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“Faith by its specific nature
is an encounter with the living God—an encounter opening up new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason. But it is also a purifying force for reason itself. From God's standpoint, faith liberates reason from its blind spots and therefore helps it to be ever more fully itself. Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly. This is where Catholic social doctrine has its place: it has no intention of giving the Church power over the State. Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. Its aim is simply to help purity
reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just.”
― Deus caritas est: Of Christian Love
is an encounter with the living God—an encounter opening up new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason. But it is also a purifying force for reason itself. From God's standpoint, faith liberates reason from its blind spots and therefore helps it to be ever more fully itself. Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly. This is where Catholic social doctrine has its place: it has no intention of giving the Church power over the State. Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. Its aim is simply to help purity
reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just.”
― Deus caritas est: Of Christian Love
“The Christian God came, not as a deus
ex machina to set everything externally in order,
but as the Son of Man in order interiorly to share
in the passion of mankind. And this, too, is precisely the task of the Christian: to share in the
passion of mankind from within, to extend the
sphere of human being so that it will find room
for the presence of God.”
―
ex machina to set everything externally in order,
but as the Son of Man in order interiorly to share
in the passion of mankind. And this, too, is precisely the task of the Christian: to share in the
passion of mankind from within, to extend the
sphere of human being so that it will find room
for the presence of God.”
―
“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say," returned the nephew. "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!" Fred, A Christmas Carol.”
― A Christmas Carol
― A Christmas Carol
“Let us go a step farther. From the crisis of
today the Church of tomorrow will emerge-
a Church that has lost much. She will become
small and will have to start afresh more or less
from the beginning. She will no longer be able
to inhabit many of the edifices she built in pros-
perity. As the number of her adherents dimin-
ishes, so will she lose many of her social privi-
leges. In contrast to an earlier age, she will be
seen much more as a voluntary society, entered
only by free decision. As a small society, she will
make much bigger demands on the initiative of
her individual members. Undoubtedly she will
discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to
the priesthood approved Christians who pursue
some profession. In many smaller congregations
or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care
will normally be provided in this fashion. Along-
side this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the
changes at which one might guess, the Church
will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center:
faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit
until the end of the world. In faith and prayer
she will again recognize her true center and ex-
perience the sacraments again as the worship of
God and not as a subject for liturgical scholar-
ship.”
―
today the Church of tomorrow will emerge-
a Church that has lost much. She will become
small and will have to start afresh more or less
from the beginning. She will no longer be able
to inhabit many of the edifices she built in pros-
perity. As the number of her adherents dimin-
ishes, so will she lose many of her social privi-
leges. In contrast to an earlier age, she will be
seen much more as a voluntary society, entered
only by free decision. As a small society, she will
make much bigger demands on the initiative of
her individual members. Undoubtedly she will
discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to
the priesthood approved Christians who pursue
some profession. In many smaller congregations
or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care
will normally be provided in this fashion. Along-
side this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the
changes at which one might guess, the Church
will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center:
faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit
until the end of the world. In faith and prayer
she will again recognize her true center and ex-
perience the sacraments again as the worship of
God and not as a subject for liturgical scholar-
ship.”
―
“Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of changing the world ideologically, and it is not at the service of worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now
the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philosophy. People of the present are sacrificed to the moloch of the future-a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now. We contribute to a better world only by personally doing good now, with full commitment and wherever we have the opportunity, independently of partisan strategies and programmes. The Christian's programme-the programme of the Good Samaritan, the programme of Jesus- is "a heart which sees." This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.”
― Deus caritas est: Of Christian Love
the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philosophy. People of the present are sacrificed to the moloch of the future-a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now. We contribute to a better world only by personally doing good now, with full commitment and wherever we have the opportunity, independently of partisan strategies and programmes. The Christian's programme-the programme of the Good Samaritan, the programme of Jesus- is "a heart which sees." This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.”
― Deus caritas est: Of Christian Love
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