Opening comment- from Fr Z’s blog:

“The Pope isn’t endorsing any system. He is speaking in generalities. Greed and corruption can effect any economic system. A free-market can, in fact, not result in a betterment of the lot of the poor on its own.

And there is no such thing as an “unfettered” free market. Nor should there be. There must be rule of law.

People who are active in the free market must take responsibility to make sure that the benefits do trickle down.

I think Pope Francis is overly negative in his view that the glass will grow bigger so that nothing can get out of it. Something is going to get out. Again, I suspect that the Holy Father has a limited perspective: the disaster that is Argentina, indeed South America. [Italics mine;exactly what i pointed out in Part I;I also want to point out we need to be careful of various translations.Some have been poor,some better than others. One or two words mistranslated can change meaning altogether.]

I call to mind what Andrew Napolitano said in his mostly negative reaction to Evangelii gaudium: the Pope is frustrated (and thus attacks capitalism) because the poor aren’t getting rich quickly enough.

I respond that, if people acting in the free market act with a view for the poor, the trickle can be far far greater, far far swifter.

I prefer to understand this to be the Pope’s main point when he comments on “trickle down” economics.

Bottom line, Francis is right… a free market will not on its own solve problems. Still, the fact remains that a free market model is the worst model we could adopt to help the poor, except for all the rest. [Bingo Fr Z]

I hope that when conservatives out there write about the Pope’s views they will weigh also the main point: por si’ mismo… di per se… by itself.”

via Fr. Z’s Blog | Once named: What Does The Prayer Really Say? – Commentary on Catholic issues & slavishly accurate liturgical translations – by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬).

For a minute we’ll take a look at scripture regarding labor.St Paul, the apostle, admonished the community at Thessolonia:

2 Thessalonians 3:10

“We instruct you, brothers, in the name of [our] Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.*
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For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
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nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.d
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Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.e
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In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.f
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We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.g
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Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.”

The community expected the parousia(Second Coming)to be imminent. We can read it in that context. 

The Catechism of Catholic Church addresses it by citing the 7th commandment,thou shalt not steal.

Pope Francis is not speaking to the political order.The Church is neither Democrat or Republican. She’s not Marxist or Capitalist. Her Concern is what is ordered to the sovereign Good.

2401 The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one’s neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this world’s goods to God and to fraternal charity.

2420 The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, “when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.”²⁰⁰ In the moral order she bears a mission distinct from that of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign Good, our ultimate end. She strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and in socio-economic relationships.

 

PART III on Wed.

St. David, king, prophet, sinner, penitent – 16 or 29 Dec?.

Obamacare, your taxes, and “gender reassignment” surgery. Fr. Z rants a little..

Here goes my .02 worth-been on my mind for some time especially since mr class warfare became Potus. More so,since the exhortation from Pope Francis,Evangelii Gaudium.

A heads up. By the standards of the US Government we’re considered poor.Although most people (note:I said most,not all)in the United States have no idea what poverty is.Perhaps Pope Francis view of poverty is shaped by the standards in his own country.

A second heads up. Consider myself an independent conservative who generally votes Republican.I know,the poor are not supposed to vote for those greedy uncaring rich people.Liberals panic over a Republican getting elected.They’ll cut off social security,welfare,food stamps,medicare,housing and worse yet(ala Obama and Sandra Fluke)they’ll take away my chance at free birth control. Something that Planned Parenthood provides and can be found in any drug store.They’ll throw grandma over a cliff too. No worry.Obamacare will do that for them.

Let me sum up the liberal(progressive) mindset. 1.It’s hedonistic. A failure to recognize that behavior has consequences. 2. Their vision is a UTOPIA that the state will create through programs. Government is synonymous with charity. Utopia is the greek word for “Not Place” that is, no place.It is what St Thomas More meant when he wrote Utopia.A UTOPIAN world is not possible;not here.Christianity has it right;it’s in heaven.Utopia fits in perfectly with the liberal mindset though.

