, not only
those that lead to individual consciences but also those that wind their way
into public institutions: on the one hand, religion must not be restricted “to
the purely private sphere”[96], on the other, the Christian message must not be
relegated to a purely other-worldly salvation incapable of shedding light on
our earthly existence[97].
Notes: [96] John Paul
II, Message to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2 December 1978): AAS 71 (1979),
124. [97] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83 (1991), 799.
[27] And as Jesus
passed on from there, two blind men followed (him), crying out, "Son of
David, have pity on us!" [28] When he entered the house, the blind men
approached him and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they said to him. [29] Then he touched their eyes and
said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." [30] And
their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows
about this." [31] But they went out and spread word of him through all
that land. [32] As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was
brought to him, [33] and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in
Israel." [34] But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the
prince of demons." [35] Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing
every disease and illness. [36] At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved
with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without
a shepherd.
CSDC 261. During
his earthly ministry Jesus works tirelessly, accomplishing powerful deeds to
free men and women from sickness, suffering and death. The Sabbath — which
the Old Testament had put forth as a day of liberation and which, when observed
only formally, lost its authentic significance — is reaffirmed by Jesus in its
original meaning: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mk
2:27). By healing people on this day of rest (cf. Mt 12:9-14; Mk
3:1-6; Lk 6:6-11, 13:10-17, 14:1-6), he wishes to show that the Sabbath
is his, because he is truly the Son of God, and that it is the day on which men
should dedicate themselves to God and to others. Freeing people from evil,
practising brotherhood and sharing: these give to work its noblest meaning,
that which allows humanity to set out on the path to the eternal Sabbath, when
rest will become the festive celebration to which men and women inwardly
aspire. It is precisely in orienting humanity towards this experience of God's
Sabbath and of his fellowship of life that work is the inauguration on earth of
the new creation.
[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)]
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