Sermon Central
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Caritas In Veritate
Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 8, 2009 (message contributor)
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1. The Prophet
Contributed on Jul 8, 2009
There are prophets in every age speaking for God. In our age Pope Benedict has called us to look at Charity in Truth, and consider our responsibilities to the world economically.
Fifteenth Sunday in Course The Prophet July 12, 2009 All over the temperate zone, fruit from the varieties of fig and sycamore are ripening now, and so the Church gives us a reading from the migrant worker, Amos, the reluctant prophet. I call him a migrant worker because he engaged in ...read more
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2. Caritas In Veritate
Contributed on Jul 11, 2009
The Pope’s new encyclical fits well with the Exodus account of a people oppressed and needing growth and development, but enslaved by a culture of death.
Caritas in Veritate Monday of 15th week in Course July 13, 2009 It is providential, perhaps, that we have in today’s readings all the elements for talking about the role of faith in society. Here we have an oppressed people, enslaved by an unjust system, whose children are being ...read more
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3. The Embodiment Of God's Unremitting Love
Contributed on Jul 18, 2009
Jesus’s preaching differed from that of Jonah because Jonah prophesied judgement and vengeance, while Jesus embodied God’s unremitting love.
Monday of 16th Week in Course 20 July 2009 Caritas in Veritate Before continuing a commentary on the papal encyclical Love in Truth, let me spend a moment on this analogy to Jonah. Jesus is saying to these Jewish non-believers, in effect, “Jonah eventually got it, and you guys will never get ...read more
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4. Truth Liberates Charity
Contributed on Jul 25, 2009
Without truth, our charity degenerates into sentimentalism, and can be totally perverted into its opposite.
Monday of 17th week in Course July 27, 2009 Caritas in Veritate (3) Joachim Jeremias taught that the parables about the Church should be read holistically. For instance, Jesus would say, “The kingdom of God is like this situation: you plant the tiniest seed, and without your doing much, it ...read more
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5. Jesus Exemplifies Charity In Truth
Contributed on Aug 2, 2009
Charity in truth is not something we summon up from ourselves; it is a divine gift essential for true human development
Monday of 18th Week in Course Caritas in Veritate The occasion for Jesus’ withdrawal to a “lonely place” was the news that John the Baptist, his relative and mentor, had been murdered by Herod. Jesus was no coward, so we should think that this withdrawal was to achieve some time for His ...read more
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6. Charity, Truth And Health Care
Contributed on Aug 9, 2009
Charity in truth demands that we consider two moral criteria: justice and the common good. But truth must inform both.
Monday of 19th Week in Course August 10, 2009 Caritas in Veritate “Die to yourself” is a phrase that is no more popular today than in the first century. Jesus showed the way to this manifestation of charity in truth, by living for others during his earthly existence, and by dying on the cross ...read more
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7. Inconveniencing Ourselves For The Kingdom
Contributed on Aug 15, 2009
As the young man in the Gospel was challenged to be inconvenienced to follow Christ, so the challenge to facilitate human development may inconvenience us.
August 17, 2009 Caritas in Veritate The sure path to eternal life, to enjoying the presence of God continually even before we die, is to imitate Jesus and Mary. They–and Jesus, the source of grace, first of all–are the great examples of bringing the Good that is God into contact with a world ...read more
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8. Transcendent Vision Of The Human
Contributed on Aug 29, 2009
The push for homosexual marriage is a denial of the transcendent nature of man, who is called to union with God, and to marriage which images the union of God and the Church.
August 31, 2009 Monday of 22nd Week in Course Caritas in Veritate Without a transcendent vision of the human person, without the vital link to God, there can be no true human development. What development is planned is “entrusted exclusively to man, who falls into the trap of thinking he can ...read more
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9. Fear Not In Any Crisis
Contributed on Sep 5, 2009
In every crisis, whether a wind on the lake or concerns about our daily bread, the Master counsels "Fear not, I am with you."
September 7, 2009 Caritas in Veritate Labor Day As we continue our reflections on human development, the Scriptures and the papal documents again converge in this pair of readings we hear proclaimed each Labor Day. God gave a twin gift to the earth in the beginning–a mist to water the soil, ...read more
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10. The Vocation Of Human Development
Contributed on Sep 18, 2009
The vocation to human development comes from God, but prophetically also comes from those who are least developed; we must respond by sharing Christ with them or they are not fully developed.
