Matthew 19, 1-3 + CSDC and CV

Matthew Chapter 19

Matthew 19, 1-3 + CSDC and CV

(CV 26c) In this way one loses sight of the profound significance of the culture of different nations, of the traditions of the various peoples, by which the individual defines himself in relation to life's fundamental questions [62]. What eclecticism and cultural levelling have in common is the separation of culture from human nature. Thus, cultures can no longer define themselves within a nature that transcends them[63], and man ends up being reduced to a mere cultural statistic. When this happens, humanity runs new risks of enslavement and manipulation.

Notes: [62] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 24: loc. cit., 821-822. [63] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (6 August 1993), 33, 46, 51:  AAS 85 (1993), 1160, 1169-1171, 1174-1175; Id., Address to the Assembly of the United Nations, 5 October 1995, 3.

Rerum Novarum dealt with the labour question using a methodology that became “a lasting paradigm” for successive developments

CSDC 90a. Rerum Novarum dealt with the labour question using a methodology that would become “a lasting paradigm” [146] for successive developments in the Church's social doctrine. The principles affirmed by Pope Leo XIII would be taken up again and studied more deeply in successive social encyclicals. The whole of the Church's social doctrine can be seen as an updating, a deeper analysis and an expansion of the original nucleus of principles presented in Rerum Novarum.

Notes: [146] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83 (1991), 799.

(Mt 19, 1-3) Importance of the family for society

[1] When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. [2] Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there. [3] Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" 

CSDC 213. The family, the natural community in which human social nature is experienced, makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the good of society. The family unit, in fact, is born from the communion of persons. “‘Communion' has to do with the personal relationship between the ‘I' and the ‘thou'. ‘Community' on the other hand transcends this framework and moves towards a ‘society', a ‘we'. The family, as a community of persons, is thus the first human ‘society'“[468]. A society built on a family scale is the best guarantee against drifting off course into individualism or collectivism, because within the family the person is always at the centre of attention as an end and never as a means. It is patently clear that the good of persons and the proper functioning of society are closely connected “with the healthy state of conjugal and family life”[469]. Without families that are strong in their communion and stable in their commitment peoples grow weak. In the family, moral values are taught starting from the very first years of life, the spiritual heritage of the religious community and the cultural legacy of the nation are transmitted. In the family one learns social responsibility and solidarity[470].  

    

Notes: [468] John Paul II, Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane, 7: AAS 86 (1994), 875; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2206. [469] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 47: AAS 58 (1966), 1067; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2210. [470] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2224.

[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)]