Mark 15,40-41 + CSDC and CV

Mark 15,40-41 + CSDC and CV 

CV 16b. Paul VI, like Leo XIII before him in Rerum Novarum [35], knew that he was carrying out a duty proper to his office by shedding the light of the Gospel on the social questions of his time [36]. To regard development as a vocation is to recognize, on the one hand, that it derives from a transcendent call, and on the other hand that it is incapable, on its own, of supplying its ultimate meaning. Not without reason the word “vocation” is also found in another passage of the Encyclical, where we read: “There is no true humanism but that which is open to the Absolute, and is conscious of a vocation which gives human life its true meaning.”[37] This vision of development is at the heart of Populorum Progressio, and it lies behind all Paul VI's reflections on freedom, on truth and on charity in development. It is also the principal reason why that Encyclical is still timely in our day.

Notes:  [35] Cf. ibid., 2: loc. cit., 258; Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum (15 May 1891): Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, XI, Romae 1892, 97-144; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 8: loc. cit., 519-520; Id., Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: loc. cit., 799. [36] Cf. Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 2, 13: loc. cit., 258, 263-264. [37] Ibid., 42: loc. cit., 278.

The Ten Commandments contain a privileged expression of the natural law

CSDC 22b. The Ten Commandments, which constitute an extraordinary path of life and indicate the surest way for living in freedom from slavery to sin, contain a privileged expression of the natural law. They “teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person”[25]. They describe universal human morality. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds the rich young man that the Ten Commandments (cf. Mt 19:18) “constitute the indispensable rules of all social life”[26].

Notes: [25] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2070.[26] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 97: AAS 85 (1993), 1209.

(Mk 15,40-41) There were also women looking on 

[40] There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. [41] These women had followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him. There were also many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

CSDC 146. “Male” and “female” differentiate two individuals of equal dignity, which does not however reflect a static equality, because the specificity of the female is different from the specificity of the male, and this difference in equality is enriching and indispensable for the harmony of life in society: “The condition that will assure the rightful presence of woman in the Church and in society is a more penetrating and accurate consideration of the anthropological foundation for masculinity and femininity with the intent of clarifying woman's personal identity in relation to man, that is, a diversity yet mutual complementarily, not only as it concerns roles to be held and functions to be performed, but also, and more deeply, as it concerns her make-up and meaning as a person”[287]. 

Notes: [287] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 50: AAS 81 (1989), 489.  

[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)]