Gaudium et Spes.
Our Journey So Far... Lumen Gentium: ( Christ & Church) Dei Verbum: (Christ & Scripture) Sacrosanctum Concilium (Christ in the Liturgy) NOW: Christ and the World
Lumen Gentium dealt with the nature of the church. Gaudium et Spes deals with the mission of the church.
A Pastoral Constitution John XXIII s original desire that the Council have a pastoral focus Special footnote on the significance of title: The constitution is called pastoral because, while resting on doctrinal principles, it sets out the relation of the church to the world and to the people of today. 4
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.
This Second Vatican Council, having probed more profoundly into the mystery of the Church, now addresses itself without hesitation, not only to the children of the Church and to all who invoke the name of Christ, but to the whole of humanity. For the council yearns to explain to everyone how it conceives of the presence and activity of the Church in the world of today.
1962 To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics.
GS has two Parts General Principles on a theological vision of the human person Five urgent problems of the human person THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN PERSON
Structure of the final version Preface and Introduction (1-3; 4-10) Part 1: The Church and the Human Vocation Introduction: Responding to the Promptings of the Spirit Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person Chapter 2: The Human Community Chapter 3: Humanity s Activity in the Universe Chapter 4: Role of the Church in Today s World 9
Map continued Part II. The Church and Society. Five headings of special urgency : 1) The dignity of marriage and the family. 2) The proper promotion of cultural process. 3) Social and economic life. 4) The life of the political community. 5) Fostering peace and the international community.
GS 4 To discharge this function the church has the duty in every age of examining the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the gospel. There is a need, then, to be aware of, and to understand, the world in which we live, together with its expectations, its desires and its frequently dramatic character. 11
Can we discern 3 good and 3 challenging signs? Reading the Signs of the Times Jesus said to the crowds, 'When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:54-56 NRSV)
Our changing world. Abundant wealth yet poverty Education favouring science & technology Growth in understanding biology, psychology and social sciences (families, clans affected) Society becoming industrialised and urbanised Migration Attitudes: old becoming freer and young more impatient Religion: less magic and superstition or denial New humanism: in arts and new laws
CHAPTER I THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON What is man? About himself he has expressed, and continues to express, many divergent and even contradictory opinions. In these he often exalts himself as the absolute measure of all things or debases himself to the point of despair. The result is doubt and anxiety. The Church certainly understands these problems. Endowed with light from God, she can offer solutions to them, so that man's true situation can be portrayed and his defects explained, while at the same time his dignity and destiny are justly acknowledged.
Unease with Materialism? The Church firmly believes that Christ, who died and was raised up for all, can through His Spirit offer man the light and the strength to measure up to his supreme destiny. The Church also maintains that beneath all changes there are many realities which do not change and which have their ultimate foundation in Christ, Who is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. Hence under the light of Christ the council wishes to speak to all peoples in order to shed light on the mystery of humanity and to cooperate in finding the solution to the outstanding problems of our time.
OFFER OF DIALOGUE: What is needed for this?
HUGE!!! Where do WE begin? Our personal dignity. Am I Really important??? GOD LOVES ME Really? How convince ourselves of this?
RECOGNISE: God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good. Gen 1: 31
The human person is the greatest of all God s creation. Gen 1: 27
What is man...? Created "to the image of God," and capable of knowing and loving his Creator Was appointed by God as master of all earthly creatures But God did not create man as a solitary being Unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor develop his potential. God saw "all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Man set himself against God and sought to attain his goal apart from God.
RECOGNISE: Humanity Damaged Genesis 3: 1-24 You shall be like gods, knowing good and evil.
Man divided... Man is split within himself. As a result, all of human life, whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle between light and darkness.
Seek dignity behind the masks.
2. Dignity yes! and made for Community In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbour of every person without exception and of actively helping him when he comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all, a foreign labourer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee, a child born of an unlawful union and wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit, or a hungry person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the voice of the Lord, "As long as you did it for one of these the least of my brethren, you did it for me" (Matt. 25:40).
How can we value our dignity?
Foundation: Jesus reveals full humanity Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. Christ fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. He Who is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15),(21) is Himself human. To the children of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin. He blazed a trail, and if we follow it, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.
He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Christ fully reveals man to man himself.
Method in the dialogue with the world 1. The signs of the times are read.. 2. Common values are sought. 3. Jesus Christ is proclaimed AREAS Atheism (personal) The Human Community (communal) Human Activity (work) The Role of the Church in the all of this.
Atheism in Gaudium et Spes May arise from Christian errors / weakness Or the desire to be free from God Or wilfully dodging religious questions or ignoring conscience Or seeking only economic & social status 20. This form of atheism argues that by its nature religion thwarts liberation by arousing man's hope for a deceptive future life, thereby diverting him from the constructing of the earthly city. Consequently when the proponents of this doctrine gain governmental power they vigorously fight against religion, and promote atheism by using, especially in the education of youth, those means of pressure which public power has at its disposal.
Seek The Common Good 26. Every day human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family.
The Common Good
26. At the same time, however, there is a growing awareness of the exalted dignity proper to the human person, since he stands above all things, and his rights and duties are universal and inviolable. Therefore, there must be made available to all men everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the upright norm of one's own conscience, to protection of privacy and rightful freedom even in matters religious.
