Luke 11, 37-44
+ CSDC and CV
CV 40d.
What should be avoided is a speculative use of financial resources that
yields to the temptation of seeking only short-term profit, without regard for
the long-term sustainability of the enterprise, its benefit to the real economy
and attention to the advancement, in suitable and appropriate ways, of further
economic initiatives in countries in need of development. It is true that the
export of investments and skills can benefit the populations of the receiving
country. Labour and technical knowledge are a universal good. Yet it is not
right to export these things merely for the sake of obtaining advantageous
conditions, or worse, for purposes of exploitation, without making a real
contribution to local society by helping to bring about a robust productive and
social system, an essential factor for stable development.
Persist in every part of the world stark inequalities
CSDC 192b. In the presence of the phenomenon of
interdependence and its constant expansion, however, there persist in every
part of the world stark inequalities between developed and developing countries,
inequalities stoked also by various forms of exploitation, oppression and
corruption that have a negative influence on the internal and international
life of many States. The acceleration of interdependence between persons and
peoples needs to be accompanied by equally intense efforts on the
ethical-social plane, in order to avoid the dangerous consequences of
perpetrating injustice on a global scale. This would have very negative
repercussions even in the very countries that are presently more
advantaged[414].
Notes: [414] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 11-22: AAS 80 (1988), 525-540.
(Lk 11, 37-44) You cleanse the outside, but inside you are
filled with plunder and evil
37 After he had spoken, a Pharisee
invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. 38
The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing
before the meal. 39 The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you
cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder
and evil. 40 You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
41 But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean
for you. 42 Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of
every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others. 43 Woe to you
Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in
marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people
unknowingly walk."
CSDC 184. The
Church's love for the poor is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, by the
poverty of Jesus and by his attention to the poor. This love concerns material
poverty and also the numerous forms of cultural and religious poverty[389]. The Church, “since her origin and in spite of the failing of
many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defence and
liberation through numerous works of charity which remain indispensable always
and everywhere”[390]. Prompted by the Gospel injunction, “You have received
without paying, give without pay” (Mt 10:8), the Church teaches that one
should assist one's fellow man in his various needs and fills the human
community with countless works of corporal and spiritual mercy. “Among
all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal
charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God”[391], even if the
practice of charity is not limited to alms-giving but implies addressing the
social and political dimensions of the problem of poverty. In her teaching the
Church constantly returns to this relationship between charity and justice:
“When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not
ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of
justice”[392]. The Council Fathers strongly recommended that this duty be
fulfilled correctly, remembering that “what is already due in justice is not to
be offered as a gift of charity”[393]. Love for the poor is certainly
“incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use” [394] (cf. Jas
5:1-6).
Notes: [389] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church,
2444. [390] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2448. [391] Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2447. [392] Saint Gregory the Great, Regula
Pastoralis, 3, 21: PL 77, 87: “Nam cum qualibet necessaria indigentibus
ministramus, sua illis reddimus, non nostra largimur; iustitiae potius debitum
soluimus, quam misericordiae opera implemus”. [393] Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem, 8: AAS 58 (1966), 845;
cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2446. [394] Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 2445.
[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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