Catholic Transcript Online

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has presented us with a wonderful gift, his first encyclical, God Is Love (Deus Caritas Est). Fittingly dated Dec. 25, 2005, the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, it was released to the world on Jan. 25, 2006.

A Pope’s first encyclical can be something of a charter of his pontificate, an overture for works that will follow. We saw this with Pope John Paul II, of happy memory. Elected in 1978, he issued his first encyclical in 1979, entitled Redemptor Hominis (Redemption of the Human Race). He pointed out that all are called to redemption by God; there is, therefore, no alien on earth. He drew from this his beautiful teaching on human rights and justice. It was in this context that he delivered his landmark address on human rights during his visit to the United States in 1979 at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, with the Statue of Liberty behind him.

Pope John Paul II realized at the same time that justice is not enough; forgiveness is necessary. He then gave us his second encyclical in 1980, Dives In Misericordia (Rich in Mercy).

Pope Benedict XVI grounds his papacy, as we are all grounded, on the rock solid belief that God is love. The first sentence of the encyclical is taken from the First Epistle of St. John, 4:16, "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

Crazy as the world may appear to be at times, terribly puzzling with the mysteries of evil, suffering, and death, life in the final analysis is so much more than a theater of the absurd. The vision is positive, optimistic, beautiful. In a secular and materialistic world, the Holy Father identifies the basis for authentic humanism, Christian humanism.

Following a brief introduction, the encyclical is divided into two parts: (1) the Unity of Love in Creation and in Salvation History, and (2) the Practice of Love by the Church as a "Community of Love."

The first part is profoundly philosophical, metaphysical, and theological. The Pope cannot help but reveal his extraordinary intellectual breadth. Do not be put off, however. You will find that careful reading, study, and reflection on it will be highly rewarding.

Distinctions are made regarding the difference and unity of the Greek words for love, eros and agape. It is the human person, a "unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves." Eros is not rejected, but it "needs to be disciplined and purified if it is to provide not just fleeting pleasure, but a certain pretaste of the pinnacle of our existence, of that beatitude for which our whole being yearns." The Holy Father calls upon the Song of Songs to underscore the beauty of conjugal love between a man and a woman. Love develops to become concern and care for the other. "No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice."

Love is seen as a journey, a "liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God." How often we can say in our own lives that in the experience of giving generously and sacrificially we know something more about ourselves and can believe more readily in the existence of the loving God.

God’s love for us is a forgiving love. The death of the Son of God on the Cross "is love in its most radical form . . . Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through His institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper." The Holy Father goes on to say, "A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented . . . Love can be ‘commanded’ because it has first been given."

In the second part of the encyclical, the Pope describes our charitable activity as members of the Church as a manifestation of Trinitarian love. "Love of neighbor, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level."

Pope Benedict XVI, as did Pope John Paul II, expands on the relationship between justice and charity. He draws careful distinctions on the spheres of Church and State. There is not enough space to report it all here. Go directly to the encyclical. The investment will pay rich dividends.

Toward the end of the encyclical, the Holy Father writes, "Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world – this is the invitation I would like to extend with the present encyclical."

A charter indeed.