October 19, 2025 - Pastor Message
October 20, 2025JUBILEE 2025 GAUDIUM ET SPES (cont.)
JUBILEE 2025
GAUDIUM ET SPES (cont.)
“Jesus prayed: ‘I pray not only for my disciples, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:20-23).
A fundamental principle of Gaudium et Spes (GS) and its teachings on morality is that human beings are made to be one. That is the North Star of human morality, shining from the greatest commandment: “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). The reason the love of God and love of neighbor are one is because we can’t do one without the other, as we read in the first letter of John: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother” (1 John 4:20-21).
The goal of human relationships, and therefore human life, is to be one with one another. We are drawn to this unity by our very nature, as we discussed in last week’s column on the first creation story of Genesis. GS reflects on how the advances of modern technology and society have enabled this unity in ways previously unimaginable, especially through the advancement of communication technology and means of transportation. This trend has only increased since 1965, when GS was promulgated, by the advent of the internet age.
We are more connected now than human beings have ever been, yet we find ourselves more divided than ever. The promise of modern technology has not been realized because we have not addressed the fundamental problem - sin. This carries over into all human relationships, as individuals and as communities, states, and countries. No matter how many technological advances we make, until we address the cancer at the root, they will all be infected with sin and division. Communication technology will be used to tear down people and destroy communities instead of building people up and building genuine relationships. Medical science will be used to mutilate people, kill the innocent, and create biological weapons rather than heal the sick and cure diseases. Math and physics will be used to create ever more devastating tools of death rather than hospitals, schools, and churches. Human beings will not be one until we overcome the source of all division, sin, by the grace of the one who makes us one, Christ, and apply that to our daily lives. That is the foundation of Christian morality, and it takes shape on the social level in the basic principles of Catholic social teaching, which we will discuss in next week’s column.
-
Current News