Thursday, January 8, 2015
John 5, 31-38 + CSDC and CV
John 5, 31-38 +
CSDC and CV
CV 74a A particularly crucial battleground in today's cultural struggle between
the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics,
where the very possibility of integral human development is radically called
into question. In this most delicate and critical area, the fundamental
question asserts itself force-fully: is man the product of his own labours or
does he depend on God? Scientific discoveries in this field and the
possibilities of technological intervention seem so advanced as to force a
choice between two types of reasoning: reason open to transcendence or reason
closed within immanence. We are presented with a clear either/ or.
CSDC 409. In their specific areas (drafting laws,
governing, setting up systems of checks and balances), elected officials must
strive to seek and attain that which will contribute to making civil life
proceed well in its overall course.[841] Those who govern have the
obligation to answer to those governed, but this does not in the least imply
that representatives are merely passive agents of the electors. The control
exercised by the citizens does not in fact exclude the freedom that elected
officials must enjoy in order to fulfil their mandate with respect to the
objectives to be pursued. These do not depend exclusively on special interests,
but in a much greater part on the function of synthesis and mediation that
serve the common good, one of the essential and indispensable goals of
political authority.
Notes: [841] Cf. Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 2236.
[31] "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony
cannot be verified. [32] But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I
know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. [33] You sent emissaries
to John, and he testified to the truth. [34] I do not accept testimony from a
human being, but I say this so that you may be saved. [35] He was a burning and
shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. [36]
But I have testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father gave me to
accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has
sent me. [37] Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But
you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, [38] and you do not have his
word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
CSDC 40. The universality and integrality of the
salvation wrought by Christ makes indissoluble the link between the
relationship that the person is called to have with God and the responsibility
he has towards his neighbour in the concrete circumstances of history. This
is sensed, though not always without some confusion or misunderstanding, in
humanity's universal quest for truth and meaning, and it becomes the
cornerstone of God's covenant with Israel, as attested by the tablets of the
Law and the preaching of the Prophets. This link finds a clear and precise
expression in the teaching of Jesus Christ and is definitively confirmed by the
supreme witness of the giving of his life, in obedience to the Father's will
and out of love for his brothers and sisters. To the scribe who asks him “Which
commandment is the first of all?” (Mk 12:28), Jesus answers: “The
first is: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength'. The second is
this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. There is no other
commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:29-31). Inextricably
linked in the human heart are the relationship with God — recognized as Creator
and Father, the source and fulfilment of life and of salvation — and openness
in concrete love towards man, who must be treated as another self, even if he
is an enemy (cf. Mt 5:43-44). In man's inner dimension are rooted,
in the final analysis, the commitment to justice and solidarity, to the
building up of a social, economic and political life that corresponds to God's
plan.
[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