16
August 19, 2014
coMMentary
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Fresh look at valuable gift
By tony Magliano
C at h ol ic s o c i a l
teaching is, unfortunately, the Church’s
best kept secret. Because it directly addresses the world’s
most pressing social justice and peace
issues, Catholic social teaching needs
to come out of hiding and be read,
preached, proclaimed and lived in our
parishes, schools, universities, media,
homes and society.
Five years ago, a valuable contribution
to Catholic social teaching was given to
the Church and world by Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI. His encyclical letter Caritas
in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”) was given
a respectful but short hearing, and then
put on the shelf to gather dust. Let’s
shake off five years of dust and begin to
appreciate this gem.
Foundational to all just solutions to
the world’s ills is unconditional love. As
our retired Holy Father wrote, “Love –
caritas – is an extraordinary force which
leads people to opt for courageous and
generous engagement in the field of
justice and peace. It is a force that has its
origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute
Truth.”
Benedict insists that authentic charity or love needs the assistance of truth.
“Without truth, charity degenerates into
sentimentality. Love becomes an empty
shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way,”
he wrote.
He taught that the truth contained
in the values of Christianity, are “essential for building a good society and for
true integral human development.” He
emphasized “the truth of Christ’s love
in society,” and added, “Development,
social well being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic
problems besetting humanity, all need
this truth. …
“Without truth, without trust and
love for what is true, there is no social
conscience and responsibility, and social
action ends up serving private interests
‘Corporate profits are at or
near all-time highs.’
and the logic of power, resulting in social
fragmentation, especially in a globalized
society at difficult times like the present.”
Pope Emeritus Benedict’s insights are
right on the mark. Because the quest for
love, a love influenced by truth, is not
on the agenda of so many individuals –
especially so many individuals who hold
political and corporate power – social
action is indeed largely serving private
interests and the logic of power.
Just consider how income and wealth
over the last 30 years have dramatically
increased for a tiny percentage of the
population, while the working-class
share of the economic pie has stagnated,
and various programs to assist the poor
have significantly been cut.
While some claim that the Great
Recession is over, that claim is of no
consolation to countless human beings
who are struggling with poverty, hunger, homelessness, unemployment and
underemployment. All of this painful injustice continues while corporate profits
are at or near all-time highs, and CEO’s
are racking in astronomical salaries.
A greedy, unjust toxic economic atmosphere is suffocating countless brothers
and sisters. As disciples of the Lord we
are called to be men and women of hope.
Just as air pollution can be reversed, so
too, economic pollution can be cleaned
up. As Christians, we have the ultimate
remedy: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For as our retired Holy Father wrote:
“The Gospel is fundament