Feast of St. Matthew Sept 21, 2009 Caritas in Veritate The call of St. Matthew is, in a sense, the call of every Christian. We have looked upon human development as a call to grow the entire human person, and the entire human family, toward its full meaning. This is an integrated development ...read more
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11. Profit, A Means, Not An End
Contributed on Sep 26, 2009
The attitude of a child is the attitude of knowing you are incomplete, and need to grow, to change, to take the risk to be wrong.
September 28, 2009 Caritas in Veritate The emphasis Jesus constantly puts on being childlike puzzled me until I read Carol Dweck’s great book Mindset. A child knows–perhaps without being able to articulate it–that she needs to change, learn and grow. A child knows his own incompleteness. As ...read more
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12. Promoting Authentic Human Development In An Outsourced World
Contributed on Oct 10, 2009
New social justice problems have emerged in recent years, straining systems of insurance and welfare. How shall we as Christians respond?
Monday of 28th week in course October 12, 2009 Caritas in Veritate The queen of the South and the men of Nineveh will rise up and condemn the generation of pharisees for not believing in Jesus. At the end of time, they will also condemn the pharisees of our day for not believing in Jesus or ...read more
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13. The North American Martyrs And Cultural Relativism
Contributed on Oct 17, 2009
Proper cultural exchange among nations is even more important than economic; we must have profound respect for the whole human person when cultures interact.
October 19, 2009 The North American Martyrs Caritas in Veritate The coincidence of the Feast of the North American Martyrs with article 26 of Pope Benedict’s encyclical brings to mind an historical reality connected with the European settlement of America. During the sixteenth and seventeenth ...read more
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14. Come Back Tomorrow
Contributed on Oct 25, 2009
The problem of hunger in our world is mostly a matter of people like the synagogue official who would turn away the blind and lame from the healing power of Jesus.
October 26, 2009 Caritas in Veritate There are many meanings to what St. Paul calls “living by the flesh,” and some tie in most wonderfully with today’s Gospel and the Pope’s latest encyclical. We have considered one over the past few weeks–the idea that human development is most importantly ...read more
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15. The Day Of The Dead, Not The Day Of Death
Contributed on Oct 31, 2009
As Christ gave Himself when we were still sinners, so we must give ourself over to the service of life and the protection of life as the key to authentic human development
November 2, 2009 All Souls Day Caritas in Veritate When God, at the exactly perfect moment in human history, wanted to take man’s development to the final level, He did so, and continues to do so, by a selfless act of gift. While we were yet sinners he came to us, became one of us, and died ...read more
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16. The Horror Of Violence
Contributed on Nov 7, 2009
Jesus was, in fact, nonviolent, even when he used force to expel the merchants who desecrated the Temple. Violence is incompatible with human development.
Feast of Dedication of St. John Lateran November 9, 2009 Let’s confront a misconception about today’s Gospel, and that has to do with Jesus and violence. What Jesus did to the moneychangers and pigeon salesmen who had coopted the Court of the Gentiles was to clean them out. He used force to ...read more
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17. Admitting Our Blindness In Human Development
Contributed on Nov 14, 2009
Jesus can act as Messiah when He is approached by humans who admit their blindness, weakness and sin; so we must admit decades of blindness in our human development policies.
November 16, 2009 Caritas in Veritate “Deeds without knowledge are blind, and knowledge without love is sterile.” As Luke portrays Jesus making his pilgrimage to the Holy City whose inhabitants will murder him, He finally responds to one who is publicly calling him The Messiah–Son of David. ...read more
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18. Building A Culture With A Long-Term Charitable Viewpoint
Contributed on Nov 21, 2009
We have a duty in charity to address issues of massive disparities in economic development and incomes.
November 23, 2009 Bl Miguel Pro Caritas in Veritate The Old Testament had particular contempt for those who oppressed widows and orphans. In a male-dominated society, where women were almost like property rather than equal partners in a marriage, being a widow, particularly a childless one, ...read more
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19. The Astonishing Experience Of Gift
Contributed on Dec 5, 2009
Mary is the opposite of Eve, totally open to the plan of God as Eve was closed in, and thus she was able to accept the Greatest Gift, Jesus Christ.
Immaculate Conception December 7-8, 2009 Caritas in Veritate “Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift.” (CV 34) These words of Pope Benedict from the encyclical begin a new section that is incredibly appropriate for the solemnity we celebrate today, the patronal ...read more
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20. We Can’t Make Up The Truth
Contributed on Dec 12, 2009
Truth is neither planned, nor willed. It imposes itself on human beings.
