704- Since God has given human beings the need to stay alive, does God always provide them with the means of doing so?
“Yes, and if they do not find them, it is because they do not understand them. God could not have given humans the need to stay alive without also having given them the means. Hence, the Creator has caused the earth to produce in such a way as to provide for the needs of all its inhabitants, for only that which is necessary is useful; the superfluous never is.”
705- Why doesn’t the earth always produce enough to provide for humans’ needs?
“Since they are ungrateful, they neglect her! Nevertheless, she is an excellent mother. Frequently, they blame nature for the consequences of their own incompetence or lack of foresight. The earth would always produce what is needed if humans knew how to be content. If she does not supply all their needs, it is because they use her to provide themselves with superfluities instead of necessities. Look at the nomads in the desert. They always find enough to live on because they do not create imaginary needs. But when half of all that is produced is wasted on satisfying fanciful desires, should people wonder at finding nothing the next day, and have a reason to pity themselves at being deprived in times of scarcity? In truth I tell you that nature is not stingy; rather, people do not know how to control themselves.”
706- Should we understand only the products of the soil as being the fruits of the earth?
“The soil is the original source from which all other resources derive because, in the last analysis, such resources are only a transformation of the products of the soil. For that reason we should understand the fruits of the earth to be everything that humans can enjoy in this world.”
707- The means of subsistence are frequently lacking for certain individuals, even in the midst of the abundance around them. To what is this fact due?
“It is primarily due to the selfishness of humans, who do not always do what they should. Next, and most often, it is due to humans themselves. ‘Seek and you shall find’; these words do not mean that it is enough to simply look to the earth in order to find what you desire. Instead, you must seek with ardor and perseverance, without indifference and without allowing yourselves to be discouraged by obstacles that are quite often no more than means of putting your tenacity, patience and firmness to the test.” (See no. 534)
If civilization multiplies our needs, it also multiplies the sources of labor and the means for living, but one must agree that in this sense there is still much to be done. When civilization has accomplished its task, no one will be able to say that they lack what is needed, except through their own fault. For many, misfortune happens when they choose a path nature has not traced out for them – and that is when they lack the intelligence required to succeed. There is a place in the sun for all, but on the condition that all take their own place and not that of others. Nature cannot be responsible for the vices of social organization and for the consequences of ambition and vanity.
We would have to be blind, however, if we did not recognize the progress that the most advanced cultures have made in this sense. Thanks to the laudable efforts that philanthropy and science together have unceasingly put forth for the improvement of humankind’s material conditions, and notwithstanding the constant increase in population, insufficiency of production has been attenuated – at least for the most part – and the most calamitous years have no comparison to those in former times. Public hygiene, that element so essential to energy and health but unknown to our ancestors, is the object of an enlightened mindfulness. The unfortunate and suffering find places of refuge, and science has been put into action everywhere, contributing to the growth of everyone’s well-being. Might it be said that we have finally attained perfection? Oh, certainly not. But what has been accomplished so far has given us an idea of what can be done with perseverance if men and women are sensible enough to seek contentment in real and serious things, rather than in the utopias that cause them to go backward instead of advancing.
708- Aren’t there situations in which the means of subsistence do not depend solely on human will and where the lack of the barest necessities is a consequence of circumstances?
“These situations are frequently cruel trials which humans must undergo, and to which they know they will be exposed. Their merit is in their submission to God’s will if their intelligence does not furnish them with some means for escaping their difficulty. If death must touch them, they should submit to it without complaint, remembering that their hour of true freedom has arrived, and that despair at the final moment may cause them to lose the fruit of their resignation.”
709- Have those, who in critical situations were obligated to sacrifice their fellow beings to appease their hunger, committed a crime? If it was a crime, was it lessened by the need to stay alive, which the preservation instinct has given them?
“I have already responded in saying that there is more merit in undergoing all the trials of life with selflessness and courage. In this case, there is a homicide and crime against nature and it must be doubly punished.”
710- On worlds where their physical makeup is purer, do the living beings have need of nourishment?
“Yes, but their food is in keeping with their nature. Such food would not be substantial enough for your dense digestive systems; likewise, they would not be able to digest yours.”
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