78. Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who
he is. In the face of the enormous problems surrounding the development of
peoples, which almost make us yield to discouragement, we find solace in the
sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ, who teaches us: “Apart from me you can do
nothing” (Jn 15:5) and then encourages us: “I am with you always, to the
close of the age” (Mt 28:20). As we contemplate the vast amount of work
to be done, we are sustained by our faith that God is present alongside those
who come together in his name to work for justice. Paul VI recalled in
Populorum Progressio that man cannot bring about his own progress unaided,
because by himself he cannot establish an authentic humanism. Only if we are
aware of our calling, as individuals and as a community, to be part of God's
family as his sons and daughters, will we be able to generate a new vision and
muster new energy in the service of a truly integral humanism. The greatest
service to development, then, is a Christian humanism[157] that
enkindles charity and takes its lead from truth, accepting both as a lasting
gift from God. Openness to God makes us open towards our brothers and sisters
and towards an understanding of life as a joyful task to be accomplished in a
spirit of solidarity. On the other hand, ideological rejection of God and an
atheism of indifference, oblivious to the Creator and at risk of becoming
equally oblivious to human values, constitute some of the chief obstacles to
development today. A humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism.
Only a humanism open to the Absolute can guide us in the promotion and building
of forms of social and civic life — structures, institutions, culture and
ethos — without exposing us to the risk of becoming ensnared by the fashions
of the moment. Awareness of God's undying love sustains us in our laborious and
stimulating work for justice and the development of peoples, amid successes and
failures, in the ceaseless pursuit of a just ordering of human affairs. God's
love calls us to move beyond the limited and the ephemeral, it gives us the
courage to continue seeking and working for the benefit of all, even if this
cannot be achieved immediately and if what we are able to achieve, alongside
political authorities and those working in the field of economics, is always
less than we might wish[158]. God gives us the strength to fight and to
suffer for love of the common good, because he is our All, our greatest hope.
79. Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in
prayer, Christians moved by the knowledge that truth-filled love, caritas in
veritate, from which authentic development proceeds, is not produced by us,
but given to us. For this reason, even in the most difficult and complex times,
besides recognizing what is happening, we must above all else turn to God's
love. Development requires attention to the spiritual life, a serious
consideration of the experiences of trust in God, spiritual fellowship in
Christ, reliance upon God's providence and mercy, love and forgiveness,
self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace. All this is essential if
“hearts of stone” are to be transformed into “hearts of flesh” (Ezek
36:26), rendering life on earth “divine” and thus more worthy of humanity. All
this is of man, because man is the subject of his own existence; and at
the same time it is of God, because God is at the beginning and end of
all that is good, all that leads to salvation: “the world or life or death or
the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ's; and Christ is
God's” (1 Cor 3:22-23). Christians long for the entire human family to
call upon God as “Our Father!” In union with the only-begotten Son, may all
people learn to pray to the Father and to ask him, in the words that Jesus
himself taught us, for the grace to glorify him by living according to his will,
to receive the daily bread that we need, to be understanding and generous
towards our debtors, not to be tempted beyond our limits, and to be delivered
from evil (cf. Mt 6:9-13).
At the conclusion of the Pauline Year, I gladly express this hope in
the Apostle's own words, taken from the Letter to the Romans: “Let love
be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with
brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour” (Rom 12:9-10).
May the Virgin Mary — proclaimed Mater Ecclesiae by Paul VI and honoured
by Christians as Speculum Iustitiae and Regina Pacis — protect us
and obtain for us, through her heavenly intercession, the strength, hope and joy
necessary to continue to dedicate ourselves with generosity to the task of
bringing about the “development of the whole man and of all men”[159].
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 29 June, the Solemnity of the Holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, in the year 2009, the fifth of my Pontificate.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
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