July 8, 2009
Piety
(From the conclusion of Caritas In Veritate)
Christians long for the entire human family to call upon God as “Our Father!” In union with the only-begotten Son, may all people learn to pray to the Father and to ask him, in the words that Jesus himself taught us, for the grace to glorify him by living according to his will, to receive the daily bread that we need, to be understanding and generous towards our debtors, not to be tempted beyond our limits, and to be delivered from evil (cf. Mt 6:9-13).
“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom 12:9-10). May the Virgin Mary — proclaimed Mater Ecclesiae by Paul VI and honored by Christians as Speculum Iustitiae and
Study
When we think of people left behind or left out of worldwide economic prosperity, today’s Gospel helps us remember to focus on these lost sheep. In addition, the latest encyclical released by Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday “Charity in Truth” emphasized that “Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22).” Today’s readings we witness Joseph fulfilling that role and the disciples being sent out to reach for the lost sheep.
Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is “mine” to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot “give” what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice.
Reading on in the encyclical in light of today’s reading about Joseph and his charity toward the brothers who abandoned him into slavery helps us realize the challenge that Pope Benedict is trying to frame in this discussion. In the excerpt below, the bold has been added for emphasis.
Love in truth — caritas in veritate — is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development.
The sharing of goods and resources, like the generosity we see exhibited by Joseph, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties. We see Joseph’s spirit of love overcome any emotional reaction he might have had towards the cruelty inflicted by his brothers.
You can read the whole encyclical here. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
Action
With the accelerated pace and explosion of worldwide interdependence, makes us really focus on the lost sheep of the worldwide economic system. Pope Benedict writes:
The great challenge before us, accentuated by the problems of development in this global era and made even more urgent by the economic and financial crisis, is to demonstrate, in thinking and behavior, not only that traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated, but also that in commercial relationships the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity can and must find their place within normal economic activity. This is a human demand at the present time, but it is also demanded by economic logic. It is a demand both of charity and of truth.
What are you doing to build the common good in light of the teachings we encounter daily and the reality of the shrinking interdependent world around us?
