We will never be adequately prepared for the coming of the Savior unless and until we feel in our bones that there is something we need to be saved from. If we don’t require salvation, then Jesus devolves, very quickly, into one wise man among many, one more spiritual teacher in a long line of similar figures across space and time. The great and ancient Advent chant, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, / and ransom captive Israel, / that mourns in lonely exile here / until the Son of God appear,” catches this fundamental Christian truth. Until we feel like prisoners held for ransom, men and women condemned to hopeless exile, we will not sing those words with anything even approaching conviction. A passage from the sixty-third chapter of the prophet Isaiah provides a series of images that help us to articulate this sense of being in desperate need of…

In the wake of the publication of Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti, there was a great deal of negative commentary regarding the pope’s attitude toward capitalism and private property. Many readers interpreted Francis to mean that the capitalist system is, in itself, exploitative and that the holding of private property is morally problematic. Like most who write in a prophetic mode, Pope Francis is indeed given to strong and challenging language, and therefore, it is easy enough to understand how he excites opposition. But it is most important to read what he says with care and to interpret it within the context of the long tradition of Catholic social teaching. First, in regard to capitalism, or what the Church prefers to call the “market economy,” the pope has this to say: “Business activity is essentially ‘a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world’”…

Tras la publicación de la carta encíclica más reciente del Papa Francisco, Fratelli Tutti, hubo muchos comentarios negativos sobre la actitud del Papa hacia el capitalismo y la propiedad privada. Muchos lectores interpretaron a Francisco como que el sistema capitalista es, en sí mismo, explotador y que la tenencia de la propiedad privada es moralmente problemática. Al igual que la mayoría de los que escriben en un modo profético, el Papa Francisco tiene una inclinación por el uso de un lenguaje fuerte y desafiante, y por lo tanto, es bastante fácil entender cómo suscita oposición. Pero lo más importante es leer lo que dice con cuidado e interpretarlo dentro del contexto de la larga tradición de la enseñanza social católica. En primer lugar, con respecto al capitalismo, o lo que la Iglesia prefiere llamar la “economía de mercado”, el Papa tiene esto que decir: “Es verdad que la actividad…