Matthew 17, 14-23 + CSDC and CV

(CV 25c) Through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers, partly because Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labour unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum [60], for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honoured today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level.  

Notes: [60] Cf. loc. cit., 135.

In the nineteenth century the labour great social question prompted by the conflict between capital and labour

CSDC 88a. In the nineteenth century, events of an economic nature produced a dramatic social, political and cultural impact. Events connected with the Industrial Revolution profoundly changed centuries-old societal structures, raising serious problems of justice and posing the first great social question — the labour question — prompted by the conflict between capital and labour.

(Mt 17, 14-23) Faith in Jesus Christ and solidary humanism

[14] When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before him, [15] and said, "Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. [16] I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him." [17] Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me." [18] Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. [19] Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" [20] He said to them, "Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." [21]. [22] As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, [23] and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were overwhelmed with grief.

CSDC 327. Faith in Jesus Christ makes it possible to have a correct understanding of social development, in the context of an integral and solidary humanism. In this regard, the contribution of theological reflection offered by the Church's social Magisterium is very useful: “Faith in Christ the Redeemer, while it illuminates from within the nature of development, also guides us in the task of collaboration. In the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, we read that Christ is ‘the firstborn of all creation,' and that ‘all things were created through him' and for him (Col 1:15-16). In fact, ‘all things hold together in him', since ‘in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things' (v. 20). A part of this divine plan, which begins from eternity in Christ, the perfect ‘image' of the Father, and which culminates in him, ‘the firstborn from the dead' (v. 15-18), in our own history, marked by our personal and collective effort to raise up the human condition and to overcome the obstacles which are continually arising along our way. It thus prepares us to share in the fullness which ‘dwells in the Lord' and which he communicates ‘to his body, which is the Church' (v. 18; cf. Eph 1:22-23). At the same time sin, which is always attempting to trap us and which jeopardizes our human achievements, is conquered and redeemed by the ‘reconciliation' accomplished by Christ (cf. Col 1:20)”.[684]  

 Notes: [684] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 31: AAS 80 (1988), 554-555.

[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)]