On coming into the world, [people are] not equipped with everything [they need] for developing [their] bodily and spiritual life. [They need] others. Differences appear tied to age, physical abilities, intellectual or moral aptitudes, the benefits derived from social commerce, and the distribution of wealth. The “talents” are not distributed equally.
These differences belong to God’s plan, who wills that each receive what [they need] from others, and that those endowed with particular “talents” share the benefits with those who need them. These differences encourage and often oblige persons to practice generosity, kindness, and sharing of goods; they foster the mutual enrichment of cultures:
Vaticana, Libreria Editrice. Catechism of the Catholic Church . United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Kindle Edition. Paragraph 1936, 1937
“I distribute the virtues quite diversely; I do not give all of them to each person, but some to one, some to others…. I shall give principally charity to one; justice to another; humility to this one, a living faith to that one…. And so I have given many gifts and graces, both spiritual and temporal, with such diversity that I have not given everything to one single person, so that you may be constrained to practice charity towards one another…. I have willed that one should need another and that all should be my ministers in distributing the graces and gifts they have received from me.”
Hear this, Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals.
Can we hold these thoughts in our minds long enough to dislodge the knee-jerk hate responses we have been conditioned to use and excuse, time and again?
Can we be born anew?
Grace and peace to us all…
dw
p.s. This is the 11th in a series of recent posts on what the Catholic Catechism has to say about social justice.
becoming flame 