Matthew 27, 31-38 + CSDC and CV

 (CV 43a) “The reality of human solidarity, which is a benefit for us, also imposes a duty”[105]. Many people today would claim that they owe nothing to anyone, except to themselves. They are concerned only with their rights, and they often have great difficulty in taking responsibility for their own and other people's integral development. Hence it is important to call for a renewed reflection on how rights presuppose duties, if they are not to become mere licence [106]. Nowadays we are witnessing a grave inconsistency. On the one hand, appeals are made to alleged rights, arbitrary and non-essential in nature, accompanied by the demand that they be recognized and promoted by public structures, while, on the other hand, elementary and basic rights remain unacknowledged and are violated in much of the world [107].

Notes: [105] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 17: loc. cit., 265-266. [106] Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2003 World Day of Peace, 5: AAS 95 (2003), 343. [107] Cf. ibid.

Human person must remain the true protagonist of his work

CSDC 317a. Given these impressive “new things” in the world of work, the Church's social doctrine recommends first of all to avoid the error of insisting that the current changes take place in a deterministic manner. The decisive factor and “referee” of this complex phase of change is once more the human person, who must remain the true protagonist of his work. He can and must take on in a creative and responsible fashion the present innovations and re-organizations, so that they lead to the growth of the person, the family, society and the entire human family.[677]

   

Notes: [677] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 10: AAS 73 (1981), 600-602.

(Mt 27, 31-38) Present and future generations called together to share the same gift in solidarity

[31] And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him. [32] As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. [33] And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull), [34] they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. [35] After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; [36] then they sat down and kept watch over him there. [37] And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. [38] Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.

CSDC 195. The principle of solidarity requires that men and women of our day cultivate a greater awareness that they are debtors of the society of which they have become part. They are debtors because of those conditions that make human existence liveable, and because of the indivisible and indispensable legacy constituted by culture, scientific and technical knowledge, material and immaterial goods and by all that the human condition has produced. A similar debt must be recognized in the various forms of social interaction, so that humanity's journey will not be interrupted but remain open to present and future generations, all of them called together to share the same gift in solidarity.

[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)]