Mark 5, 14-20 + CSDC and CV

Mark 5, 14-20 + CSDC and CV

CV 72a. Even peace can run the risk of being considered a technical product, merely the outcome of agreements between governments or of initiatives aimed at ensuring effective economic aid. It is true that peace-building requires the constant interplay of diplomatic contacts, economic, technological and cultural exchanges, agreements on common projects, as well as joint strategies to curb the threat of military conflict and to root out the underlying causes of terrorism.

The exercise of authority must take on the character of service

CSDC 567b. They must also reject all secret organizations that seek to influence or subvert the functioning of legitimate institutions. The exercise of authority must take on the character of service to be carried out always in the context of moral law for the attainment of the common good[1187]. Those who exercise political authority must see to it that the energies of all citizens are directed towards the common good; and they are to do so not in an authoritarian style but by making use of moral power sustained in freedom.

Notes: [1187] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097.

(Mk 5, 14-20) Announce all that the Lord in his pity has done for you 

[14] The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. [15] As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. [16] Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. [17] Then they began to beg him to leave their district. [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. [19] But he would not permit him but told him instead, "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." [20] Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

CSDC 575. In modern society, people are increasingly experiencing a new need for meaning. “Man will always yearn to know, at least in an obscure way, what is the meaning of his life, of his activity, of his death”[1206]. It is difficult to meet the demands of building the future in a new context of an even more complex and interdependent international relations that are also less and less ordered and peaceful. Life and death seem to be solely in the hands of a scientific and technological progress that is moving faster than man's ability to establish its ultimate goals and evaluate its costs. Many phenomena indicate instead that “the increasing sense of dissatisfaction with worldly goods which is making itself felt among citizens of the wealthier nations is rapidly destroying the treasured illusion of an earthly paradise. People are also becoming more and more conscious of their rights as human beings, rights that are universal and inviolable, and they are aspiring to more just and more human relations”[1207].

Notes: [1206] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 41: AAS 58 (1966), 1059. [1207] John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 451.

 [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)].