Looking for an assist...

Here's where I'm at:

Fourteen days of 12 hours-on-12 hours-off schedules, no days off and a break every 3.5 hours... this is making for a tough couple of weeks (but lots and lots of OT money... which is nice). I haven't seen my wife or children in 3 days (they are in NJ at the shore) and I haven't had 8 hours of sleep in ten days. I've got about 20 minutes to make this post, and then I'm in the shower to get it all started again.

On the hour-long trip home and the hour long trip to work, I'm listening to satellite radio, and I've heard a lot of Glenn Beck. The last couple of days, I know Ryan has heard this too... he texted me about the same program, in which, Beck discusses (at length) the theological failings and errors of "liberation theology" as understood and practiced by Obama and many of the leading figures in "Progressive America".

I simply have no time to spend researching what I have heard Beck say... so I'm asking my Bund buddies to help. I need to know (from Jambo) what the "official" position of the Magesterium is on the Doctrine of Social Justice (I know I might have some of the texts you'll want, but there is the Internet, okay?), and a summary of what Benedict XVI has said about "liberation theology" both before and since his elevation to the papacy.

It would seem that Benedict has, at some point in the past, referred to liberation theology as "demonic" in nature, and many are trying to apply that label to Obama, which I'm not sure the Pope actually intended, but I'd like to know what he said in fact. If Obama's definition of "social justice" isn't the same as the Pope's, then there is the possibility of an actual conflict in the manner that Catholics could be viewing Obama's policies in the future... and that is no small thing, even in today's secular world. I've heard clips where Obama has said that his personal salvation hinges on his participation in a collective salvation, and if that is, indeed, what he believes to be true, then he is NOT a practicing Christian at all... Christ's sacrifice MUST BE and always WILL BE all that is needed to gain the eternal grace of God's Presence for all of us as INDIVIDUALS... there is nothing we, as individuals, can do to add to or detract from that ultimate act of charity, and there is nothing we can do as individuals to alter (one way or another) someone else's "salvation" in the eyes of God. It is a purely personal choice, and while we can influence, instruct, or offer witness to our own experiences... we cannot add to or subtract from what God has already done.

In short, there is NO "collective salvation" available to any of us, and God didn't hang on a cross for a people or a society... he did it for each and every one of us as INDIVIDUALS. NOT as a group or a collective. Furthermore, there is a grace to be found in suffering, and while it shouldn't be sought after for its own sake, it should be accepted and understood to be a tool for personal spiritual development. It should not be seen as something to be "avoided" at all costs, especially when those costs NEVER center on the individual, but rather on society.

So, there's your homework... I can't call or text from work, but I'm off just about every night at midnight, so if I can (on your days off), I can try and call you during my ride home (which is an hour, easy). Text me when your available for the call, and I'll dial you up as soon as I can.