Saturday, January 31, 2015
John 9, 35-41 + CSDC and CV
John 9, 35-41 +
CSDC and CV
CV 2a Charity is at the heart of the Church's social
doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine
is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the
synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the
personal relationship with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only
of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small
groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).
For the Church, instructed by the Gospel, charity is everything because, as
Saint John teaches (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16) and as I recalled in my first Encyclical Letter, “God is love” (Deus Caritas Est): everything has its
origin in God's love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed
towards it.
CSDC 461. The biblical message and the Church's
Magisterium represent the essential reference points for evaluating the
problems found in the relationship between man and the environment.[969] The
underlying cause of these problems can be seen in man's pretension of
exercising unconditional dominion over things, heedless of any moral
considerations which, on the contrary, must distinguish all human activity. The
tendency towards an “ill-considered” [970] exploitation of the resources
of creation is the result of a long historical and cultural process. “The
modern era has witnessed man's growing capacity for transformative
intervention. The aspect of the conquest and exploitation of resources has
become predominant and invasive, and today it has even reached the point of
threatening the environment's hospitable aspect: the environment as ‘resource'
risks threatening the environment as ‘home'. Because of the powerful means of
transformation offered by technological civilization, it sometimes seems that
the balance between man and the environment has reached a critical point”.[971]
Notes: [969] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic
Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 21: AAS 63 (1971), 416-417. [970]
Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesimo Adveniens, 21: AAS 63
(1971), 417. [971] John Paul II, Address to participants in a convention on
“The Environment and Health“ (24 March 1997), 2: L'Osservatore Romano, English
edition, 9 April 1997, p. 2.
[35] When Jesus
heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe
in the Son of Man?" [36] He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that
I may believe in him?" [37] Jesus said to him, "You have seen him and
the one speaking with you is he." [38] He said, "I do believe,
Lord," and he worshiped him. [39] Then Jesus said, "I came into this
world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do
see might become blind." [40] Some of the Pharisees who were with him
heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?"
[41] Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but
now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.
CSDC 57. The good
things — such as human dignity, brotherhood and freedom, all the good fruits of
nature and of human enterprise — that in the Lord's Spirit and according to his
command have spread throughout the earth, having been purified of every stain,
illuminated and transfigured, belong to the Kingdom of truth and life, of
holiness and grace, of justice, of love and of peace that Christ will present
to the Father, and it is there that we shall once again find them. The
words of Christ in their solemn truth will then resound for all people: “Come,
O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and
you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to
me ... as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt
25:34-36,40).
[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)]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment