Gaudium et Spes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I haven't been blogging recently because I've been sort of overwhelmed by the state of the world, the worries of the financial crisis with the threat of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/03\/gaudium-et-spes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gaudium et Spes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I haven't been blogging recently because I've been sort of overwhelmed by the state of the world, the worries of the financial crisis with the threat of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/03\/gaudium-et-spes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. 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<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve also been discouraged by my own complacency and corruption. The solutions seem so simple, and yet not easy. If we could all simply follow the precepts of the Christian faith: strive to love God. Strive to love others. Strive to be conformed to the image of Christ by God\u2019s grace. It really would solve everything.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Then in today\u2019s readings I came across this from Gaudium et Spes:\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/span>Holy Scripture, with which the experience of the ages is in agreement, teaches the human family that human progress, though it is a great blessing for man, brings with it a great temptation. When the scale of values is disturbed and evil becomes mixed with good, individuals and groups consider only their own interests, not those of others.
<\/span>The result is that the world is not yet a home of true brotherhood, while the increased power of mankind already threatens to destroy the human race itself.
<\/span>If it is asked how this unhappy state of affairs can be set right, Christians state their belief that all human activity, in daily jeopardy through pride and inordinate self-love, is to find its purification and its perfection in the cross and resurrection of Christ.
<\/span>Man, redeemed by Christ and made a new creation in the Holy Spirit, can and must love the very things created by God. For he receives them from God, and sees and reveres them as coming from the hand of God,
<\/span>As he gives thanks for them to his Benefactor, and uses and enjoys them in a spirit of poverty and freedom, he enters into true possession of the world, as one having nothing and possessing all things. For \u201call things are yours, and you are Christ\u2019s, and Christ is God\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t been blogging recently because I\u2019ve been sort of overwhelmed by the state of the world, the worries of the financial crisis with the threat of civil unrest and possible war. Combined with this I have been discouraged by the complacency and corruption of Christians in the face of evil. We are all so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGaudium et Spes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I haven't been blogging recently because I've been sort of overwhelmed by the state of the world, the worries of the financial crisis with the threat of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/03\/gaudium-et-spes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gaudium et Spes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I haven't been blogging recently because I've been sort of overwhelmed by the state of the world, the worries of the financial crisis with the threat of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/03\/gaudium-et-spes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. 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