Lk 8, 19-21 + CSDC and CV

Luke 8, 19-21 + CSDC and CV 

CV 34a. Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift. Gratuitousness is present in our lives in many different forms, which often go unrecognized because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life. The human being is made for gift, which expresses and makes present his transcendent dimension. Sometimes modern man is wrongly convinced that he is the sole author of himself, his life and society. This is a presumption that follows from being selfishly closed in upon himself, and it is a consequence — to express it in faith terms — of original sin.

Principle of subsidiarity will become a permanent element of the Church's social doctrine

CSDC 91b Quadragesimo Anno confirms the principle that salaries should be proportional not only to the needs of the worker but also to those of the worker's family. The State, in its relations with the private sector, should apply the principle of subsidiarity, a principle that will become a permanent element of the Church's social doctrine. The Encyclical rejects liberalism, understood as unlimited competition between economic forces, and reconfirms the value of private property, recalling its social function. In a society in need of being rebuilt from its economic foundations, a society which itself becomes completely “the question” to deal with, “Pius XI felt the duty and the responsibility to promote a greater awareness, a more precise interpretation and an urgent application of the moral law governing human relations ... with the intent of overcoming the conflict between classes and arriving at a new social order based on justice and charity”[154]. 

Notes: 154] Congregation for Catholic Education, Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the Church's Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests, 21, Vatican Polyglot Press, Rome 1988, p. 24.

(Luke 8, 19-21) My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it

[19] Then his mother and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. [20] He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." [21] He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

CSDC 577. Faith in God and in Jesus Christ sheds light on the moral principles that are “the sole and irreplaceable foundation of that stability and tranquillity, of that internal and external order, private and public, that alone can generate and safeguard the prosperity of States”[1210]. Life in society must be based on the divine plan because “the theological dimension is needed both for interpreting and solving present-day problems in human society”[1211]. In the presence of serious forms of exploitation and social injustice, there is “an ever more widespread and acute sense of the need for a radical personal and social renewal capable of ensuring justice, solidarity, honesty and openness. Certainly, there is a long and difficult road ahead; bringing about such a renewal will require enormous effort, especially on account of the number and gravity of the causes giving rise to and aggravating the situations of injustice present in the world today. But, as history and personal experience show, it is not difficult to discover at the bottom of these situations causes which are properly ‘cultural', linked to particular ways of looking at man, society and the world. Indeed, at the heart of the issue of culture we find the moral sense, which is in turn rooted and fulfilled in the religious sense”[1212]. As for “the social question”, we must not be seduced by “the naive expectation that, faced with the great challenges of our time, we shall find some magic formula. No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person and the assurance that he gives us: I am with you! It is not therefore a matter of inventing a ‘new programme'. The programme already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its centre in Christ himself, who is to be known loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfilment in the heavenly Jerusalem”[1213].

Notes: [1210] Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 425. [1211] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 55: AAS 83 (1991), 860-861. [1212] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 98: AAS 85 (1993), 1210; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 24: AAS 83 (1991), 821-822. [1213] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 29: AAS 93 (2001), 285.

 [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)]