December 14, 2009 St. John of the Cross Caritas in Veritate The conversation we overhear today between the chief priests and the elders is very instructive as we continue to reflect on the papal encyclical, Charity in Truth. When Jesus asks them whether John’s teaching was divinely inspired ...read more
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21. The Conscience Of An Economy
Contributed on Dec 19, 2009
Not only commutative, but distributive and social justice must be part of development for the Christian
December 21, 2009 Caritas in Veritate There’s a great deal of jumping around in this week’s Scriptures, excitement not unlike that of children who are out of school for the week before Christmas. In fact, there are two different OT readings we can use today, and they both are full of ADHD ...read more
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22. Ethics Must Be Integrated Into Economic Activity
Contributed on Dec 26, 2009
Just as the action of Herod and of abortionists shows the divorce of economics and ethics, so we must reintegrate ethics into economic activity, if we are to reclaim society for Christ
December 28, 2009 Feast of the Holy Innocents Caritas in Veritate The timeliness of the Pope’s encyclical, Charity in Truth, and its match to our Monday Scriptures is truly remarkable. Aristotle, himself an unbeliever, used mere reason to arrive at some remarkable truths. One of them is that ...read more
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23. Every Economic Decision Has Moral Consequences
Contributed on Jan 2, 2010
Our history shows the truth of the statement, every economic decision has moral consequences
January 4 2010 Caritas in Veritate St Elizabeth Ann Seton Yes, things are pretty bad today. But they could get worse, and today’s celebration and readings remind us that they have been worse. Jesus knew, with the arrest of John the Baptist, that time was short. He began urgently to preach ...read more
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24. The Essential Character Of Gift In Relationships
Contributed on Jan 9, 2010
Whether in a family or in society, there must be room for gracious gift, not just equal value exchange, even for the sake of justice.
January 10, 2010 Caritas in Veritate We can only imagine the look that poor Hannah gave Elkanah after he said “why are you crying. Am I not worth more to you than ten sons?” In Israel, as in many cultures today, having a son is economic security in old age. The sons had ...read more
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25. A Company's Obligation
Contributed on Jan 16, 2010
A company has more social obligation than to make a profit.
January 18, 2010 Caritas in Veritate "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as ...read more
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26. Globalization Guided By Charity In Truth
Contributed on Jan 23, 2010
Globalization is neither inevitable nor evil,but must be guided by charity in truth
Conversion of St. Paul January 25, 2010 Caritas in Veritate Today’s feast of the Conversion of St. Paul also concludes the week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Scriptures remind us that nothing is impossible for God. The great persecutor of Christians becomes the Apostle to the ...read more
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27. Our Rights And Duties
Contributed on Jan 30, 2010
Rights presuppose duties, if they are not mere license; without this understanding, human development is over.
February 1, 2010 Caritas in Veritate The people of Gerasa had no desire for Jesus to hang in their territory one moment longer. He seriously disturbed the status quo ante by exorcising the evil spirits who had kept the emotionally disturbed man–Matthew says there were two of ...read more
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28. Populations And Human Development
Contributed on Feb 6, 2010
When governments try to help the family, both family and society seem to go into decline. Our task is to restore young peoples' yearning for forming natural families.
February 8, 2010 Caritas in Veritate St Jerome Emiliani It is very likely that one of the motivations behind Solomon’s building of the Jerusalem temple was a desire to make the Lord the personal god of the Davidic dynasty. After all, the Temple was just next door to the palace. ...read more
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29. The Centrality Of The Human Person In Development
Contributed on Feb 20, 2010
We cannot ever forget that when we are planning any project, large or small, for development, that the whole person's development is the target.
February 22, 2010 Chair of St Peter Caritas in Veritate When Pope John XXIII released his encyclical Mater et Magistra, a letter that critiqued both socialism and unfettered capitalism, the late William Buckley, who rejected much of the Church’s social doctrine, famously wrote ...read more
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30. Environment And Responsibility To God
Contributed on Feb 27, 2010
We are stewards of our natural creation, and this implies a responsibility for it to our God.
March 1, 2010 Monday of 2nd Week of Lent Caritas in Veritate The prophet Daniel, speaking in a place of exile, rightly places the blame for all human ills on human sin.. God is all mercy and compassion. We are, in our fallen existence, eager to judge the faults of others and lax in our ...read more