Nyll Gabrylle R.

Gascon BSA-5th year

"We have created new idols, "the worship of the golden calf of old "has found
a new and heartless image in the cult of money "and the dictatorship of an economy
that is faceless "and lacking in any truly humane goal." This are some of the strong
lines Pope Francis said about sin from our current economy.

Sins from acquiring, using, and perspective of wealth affects me as a person,

in society, and in my work/studies. In my everyday life, there is temptation to
acquire, use, and view the idea of wealth, specifically money, in sinful, misdirected
ways. First, I have sinned in the way I acquired wealth by disobeying the eighth
commandment “You shall not steal.” Second, I have also sinned in my use of wealth,
by hoarding material things for myself rather than sharing it with others. And lastly,
I have considered material things as ultimate rather than God.

My sins concerning material things still continue today. Yet Jesus Christ’s
redemption through the cross altered everything. I, through social teachings, have
been liberated to redirect my life wholly towards Jesus Christ. In the acquisition of
money, I want to work morally and legally to earn the things I need and want, and
to make sure that my labor is always done to present to spirituality of work. In
the use of my wealth, I should consider my material possessions as ultimately God’s
possessions and have an attitude of gratitude towards God, who is the provider of
those things. I should be generous and thoughtful to those who have little, especially
those who are unable to provide their basic needs for themselves. I should not allow
wealth to cause separations to my faith and the church, and I should not exhibit
preference towards material things. In my view of money and material possessions,
I should never consider this things as the ultimate end or, because only God and his
followers are the ultimate end of all things.

As a Catholic, my perspective sees what the economy is supposed to do, it is

ferociously frustrating to see the reverse of its purpose because it's not including the
marginalized. There are people who are left out and don't have sustenance, the
economy is killing them. So how do we combat these structures of sin that are so
endemic and entrenched that makes it difficult and much bigger than any one of us. A
notion which comes from John Paul II is that solidarity is the anecdote to structures
of sin. By joining in solidarity with others, we are able to combat sinful structures,
or common bads, and build the common good. This notion that institutions will be
infected by sin, by greed and particularly the thirst for power. Practicing solidarity
means serving the common good and this then allows us to acknowledge our
intertwining with one another, to take up responsibility for those connections and do
what we can in our circumstances to make these interdependencies just and life-
giving. When we do that, we begin to become part of the forces that continue to build
rather than simply be complicit in these dynamic negative structures.

Catholic social documents like the encyclicals Sollicitudo rei socialis, Humane
Vitae, and Gaudium et Spes, sounds the theme of solidarity, We should start moving
from solidarity talk to solidarity walk with others in building up the common good.
John Paul II does develop this more conceptually, in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis in
particular, and then finds, this notion of solidarity into official Catholic teaching of
Gaudium et Spes. "The joys, the hopes, the griefs, and the anguish," in this
translation, "of the people of our time, "especially those who are poor, "are the joys,
the hopes, the griefs, and anguish "of the followers of Christ." In these lines, we get
highlighted in the rich empathetic terms of the fact that the value, and the
corresponding responsibility for action that the term solidarity actually embraces. The
fact is we are connected with our neighbors and indeed the whole human race is
connected, the value in recognizing from the heart these shared bonds and
interdependencies and choosing to take responsibility for and within them when you
say your anguish is my anguish, your grief is my grief, your hope is my hope, your
joy is my joy.

This modern Catholic social teaching tell us about economic solidarity,

especially those of us who are materially gifted. What is the purpose of the economy?
It is supposed to produce and make accessible sufficiency for all members. The notion
of sufficiency is the key, bet we lost ability to know when we have enough. I've been
cultivated in a culture that tells me I never have enough, maybe I should be saving
more, maybe an emergency will come up, and so forth. The modern economy is built
on the idea of more, newer, better and there's a lot of good things about that, but it
erodes our ability to think in terms of ample sufficiency for ourselves. We should
realize, that the earth's material resources are put here by God in ways that are
meant to sustain everyone and that means material acquisition and ownership, which
are good and useful, are also limited rights.

Work is a big focus in Catholic thought. Work has dignity. Everyone has the
right to a livelihood through work, normally, there are people that can't do that. It's
about sufficiency, security, and status through our work, which means enough to
have sufficiency for your family and yourself, security against old age and sickness,
status, voice, shares in ownership, shares in running of the workplace. Everything
besides people and people's work is instrumental in the economy from this point of
view to this provisioning purpose of people. To use Gaudium et Spes, everything
including business, corporations, investment, private property, it's all good, but all of
the should be tools for the wellbeing of others.

We have to understand what economic solidarity is and what it’s actually doing
on the most probative forms of scientific, economic and business policy and analysis.
We need to figure out how is it to live a life of Psalm 23 and still take care of our
family and so forth. We also need to pray, as the pope says, contemplate, take time
and space to rest, to be grateful and be at peace, as he says so beautifully in Laudato
Si, while being issued a daunting but bracing challenge, to wake up, join with others,
and work to enact with and to institutionalize intelligent and compassionate solidarity
within our particular circumstances and according to our specific vocations. Every one
of us here is different, a distinct one, family, business, civic life and community.
Again, it's a journey that's long, it's a journey that's best taken together.