God Is Love: Deus Caritas Est

This encyclical letter succeeds at inspiring the reader. It is written in a clear and beautiful prose that conveys a powerful message, namely, that we love God by loving our fellow human beings. This document is a valuable aid for all Catholics and , I would dare to say, for all Christians.

This encyclical is an imperative for anyone who wants to understand what makes Benedict XVI tick, and what has been making him tick for many years. He is a supreme theologian, but also a man deeply in love with God. In a way that is crystal clear, he explains what it means to say that God is Love, as the apostle John tells us in his letters. This successor to the apostles explains the meanings of the word love, and how they apply to us, in ways only an outstanding teacher, which he is, can do. He helps us understand why the different meanings of the words for love in Greek are important, for each has unique implications. We can understand this most clearly when we consider the dialogue in the Greek text between Jesus and Peter after the Resurrection, where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. In English, we do not see the dynamic of the conversation. In Greek we do, and the difference Benedict XVI explains between agape love (total self-giving love) and filio (love of friendship) becomes clear. Jesus' first question to Peter is, "Do you agape Me more than these?" Peter, mindful of his recent denials, can only respond, "You know I filio you." Jesus then changes the question and instead asks, "Do you agape Me?", not asking for a comparison of his love to that of the others. Again, Peter responds, "You know that I filio you." You can actually feel his inner pain as he understands the difference between Jesus' question and his answer. Finally, Jesus changes the question again and asks, "Do you filio Me?", and Peter responds, "Yes, Lord, you know I filio you." Benedict XVI teaches us in this encyclical that we must be ready to respond to God with an answer to these same questions. He challenges us to look within and ask ourselves how much we love God, and if we do not love God with agape love, we need to develop our relationship with God further because God loves us infinitely with an Agape Love.

This is an Encyclical worth reading. Over the years I attempted to read several encyclicals and found them rather technical and often difficult to read. I concluded that Popes are not usually good writers and that I would read encyclicals only as reference books. Benedict XVI, for me, breaks the mold. He is an excellent writer and offers fresh insights into Christianity. Deus Caritas Est is broken into two parts: The unity of Love in Creation and Salvation History; and Caritas, the practice of Love by the Church as a "Community of Love." This letter includes detailed explanations of Benedict's teaching points and would require a long summary. I will focus on several main points that are important to me. In the Introduction Benedict refers to Scripture and teaches that we "come to believe" in the love of God and indicates that love is an encounter that animates and guides our lives. He proclaims the words of Jesus that the commandments are "united" into a single concept - love. God loves us and we respond by loving Him and our neighbors. The Pope discusses Eros, the love between a man and a woman. He notes that some Christians want to avoid discussing Eros. He also notes that some Christian leaders forget that we were created as human beings. Christian Eros can be very positive and bring us closer to God. This occurs when Eros, worldly love, joins with agape, love "grounded and shaped by faith". By accepting our humanity we accept God's creation. That love, however, must not be self-centered, as Eros often is at the beginning of sexual attraction. With agape, love seeks the "good of the beloved" and is ready to sacrifice self for other. When fully formed love receives as well as gives, Eros-agape leads to a loving relationship. The letter also addresses forgiveness. God's agape love is "completely gratuitous" and as such God's love forgives. Benedict refers to Hosea 11 and claims that God's love overcomes God's justice. " I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you." The Pope suggests that there is an "unbreakable" bond between love of God and love of neighbor. If I "close my eyes" to neighbors, I "blind" myself to God. If I concentrate upon my religious duties and ignore others, I become arid and eventually loveless. Benedict reminds us that the Church has three responsibilities: to proclaim the word of God, to celebrate the sacraments, and to exercise the ministry of charity. These three are inseparable. For the Church, charity must be the very essence of its activities. The Church of today, with advances in communication and travel, must address the needs of all people everywhere. Our distinctiveness as a Church equals our charitable activities. This encyclical has some deep insights. I plan to re-read it with much meditation and prayer. I highly rec

In a way Pope Benedict (formerly Cardinal Ratzinger) was an unknown quantity when recently elected into his new office. Much as an employee may wonder what a new boss has in store for them, most Catholics were probably curious to see what stance the New Pope would take on things such as gay marriage, abortion, sex outside of marriage, and other 'burning' issues for the Church. However, Ratzinger instead chose the theme of love and its relation to God, particularly the Christian understanding of God, as the focus of this encyclical. The encyclical is very well argued and is presented with great theological and philosophical depth, an admirable achievement but perhaps not unexpected, as Benedict has been a very senior theologian in the church for some decades. However, Benedict's underlying theme of concern is his deep concern over the growing level of religious violence in the world, especially Islamist backed and sponsored terrorism. Ratzinger's encyclical seems to be a fundamental affirmation of the classic Christian understanding that God is not a God of war (though unfortunately incidents such as the Crusades can make things appear the opposite) but of love, particularly self-emptying love as exemplified by the work of Christ on the cross. For Ratzinger the key point seems to be God achieves his ends not by force, compulsion, threats or violence, but both through his loving self-sacrifice for man's sins and through appealing to man's senses of conscience, reason, virtue, goodness, beauty, truth, justice, and by respecting his freedom to make a choice either to accept and embrace him, or reject him. This deeply Augustinian understanding of God's nature stands in contrast to the terrorist violence of Islamist fanatics, who seem to want to create an obscene paradise of religious purity based on violence and fear. While Benedict is generally very careful not to make the confusion between Islam as an entire faith and the very small minority who practice violence in the name of religion, he does seem to strongly emphasize throughout this letter and his theology in general a decisive choice for or against God's charitably love is essential, but not at the cost of personal freedom. In this sense this letter is a vital defence of the Christian concept of love and charitable compassion in the face of multifarious forms of injustice, cruelty, oppression and violence which blight the world, caused by both the evils of religious and political fanaticism and by the often inhuman heartlessness of unrestricted global capitalism.

On the feast of St. Paul (1/25/2006), the first encyclical of Pope Benedict was published, "Deus Caritas Est" or "God is Love." Writing clearly and simply as always, the Pope discusses one of the most complicated subjects on earth: Love. In Part I, he traces the origin of love in salvation history and philosophy. He explains that physical love must be transformed into spiritual love and only then are we united to God. He states that "love is possible, and we are ab le to practise it, because we are created in the image of God." Benedict XVI shows in Part 2 that love cannot remain merely individual but must be extended to helping others through works of charity. All levels in the Church must exercise charitable service with not only professionalism, but "heartfelt concern." "Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me." With this letter, the Pope lays the foundation for his papacy as a gentle pastor and a humble teacher. explaining that we must live the greatest of all commandments: "Love of God and love of neighbour [which] are inseparable."