Is Material Success the Meaning of LIfe?

Love of neighbor as yourself is the foundation of the social doctrine of Christianity. Social teaching is a set of beliefs common to Christians as well as other religious traditions.

Catholicism has summarized the teaching in some basic statements: Common Good, Dignity of the human person, Preferential Option for the Poor, Subsidiarity, Solidarity, Stewardship of Creation, and Promotion of Peace these are some of the values that come from the Bible, Tradition, and Reason.

Pope Benedict XVI gave us some help in understanding the meaning of some of the terms. Human dignity is the intrinsic value of a person created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by Christ.  Solidarity refers to the virtue enabling the human family to share fully the treasure of material and spiritual goods. Subsidiarity is the coordination of society's activities in a way that supports the internal life of the local communities. The common good is "the totality of social conditions allowing persons to achieve their communal and individual fulfillment." 

In the Catholic Times in its Light of the World column, the priest writer helps us understand the issue more in-depth.

 Since World War II, South America has had serious social problems such as politics and economy, and the second Latin American Bishops' Conference in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968, presents "choice for the poor," referring to the institutions and structural injustice of a society that cause poverty. The teachings were developed through subsequent Latin American bishops' meetings (the 3rd Puebla, Mexico in 1979, the 4th Dominica in 1992, the 5th Aparecida in Brazil), the 3rd World Bishop's Synod on World Justice in 1974, Pope John Paul II's Encyclical Through Work, and Pope Francis's exhortation on Joy of the Gospel.

 

Here, the objects of charity and helping those who are in more difficult straits than themselves, both spiritually and materially, embody preferential choices for the poor.

What is remarkable is the reflection that although the causes of poverty and oppression that impede the development of society are at the political, economic, and social levels, the more fundamental cause is the selfishness and greed within human beings that promote them. Therefore, repentance and evangelization for this are urgently needed, so while focusing on globalization and neoliberalism that was just beginning at the time, the Aparecida Literature examines this from two perspectives.

First, it is a materialistic situation in which human dignity is damaged and the socially weak are produced because of concern only for economic interests at the social level. Second, it is spiritual secularism that pursues only selfishness and material values ​​on the personal level and is indifferent to the pain of poor neighbors.

In 1977, Park Wan-suh's novel "A Faltering Afternoon" depicts the fall of a middle-class family through love and marriage customs in a world in which material prosperity had become a symbol of success against the backdrop of the rapid economic development of Korean society after 1960. At its core are unrecognized capitalism, vanity tinged with material desires, and broken ethical values.

Could this be the case today? Society is getting richer day by day, making it more difficult to discern and act correctly. Many neighbors are struggling, and everyone's cooperation is desperately needed, but there are still too many conflicts and hatred abounds. There are many reasons, but as the affluent society increases so does our greed, and our love decreases as the comfortable civilization continues to develop. True conversion toward neighbors and society is required.

"Those people and societies that go so far as to absolutize the role of material goods end up experiencing the bitterest type of slavery. In fact, there is no category of possession that can be considered indifferent about the influence that it may have both on individuals and on institutions. Owners who heedlessly idolize their goods become owned and enslaved by them. Only by recognizing that these goods are dependent on God the Creator and then directing their use to the common good, is it possible to give material goods their proper function as useful tools for the growth of individuals and peoples" (Compendium of the Social Gospel #181).