The Democrats believe government social programs will solve all the world’s ills.Look no further than the city Obama claimed to save-Detroit. Look closely because your city could be next. IMHO the economy of the United States is hanging by a thread and could collapse.

 

The rich that Obama targets are the people who provide jobs.They can be generous. They can contribute to charities. They’re people who invested their savings and hard work into creating those companies.Some of them even started out poor and worked their way up. Are some of the rich greedy? Yep. Are some of them corrupt? Yep. Are some of them hedonistic too? Sure.

The only rich Obama doesn’t target are the Hollywood elite.The majority are hedonistic and liberal. Can they be greedy and self centered? Sure. Case in point;no names mentioned but there’s one who is single and lives in this huge mansion with a zillion rooms.I’ve seen it and think to myself.One person needs THAT many rooms to live comfortably? What line of work is it they do that’s worth that much money?

(Ironically they’re the first to throw stones at the Republicans.)
The people who get the short end of the stick are the middle class.They’re the working folks.The one’s with the burden to provide for the folks who get all those social programs.

Let’s look at the poor in our country. Are there people who are disadvantaged and can’t work? You bet. Are there people who truly need the help? Yep.Are there people who game the system.Yep. Are there people who are thrown into the lower class by unacceptable behavior? Drugs,alcohol,gangs, lack of education,unwed mothers and irresponsible fathers?  Definitely and liberal policies have supported it.

If the rich can be greedy,the poor can be envious.I believe Pope Francis used the term ‘unbridled consumerism.’

From a Catholic perspective, have an answer.First we need to BE Catholic. Not Republican or Democrat(Progressive). Catholic FIRST.We also need to get through to liberals that the Pope NEVER used the term income inequality. Give credit to Obama for that one.

Pope Francis,nor the Church,is a cheer leader for Marxism or Capitalism.She’s a cheerleader for the Gospel. The call to take care of the truly less fortunate goes out to each and every person. The liberals even co-opted the term social justice. It’s no wonder people jumped up and used the word Marxist. Jesus didn’t come with an army.He didn’t try to topple the Roman government  through political maneuvering and establishing an earthly Kingdom. Many of the people who heard Him teach were disillusioned because He did not live up to their expectations of what the Messiah would be.I don’t recall Him teaching that being rich was a sin. He said it would be difficult for them to enter heaven because of the obstacles worldly belongings could put in the way. He even called on the rich young man to give to the poor then follow Him.It’s called detachment. It means having one’s priorities in order and putting God first.

Mother Therese said it well,

“I was surprised in the West to see so many boys and girls given to drugs. And I tried to find out why. Why is it like that when those in the West have so many more things than those in the East? And the answer was: “Because there was no one in the family to receive them.”

She then spoke truth to power here:

“But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?…Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.”

The answer for our country? A just and MORAL society.Maybe that’s the message of Pope Francis.Does it mean we will have 100% employment.Unreasonable.Of course not.Nobody believes that. Remember,utopia means not place. Will some of the rich continue to be greedy and some of the poor envious? Probably. Let’s not become so corrupt it creeps into our country top to bottom.

What happens when law is not based on moral or natural law? You get this:

“When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.” ~ GK Chesterton.

What? GK Chesterton was familiar with a  Mayor Bloomberg? He foresaw Barrack Obama?

Peter Kreeft summed it up for us Catholics,

“And even if polls show a large percentage of Catholics disagrees with the Church’s teaching, in belief and in practice, on this (sexual morality) or any other issue, God does not change his mind to conform to opinion polls. We did NOT elect Him to be God, and we cannot vote Him out of the office.”

Yes,I’m fine with a liberal discussing scripture and Jesus teaching on charity.PLS,if you’re a liberal about  to discuss Jesus teachings on charity at least accept He meant love and He didn’t mean #loveislove. He meant treating everyone as they were created in the image and likeness of God.

PART I.[PART II what the Church means by social justice including Fr Z’s comments on Pope Francis.]

they used this at her wedding and i requested it for her funeral.One of  my favorites also.

Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria (Latin)