god-is-love

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2006 (VIS) - Given below is a summary of Benedict XVI's
first Encyclical, entitled "Deus caritas est" (God is love). Dated December 25,
Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, it considers the question of Christian love.

The Encyclical is divided into two long parts. The first, entitled, "The Unity of Love in
Creation and in Salvation History," presents a theological- philosophical reflection
on "love" in its various dimensions - "eros," "philia," and "agape" - highlighting
certain vital aspects of God's love for man and the inherent links that such love has
with human love. The second part, entitled "The Practice of Love by the Church as a
'Community of Love'," concerns the concrete implementation of the commandment
to love others.

PART ONE

The term "love" - one of the most used, and abused, words in today's world - has a
vast field of meaning. In this multiplicity of meanings, however, the archetype of love
par excellence that emerges is that between man and woman, which in ancient
Greece was given the name of "eros." In the Bible, and above all in the New
Testament, the concept of "love" is rendered more profound, a development
expressed by the rejection of the word "eros" in favor of the term "agape" to express
oblate love.

This new view of love, an essential novelty of Christianity, has not infrequently been
considered in a completely negative sense as the refusal of "eros" and of all things
corporeal. Although there have been tendencies of this nature, the meaning of this
development is quite different. "Eros," placed in the nature of man by his Creator,
needs discipline, purification and maturity in order not to lose its original dignity,
and not be degraded to the level of being pure "sex," becoming a mere commodity.

The Christian faith has always considered man as a being in whom spirit and
matter are mutually intertwined, drawing from this a new nobility. The challenge of
"eros" may be said to have been overcome when man's body and soul are in
perfect harmony. Then love truly becomes "ecstasy," but not ecstasy in the sense of
a passing moment of euphoria, but as a permanent departure from the "I" closed
within itself towards freedom in the giving of self and, precisely in this way, towards
the rediscovery of self, or rather, towards the discovery of God. In this way, "eros"
can raise the human being "in ecstasy" towards the Divine.

Ultimately what is necessary is that "eros" and "agape" never be completely
separated from one another; indeed, the greater the extent to which the two - though
in different dimensions - find their right equilibrium, the more the true nature of love
is realized. Although initially "eros" is, above all, desire, in approaching the other
person it will ask ever fewer questions about itself and seek ever more happiness
in the other, it will give itself and desire to "be there" for the other. Thus the one
becomes part of the other and the moment of "agape" is achieved.

In Jesus Christ, Who is the incarnate love of God, "eros-agape" achieves its most
radical form. In His death on the cross, Jesus, giving Himself to raise and save
mankind, expressed love in its most sublime form. Jesus ensured a lasting
presence for this act of giving through the institution of the Eucharist, in which,
under the species of bread and wine, He gives Himself as a new manna uniting us
to Him. By participating in the Eucharist, we too become involved in the dynamics of
His act of giving. We unite ourselves to Him, and at the same time unite ourselves
with everyone else to whom He gives Himself. Thus we all become "a single body."
In this way, love for God and love for others are truly fused together. The dual
commandment, thanks to this encounter with the "agape" of God, is no longer just a
requirement: love can be "commanded," because first it was given.

PART TWO

Love for others rooted in the love of God, in addition to being the duty of each
individual faithful, is also the duty of the entire ecclesial community, which in its
charitable activities must reflect Trinitarian love. An awareness of this duty has been
of fundamental importance in the Church ever since her beginnings; and very soon
the need became clear for a certain degree of organization as a basis for a more
effective realization of those activities.

Thus, within the fundamental structure of the Church, the "deaconry" emerged as a
service of love towards others, a love exercised collectively and in an ordered
fashion: a concrete service, but at the same time a spiritual one. With the
progressive growth of the Church, the practice of charity was confirmed as being
one of her essential aspects. The Church's intimate nature is thus expressed in a
triple duty: announcing the Word of God ("kerygma- martyria"), celebrating the
Sacraments ("leiturgia"), and the service of charity ("diakonia"). These duties are
inherent to one another and cannot be separated.

Beginning in the nineteenth century, a fundamental objection was raised against
the Church's charitable activity. Such activity, it was said, runs counter to justice and
ends up by preserving the status quo. By carrying out individual acts of charity, the
reasoning went, the Church favors the preservation of the existing unjust system,
making it in some way bearable and thus hindering rebellion and potential
transformation to a better world.

In this way, Marxism sought to indicate in world revolution, and in the preparations
for such revolution, a panacea for social ills; a dream that has since been
shattered. Pontifical Magisterium - beginning with Leo XIII's Encyclical "Rerum
novarum" (1891), and later with John Paul II's three social Encyclicals: "Laborem
exercens" (1981), "Sollicitudo rei socialis" (1987), and "Centesimus annus" (1991) -
has considered the social question with growing attention and, in facing ever new
problems, has developed a highly complex social doctrine, proposing guidelines
that are valid well beyond the confines of the Church.

The creation of a just order in society and the State is the primary duty of politics,
and therefore cannot be the immediate task of the Church. Catholic social doctrine
does not want to give the Church power over the State, but simply to purify and
illuminate reason, offering its own contribution to the formation of consciences so
that the true requirements of justice may be perceived, recognized and put into
effect. Nonetheless, there is no State legislation, however just it may be, that can
make the service of love superfluous. The State that wishes to provide for everything
becomes a bureaucratic machine, incapable of ensuring that essential contribution
of which suffering man - all mankind - has need: loving personal dedication.
Whoever wants to dispose of love, seeks to dispose of man.

In our own time, one positive collateral effect of globalization appears in the fact that
concern for others, overcoming the confines of national communities, tends to
broaden the horizons of the whole world. Structures of State and humanitarian
associations both support, in various ways, the solidarity expressed by civil society;
thus, many charitable and philanthropic organizations have come into being. In the
Catholic Church too, as in other ecclesial communities, new forms of charitable
activity have arisen. It is to be hoped that fruitful collaboration may be established
between these various elements. Of course, it is important that the Church's
charitable work does not lose its own identity, lost against the background of
widespread organized charity of which it is simply another alternative. Rather it must
maintain all the splendor of the essence of Christian and ecclesial charity.
Therefore:

Christian charitable activity, apart from its professional competence, must be based
on the experience of a personal encounter with Christ, Whose love touched
believers' hearts, generating within them love for others.

Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. The
program of Christians - the program of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus -
is a "heart that sees." This heart sees where there is need of love and acts
accordingly.

Christian charitable activity, furthermore, must not be a function of that which today
is called proselytism. Love is gratuitous, it is not exercised in order to achieve other
goals. However, this does not mean that charitable activity must, so to say, leave
God and Christ on one side. Christians know when the time is right to speak of
God, and when it is right to be silent and let love alone speak. St. Paul's hymn of
charity must be the "Magna Charta" for the entire ecclesial service, protecting it from
the risk of degrading into mere activism.

In this context, and faced with the impending secularism that also risks conditioning
many Christians committed to charitable work, we must reaffirm the importance of
prayer. Living contact with Christ ensures that the immensity of need coupled with
the limits of individual activity do not, on the one hand, push charity workers into
ideologies that seek to do now that which God, apparently, does not manage to do
or, on the other, serve as a temptation to surrender to inertia and resignation. Those
who pray do not waste their time, although a situation may seem to call only for
action, nor do they seek to change and correct God's plan. Rather they aim -
following the example of Mary and the saints - to draw from God the light and the
strength of love that defeats all the darkness and selfishness present in the world.

Click here to r ead the complete encyclical.