The Common Prosperity 

By 

Robert John Colon

 

  1. With the 2006 Election Day behind us, it might be good to think about what Election Day really is about. Isn’t Election Day in the United States of America, at least in part, about government? But what is government about? The II Vatican Council’s Declaration Dignitatis Humanae says, “the function of government is to make provision for the common welfare.” (1) One may use the words “good” or “prosperity” in place of the word “welfare”.

 

  1. What is meant by “the common welfare” (or “the common good” or “the common prosperity”)? The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “By the common good is meant the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment” (2). The Catechism of the Catholic Church itself presents some essential elements that the common good consists of (3); the Catechism’s discussion of these elements, you might say, is summarized in this statement of the Compendium: “The common good involves: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person, the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of persons and society, and the peace and security of all.” (4)

 

  1. The Compendium says: “The most complete realization of the common good is found in those political communities which defend and promote the good of their citizens and of intermediate groups without forgetting the universal good of the entire human family.” (5) In the words of Pope Benedict XVI’s first Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, “Politics is more than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of public life: its origin and its goal are found in justice, which by its very nature has to do with ethics…. what is justice? The problem is one of practical reason; but if reason is to be exercised properly, it must undergo constant purification, since it can never be completely free of the danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests. Here politics and faith meet. Faith by its specific nature is an encounter with the living God—an encounter opening up new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason. But it is also a purifying force for reason itself” (6). Pope Benedict XVI also said: “A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply” (7).
  2. And the common good involves respect for the basic rights of the person. John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici says: “Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if… the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination” (8). The most basic right is the right to life. Father Frank Pavone’s book Voting with a Clear Conscience says: “A call for human rights while claiming authority to take away the most basic right – life – from unborn children is ‘false and illusory’ precisely because if government can take away rights from some humans, then those rights aren’t human rights at all” (9).
  3. Participation in bringing about the common prosperity might include times of difficulty. “All men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work” (10). There might be many sacrifices in participation in bringing about the common prosperity. You might say that bringing about the common prosperity includes preferring not only one’s own prosperity, but also the prosperity – the good – of others.
  4. Let us draw near to God. We might hear that many times, but can that exhortation ever be bad? Let us also turn to Mary. “Outstanding among the saints is Mary, Mother of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. In” Luke’s Gospel “we find her engaged in a service of charity to her cousin Elizabeth, with whom she remained for ‘about three months’ (1:56) so as to assist her in the final phase of her pregnancy. ‘Magnificat anima mea Dominum’, she says on the occasion of that visit, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord’ (Lk 1:46). In these words she expresses her whole programme of life: not setting herself at the centre, but leaving space for God, who is encountered both in prayer and in service of neighbour—only then does goodness enter the world. Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself…. She knows that she will only contribute to the salvation of the world if, rather than carrying out her own projects, she places herself completely at the disposal of God's initiatives” (11).
  5. May Mary, “Mother of divine grace” (12), make us willing to not become discouraged by our own weaknesses, but help us to renew our commitment to helping with bringing about the common prosperity.

 

First completed on November 21, 2006, the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

NOTES

 

 

(1)     Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, Promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI, December 7, 1965, number 3, (http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html).

(2)     Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 407, (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana) (http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Human%20Community).

(3)     See Catechism of the Catholic Church, numbers 1906-1909.

(4)     Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 408, (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana) (http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Human%20Community).

(5)     Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 409, (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana) (http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Human%20Community).

(6)     Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, number 28, 25 December 2005, (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html) (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

(7)     Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, number 28, 25 December 2005, (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html) (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

(8)     John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici, number 38, December 30, 1988, (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici_en.html) (Copyright, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

(9)     Father Frank Pavone, Voting with a Clear Conscience, page 11, (2006), see www.PriestsForLife.org.

(10) Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 410, ( Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana) (http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Human%20Community).

(11) Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, number 41, 25 December 2005, (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html) (Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

(12) Litany of Loreto