John 8, 21-30 + CSDC and CV

John 8, 21-30 + CSDC and CV 

CV 79a  Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer, Christians moved by the knowledge that truth-filled love, caritas in veritate, from which authentic development proceeds, is not produced by us, but given to us. For this reason, even in the most difficult and complex times, besides recognizing what is happening, we must above all else turn to God's love.

To stimulate international political action that pursues the goals of peace and development through the adoption of coordinated measures

CSDC 442. Because of the globalization of problems, it has become more urgent than ever to stimulate international political action that pursues the goals of peace and development through the adoption of coordinated measures.[916] The Magisterium recognizes that the interdependence among men and nations takes on a moral dimension and is the determining factor for relations in the modern world in the economic, cultural, political and religious sense. In this context it is hoped that there will be a revision of international organizations, a process that “presupposes the overcoming of political rivalries and the renouncing of all desire to manipulate these organizations, which exist solely for the common good”,[917] for the purpose of achieving “a greater degree of international ordering”.[918] In particular, intergovernmental structures must effectively perform their functions of control and guidance in the economic field because the attainment of the common good has become a goal that is beyond the reach of individual States, even if they are dominant in terms of power, wealth, and political strength.[919] International agencies must moreover guarantee the attainment of that equality which is the basis of the right of all to participate in the process of full development, duly respecting legitimate differences.[920] 

Notes: [916] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 51-55 and 77-79: AAS 59 (1967), 282-284, 295-296. [917] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 43: AAS 80 (1988), 575. [918] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 43: AAS 80 (1988), 575; cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 96 (2004), 118. [919] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 58: AAS 83 (1991), 863-864. [920] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 33, 39: AAS 80 (1988), 557-559, 566-568.

(John 8, 21-30) I do not belong to this world  

[21]  He said to them again, "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." [22] So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?" [23] He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. [24] That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." [25] So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. [26] I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." [27] They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. [28] So Jesus said (to them), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. [29] The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." [30] Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

CSDC 40. The universality and integrality of the salvation wrought by Christ makes indissoluble the link between the relationship that the person is called to have with God and the responsibility he has towards his neighbour in the concrete circumstances of history. This is sensed, though not always without some confusion or misunderstanding, in humanity's universal quest for truth and meaning, and it becomes the cornerstone of God's covenant with Israel, as attested by the tablets of the Law and the preaching of the Prophets. This link finds a clear and precise expression in the teaching of Jesus Christ and is definitively confirmed by the supreme witness of the giving of his life, in obedience to the Father's will and out of love for his brothers and sisters. To the scribe who asks him “Which commandment is the first of all?” (Mk 12:28), Jesus answers: “The first is: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength'. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:29-31). Inextricably linked in the human heart are the relationship with God — recognized as Creator and Father, the source and fulfilment of life and of salvation — and openness in concrete love towards man, who must be treated as another self, even if he is an enemy (cf. Mt 5:43-44). In man's inner dimension are rooted, in the final analysis, the commitment to justice and solidarity, to the building up of a social, economic and political life that corresponds to God's plan.

 

[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)]