Matthew 20, 20-28 + CSDC and CV   

(CV 31a) This means that moral evaluation and scientific research must go hand in hand, and that charity must animate them in a harmonious interdisciplinary whole, marked by unity and distinction. The Church's social doctrine, which has “an important interdisciplinary dimension”[77], can exercise, in this perspective, a function of extraordinary effectiveness. It allows faith, theology, metaphysics and science to come together in a collaborative effort in the service of humanity. It is here above all that the Church's social doctrine displays its dimension of wisdom. Paul VI had seen clearly that among the causes of underdevelopment there is a lack of wisdom and reflection, a lack of thinking capable of formulating a guiding synthesis[78], for which “a clear vision of all economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspects”[79] is required.

Notes: [77] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 59: loc. cit., 864. [78] Cf. Encyclical Letter  Populorum Progressio, 40, 85: loc. cit., 277, 298-299.[79] Ibid., 13: loc. cit., 263-264.

Gaudium et Spes: the expectations of the contemporary world

CSDC 96a. The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes[172] of the Second Vatican Council is a significant response of the Church to the expectations of the contemporary world. In this Constitution, “in harmony with the ecclesiological renewal, a new concept of how to be a community of believers and people of God are reflected. It aroused new interest regarding the doctrine contained in the preceding documents on the witness and life of Christians, as authentic ways of making the presence of God in the world visible”[173].

Notes: [172] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes: AAS 58 (1966), 1025-1120. [173] Congregation for Catholic Education, Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the Church's Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests, 24, Vatican Polyglot Press, Rome 1988, p. 28.

(Mt 20, 20-28) The tragedy of sin

[20] Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. [21] He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom." [22] Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." [23] He replied, "My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left (, this) is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." [24] When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. [25] But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. [26] But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; [27] whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. [28] Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

CSDC 116. At the root of personal and social divisions, which in differing degrees offend the value and dignity of the human person, there is a wound which is present in man's inmost self. “In the light of faith we call it sin: beginning with original sin, which all of us bear from birth as an inheritance from our first parents, to the sin which each one of us commits when we abuse our own freedom”[224]. The consequences of sin, insofar as it is an act of separation from God, are alienation, that is, the separation of man not only from God but also from himself, from other men and from the world around him. “Man's rupture with God leads tragically to divisions between brothers. In the description of the ‘first sin', the rupture with Yahweh simultaneously breaks the bond of friendship that had united the human family. Thus the subsequent pages of Genesis show us the man and the woman as it were pointing an accusing finger at each other (cf. Gen. 3:12). Later we have brother hating brother and finally taking his brother's life (cf. Gen 4:2-16). According to the Babel story, the result of sin is the shattering of the human family, already begun with the first sin and now reaching its most extreme form on the social level”[225]. Reflecting on the mystery of sin, we cannot fail to take into consideration this tragic connection between cause and effect.

Notes:  [224] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 2: AAS 77 (1985), 188; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1849. [225] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 15: AAS 77 (1985), 212-213.

[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)]