Sermon on Mount
Independence
3. Humanity & Church in the world. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation. Nor, on the contrary, are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life. This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.
This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. HOW IS THIS TRUE? SCIAF
The Church Speaks Out Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or wilful selfdestruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practise them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are supreme dishonour to the Creator. 27.
Seeking common ground solidarity dialogue reading the signs of the times 40
Solidarity The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community of people united in Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit in their pilgrimage towards the Father s kingdom, bearers of a message of salvation for all humanity. That is why they cherish a feeling of deep solidarity with the human race and its history. 41
Sollidarity &Interdependence
And so the council can find no more eloquent expression of this people s solidarity, respect and love for the whole human family, of which it forms a part, than to enter into dialogue with it about all these various problems, throwing the light of the Gospel on them and supplying humanity with the saving resources which the church has received from its founder under the promptings of the Holy Spirit. 43
Dialogue the motif of the divine-human dialogue the motif of church s dialogue with the world a church open to learning (GS 44) 44
The church is the universal sacrament of salvation. A SIGN of love. An AGENT of love. simultaneously manifesting and exercising the mystery of God's love... 45.
GS 92 Four concentric circles of dialogue dialogue within the church itself dialogue with other Christians dialogue with other religious believers dialogue with non-believers Where am I in these areas? Can I engage in any? 46
CHAPTER 4 THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD The People of God and the human race render service to each other. The Church serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society. It can contribute to making people and history more human, opening up to people the meaning of their own existence. The Church can inject into modern society the force of its faith and love put into vital practice. The universality of the Church enables it to serve as a bond between diverse human communities. The Church respects all the true, good, and just elements found in human institutions, and Christians living and working in the world are bound to penetrate the world with a Christian spirit. The Church can and ought to be enriched by the development of human social life, and indeed the Church has profited richly by the history and development of humanity. Whoever works to better the world contributes to the Church as well.
The church as transforming leaven making the family of man and its history more human But church can be abundantly helped by the world, a help which she gains from the talents and industry of individuals and from human society as a whole She is a sacrament of unity, of Christ and the world, united in hearts and minds. 42.
Review of our journey so far Part I. The Church and the human vocation. Four headings: 1)The dignity of the human person. Image of God 2) The human community. Inter-dependence. 3) The activity of humanity in the world. Motives? 4) The Church's function in the world. Dialogue.
Structure (Part 2) Part 2: Some More Urgent Problems Preface (46) Chapter 1: The Dignity of Marriage and the Family (47-52) Chapter 2: Proper Development of Culture (53-62) Chapter 3: Economic and Social Life (63-72) Chapter 4: The Political Community (73-76) Chapter 5: Fostering Peace and Establishment of a Community of Nations (77-90) Conclusion: Role of Individual Christians and of Local Churches (91-93) 51
Stresses Marriage and family 5 paragraphs Culture and Society 9 Economics 9 Politics 3 War and peace 20.
Some Urgent Problems Marriage: move from contract to covenant of love and fruitfulness Culture: the cultivation of the goods and values of nature must serve the human person Economics: goal not profit but service. Workers have rights. End inequalities! Politics: involve all... for the Common Good. Peace: seek roots of war (injustice!)
e.g.
Some Weaknesses and Open Questions overly optimistic about progress too 60s not enough emphasis on evil and the effects of original sin? Women? 23 later after Cardinal Suenens remark ecological crisis not mentioned in fact, a perpetuation of some of the mentality causing it 56
Not perfect. Yet! Little attention is given in the document to environmental pollution, the depletion of non-renewable resources, and general environmental exploitation. The council fathers language concerning nature and the relation of humankind to nature is rather disturbing. Humanity should consolidate its control over creation (9), subject to himself the earth and all that it contains (34), subdue the earth (57), and hold increasing domination over nature (63) The council fathers seem oblivious both to the environmental problems already evident in the world and the impact of framing the human/nature relationship in terms of domination. (Lois Ann Lorentzen) 57
The Church of France goes green : Our humanity is in dire need of responsible and caring people, economists, engineers, lawyers and politicians, educators and farmers, artists, poets and mystics, reconciled with their condition to be children of the earth. The earth indeed needs real gardeners. September 15, 2012.
This French document is structured in three parts: (1) a theological reflection on the crisis, (2) its practical consequences, and (3) an outlook on its spiritual dimension. The objective thus is to question rather the heart of man instead of just analysing modern technology in its social results. Departing from such an analysis of the crisis, the reader may follow the theological approach successively by addressing the three fundamental aspects of our relationship: to time, to space, and to our neighbour the foreigner or the other. Faced with doom, Christians are called to find the right pace and relationship to time, and, by this way, to integrate themselves in a timeline that precedes us and goes beyond us. (p. 22) Instead of remaining captives of national interests, all people are called to invent new forms of global governance. Contrary to the tendency of domination of the nature and of the poorest, the current experience of fragility holds also a chance to rethink social interdependences, reciprocities, and to question our general conditions of living together.
Issues taken off the agenda by Paul VI divorce mixed marriages birth control 60
Gaudium et Spes.