|
Live Simply
Fr Mark White CP, a member of the English National
Service Committee for Catholic Charismatic Renewal, reflects on the
ground breaking document Populorum Progressio, which this coming year
celebrates its 40th anniversary.
|
|
|
And 2007 is special for another reason because it marks another very important anniversary. Forty years ago, in March 1967, Pope Paul VI published an amazing encyclical of Catholic Social Teaching called “Populorum Progressio” (On the Progress of Peoples). Is it mere coincidence that two such important manifestations of the Holy Spirit should have occurred in the same year, within a month of each other? Surely not! For both, in their very different ways are a call to all Christians to wake up and co-operate with the Spirit who is ceaselessly seeking to renew the face of the earth. And we in renewal must never forget what the Synod of Bishops was to say in 1972: that “work for Justice is a constitutive element of the preaching of the Gospel.” And Pope Paul has important things to say about Prayer and Social Justice in this encyclical. “Call to look hard at our Lifestyle” So how is the anniversary of Populorum Progressio being celebrated? A network of many Catholic agencies, including CAFOD, Catholic Youth Services, the Justice and Peace movement and Charismatic Renewal has been meeting for some time now in order to make the most of the coming anniversary. The theme for the year-long project, to be launched in Advent this year, is “livesimply” calling all of us to look hard at our lifestyles and to choose to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor. They are hoping that with the materials for parish use, the conferences and the liturgical celebrations they are planning, there will be a rebirth of interest in the magnificent treasury of Catholic Social Teaching which has so much to offer the Church and the world. And there is such a need for this teaching to be heard in the world of today! It will be a great challenge to all of us in charismatic renewal to listen to this great body of teaching and allow it to shape our lives and , where necessary, change our lifestyles. What about the content of the encyclical? The first thing to say is: get hold of a copy and read it. A new edition will soon be available. Prepare yourselves to be challenged!! It contains some very radical and far-reaching ideas, many of which, in the light of recent history, can be seen to have been truly prophetic. And in some ways it is sad to say that the vast majority of its content is as valid today as it was 40 years ago when it was written: we can be so slow to heed the message of God! “Riches of the World to be shared by all” The fundamental themes of the encyclical are that the progress of all peoples from poverty, misery, disease and ignorance is part of God’s plan for all humanity; that the enormous riches of the world have been given by God to be shared by all; and that, if the world is to have a future at all, it will only come about if the basic rights and dignity of every human being no matter what their country or creed are respected and nurtured. The need for the solidarity of the whole human race comes up time and again. And, as other commentators have pointed out, we live in an interdependent world: we can all ultimately prosper only if the prosperity of all people is our aim. To put it very simply: we are coming to see that we will all either sink together or swim together. “Free trade assumptions challenged” Much is said in the encyclical about a fair distribution of the world’s resources, about fair trading and and a just handling of the issue of international debt. Pope Paul warns against the danger of the rich growing richer and the poor poorer. He speaks of his own shattering experience of seeing poverty at first hand in his visit to India. And he is not afraid to call into question the whole system of so-called “free-trade” that is the basis of commercial life in the Western world. He writes in paragraph 58: “The rule of free trade, taken by itself, is no longer able to govern international relations……when economic conditions differ too widely from country to country.” This is because free trade always benefits the richer countries to the detriment of the poor countries. The Pope repeats at the end of the same paragraph: It is the fundamental principle of “liberalism” (we would say: capitalism or free-trade), as the rule for commercial exchange, which is questioned here.” He thus challenges a very basic aspect of our Western way of life and asks the peoples of the world: how much longer can we tolerate the widening gap between the rich and the poor? The encyclical is about more than physical poverty but let us look briefly at two more paragraphs on the theme: in paragraph 51 he reminds us that, on his visit to Bombay (Mumbai) he “called for a great World Fund, to be made up of part of the money spent on arms.” And in paragraph 53 we hear this impassioned plea: When so many people are hungry, when so many families suffer destitution….when so many schools, hospitals and homes worthy of the name remain to be built, all public and private squandering of wealth, all expenditure prompted by motives of national or personal ostentation, every exhausting arms race, becomes an intolerable scandal. We are conscious of our duty to denounce it. Would that those in authority listened to our words before it is too late!” Would we not all want to cry out AMEN to that??? The Pope speaks so eloquently about the scandal of the gap between rich and poor. But he is at pains to stress that the elimination of material poverty is only a beginning. He has his sights set on the full flourishing of the human person, both as an individual and as a member of a healthy society: the progress of peoples involves their economic progress, certainly. But it must go beyond that. It must create the conditions in which all peoples can live in true freedom, enjoying the liberty of the children of God. The true progress of peoples must mean that the image of God in which we were all created will be able to shine out ever more brightly. It will bear witness to what St. Paul says in Romans Ch. 8: “The whole creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God.” An article like this can only hope to give a flavour of the great encyclical. Look out for the launch of the “livesimply” parish materials in Advent and really take the essential message to heart. We are called to live simply so that others may simply live. Further information from the project co-ordinator: Mark Woods, Christian Education Centre, 4, Southgate Drive, CRAWLEY RH 10 6RP. Tel: 01293 541334 email: mark@livesimply.org.uk Website: www.livesimply.org.uk
|
|
||
 |
We
readers of Good News are looking forward to a very important anniversary
next year: in February it will be 40 years since the beginning of the
great outpouring of Pentecostal grace in the Catholic Church which we
call Charismatic Renewal. We will mark this anniversary with all sorts
of celebrations and pray that the grace of renewal will touch us even
more deeply. It will make 2007 a special year for us.