Matthew 12, 22-32 + CSDC and CV

(CV 18b) The Christian vocation to development helps to promote the advancement of all men and of the whole man. As Paul VI wrote: “What we hold important is man, each man and each group of men, and we even include the whole of humanity” [43]. In promoting development, the Christian faith does not rely on privilege or positions of power, nor even on the merits of Christians (even though these existed and continue to exist alongside their natural limitations) [44], but only on Christ, to whom every authentic vocation to integral human development must be directed. The Gospel is fundamental for development, because in the Gospel, Christ, “in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals humanity to itself” [45].

Notes: Ibid.; [43] cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 53-62: loc. cit., 859-867; Id., Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (4 March 1979), 13-14: AAS 71 (1979), 282-286. [44] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 12: loc. cit., 262-263. [45] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.

Openness to other branches of knowledge makes the Church's social doctrine reliable, concrete and relevant

CSDC 78c. This attentive and constant openness to other branches of knowledge makes the Church's social doctrine reliable, concrete and relevant. Thanks to the sciences, the Church can gain a more precise understanding of man in society, speak to the men and women of her own day in a more convincing manner and more effectively fulfil her task of incarnating in the conscience and social responsibility of our time, the word of God and the faith from which social doctrine flows[110]. This interdisciplinary dialogue also challenges the sciences to grasp the perspectives of meaning, value and commitment that the Church's social doctrine reveals and to “open themselves to a broader horizon, aimed at serving the individual person who is acknowledged and loved in the fullness of his or her vocation”[111]. 

Notes: [110] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 54: AAS 83 (1991), 860. [111] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 59: AAS 83 (1991), 864.

(Mt 12, 22-32) Nell'agire farsi guidare dalla verità   

[22] Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute. He cured the mute person so that he could speak and see. [23] All the crowd was astounded, and said, "Could this perhaps be the  Son of David?" [24] But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons." [25] But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. [26] And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand? [27] And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. [28] But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [29] How can anyone enter a strong man's house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. [30] Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. [31] Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. [32] And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

CSDC 139. The truth concerning good and evil is recognized in a practical and concrete manner by the judgment of conscience, which leads to the acceptance of responsibility for the good accomplished and the evil committed. “Consequently in the practical judgment of conscience, which imposes on the person the obligation to perform a given act, the link between freedom and truth is made manifest. Precisely for this reason conscience expresses itself in acts of ‘judgment' which reflect the truth about the good, and not in arbitrary ‘decisions'. The maturity and responsibility of these judgments — and, when all is said and done, of the individual who is their subject — are not measured by the liberation of the conscience from objective truth, in favour of an alleged autonomy in personal decisions, but, on the contrary, by an insistent search for truth and by allowing oneself to be guided by that truth in one's actions”[264].

  

 Notes: [264] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 61: AAS 85 (1993), 1181-1182.

[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)]