Matthew 8, 23-34 + CSDC and CV

(CV12a) The link between  Populorum Progressio and the Second Vatican Council does not mean that Paul VI's social magisterium marked a break with that of previous Popes, because the Council constitutes a deeper exploration of this magisterium within the continuity of the Church's life [19]. In this sense, clarity is not served by certain abstract subdivisions of the Church's social doctrine, which apply categories to Papal social teaching that are extraneous to it. It is not a case of two typologies of social doctrine, one pre-conciliar and one post-conciliar, differing from one another: on the contrary, there is a single teaching, consistent and at the same time ever new [20].

Notes: [19] Cf. Benedict XVI, Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005. [20] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 3: loc. cit., 515.

The Church's competence comes from the Gospel

CSDC 68b. This means that the Church does not intervene in technical questions with her social doctrine, nor does she propose or establish systems or models of social organization[93]. This is not part of the mission entrusted to her by Christ. The Church's competence comes from the Gospel: from the message that sets man free, the message proclaimed and borne witness to by the Son of God made man.

Notes:  [93] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 41: AAS 80 (1988), 570-572.

(Mt 8, 23-34) To look to the future with hope

[23] He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. [24] Suddenly a violent storm  came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. [25] They came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" [26] He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. [27] The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" [28] When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. [29] They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?" [30] Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. [31] The demons pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine." [32] And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. [33] The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. [34] Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district. 

CSDC 451. The living experience of the divine presence in history is the foundation of the faith of the people of God: “We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand” (Deut 6:21). A look at history permits one to have an overview of the past and discover God at work from the very beginning: “A wandering Aramean was my father” (Deut 26:5); of his people God can say: “I took your father Abraham from beyond the river” (Josh 24:3). This reflection permits us to look to the future with hope, sustained by the promise and the covenant that God continually renews. The faith of Israel is lived out in the space and time of this world, perceived not as a hostile environment, nor as an evil from which one must be freed, but rather as the gift itself of God, as the place and plan that he entrusts to the responsible management and activity of man. Nature, the work of God's creative action, is not a dangerous adversary. It is God who made all things, and with regard to each created reality “God saw that it was good” (cf. Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25). At the summit of this creation, which “was very good” (Gen 1:31), God placed man. Only man and woman, among all creatures, were made by God “in his own image” (Gen 1,27). The Lord entrusted all of creation to their responsibility, charging them to care for its harmony and development (cf. Gen 1:26-30). This special bond with God explains the privileged position of the first human couple in the order of creation.

[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)]