John 3, 1-6 + CSDC and CV

Chapter 3

John 3, 1-6 + CSDC and CV

CV 68a The development of peoples is intimately linked to the development of individuals. The human person by nature is actively involved in his own development. The development in question is not simply the result of natural mechanisms, since as everybody knows, we are all capable of making free and responsible choices. Nor is it merely at the mercy of our caprice, since we all know that we are a gift, not something self-generated. Our freedom is profoundly shaped by our being, and by its limits. No one shapes his own conscience arbitrarily, but we all build our own “I” on the basis of a “self” which is given to us. Not only are other persons outside our control, but each one of us is outside his or her own control. A person's development is compromised, if he claims to be solely responsible for producing what he becomes.

Market  to be firmly rooted in its ethical objectives 

CSDC 349. The Church's social doctrine, while recognizing the market as an irreplaceable instrument for regulating the inner workings of the economic system, points out the need for it to be firmly rooted in its ethical objectives, which ensure and at the same time suitably circumscribe the space within which it can operate autonomously.[729] The idea that the market alone can be entrusted with the task of supplying every category of goods cannot be shared, because such an idea is based on a reductionist vision of the person and society.[730] Faced with the concrete “risk of an ‘idolatry' of the market”, the Church's social doctrine underlines its limits, which are easily seen in its proven inability to satisfy important human needs, which require goods that “by their nature are not and cannot be mere commodities”,[731] goods that cannot be bought and sold according to the rule of the “exchange of equivalents” and the logic of contracts, which are typical of the market.

  

 Notes: [729] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 41: AAS 63 (1971), 429-430. [730] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 34: AAS 83 (1991), 835-836. [731] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 40: AAS 83 (1991), 843; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2425.

(Jn 3, 1-6) What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit

[1] Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." [3] Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." [4] Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" [5] Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. [6] What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.  

CSDC 58. The complete fulfilment of the human person, achieved in Christ through the gift of the Spirit, develops in history and is mediated by personal relationships with other people, relationships that in turn reach perfection thanks to the commitment made to improve the world, in justice and peace. Human activity in history is of itself significant and effective for the definitive establishment of the Kingdom, although this remains a free gift of God, completely transcendent. Such activity, when it respects the objective order of temporal reality and is enlightened by truth and love, becomes an instrument for making justice and peace ever more fully and integrally present, and anticipates in our own day the promised Kingdom. Conforming himself to Christ the Redeemer, man perceives himself as a creature willed by God and eternally chosen by him, called to grace and glory in all the fullness of the mystery in which he has become a sharer in Jesus Christ[69]. Being conformed to Christ and contemplating his face [70] instil in Christians an irrepressible longing for a foretaste in this world, in the context of human relationships, of what will be a reality in the definitive world to come; thus Christians strive to give food, drink, clothing, shelter, care, a welcome and company to the Lord who knocks at the door (cf. Mt 25:35-37). 

Notes: [69] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, 13: AAS 71 (1979), 283-284. [70] Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 16-28: AAS 93 (2001), 276-285.

[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)]