Archive for February, 2006
Pope’s Encyclical, Bishop’s Book Emphasize Love
Thursday, February 9th, 2006
“The Catholic Miscellany”
By Jeff Kirby
After Pope Benedict XVI issued his first encyclical, “God is Love,” I asked a theologian here in Rome what he thought of the document. He responded, “I loved it!” Although unintentional, it was an interesting pun because the encyclical’s principal subject is the Christian understanding of love as inspired by I John, Chapter 3.
An encyclical, which comes from a Latin word meaning ”letter,” is one way for a pope to teach on a current issue in the church and the world. A pope’s first encyclical is important because it demonstrates the chief interests and topics of the new pontiff. It can become a key to understanding his teaching and governing of the Catholic Church.
In his opening paragraphs, Pope Benedict explains, “I wish in my first encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.”
As Catholics in South Carolina, the teaching of Christian love is still a fresh lesson, partly because of our spirit of hospitality, but also because of the recent publication of “When Did We See You, Lord?” by Bishop Robert J. Baker and Father Benedict Groeschel. The book, like the encyclical, gives a synthesis of Christian love.
Bishop Baker writes, “Belief in God should move us to empathize with the pain and suffering we often witness in real human beings,” and, “We should reach out to those treated as though they were not fully human and do everything we can to restore their human dignity. Again, we should realize that Our Lord is present in their person, crying out to us to save them.”
By choosing love as the starting point of his pontificate, Pope Benedict has demonstrated his keen awareness of the struggles with love in the modern person and in society. He writes, “Today, the term ‘love’ has become one of the most frequently used and misused of words, a word to which we attach quite different meanings.”
The pope attempts to present how a Christian should understand and order his love. He explains what a Christian should do when he realizes that the way he loves someone or something is disordered, when it is immature, self-centered, or egotistical.
In similar fashion, Bishop Baker challenges the seven deadly sins, and exposes how they “prevent us from seeing and serving Jesus.” He hopes that the meditations offered in his book can “help us recognize and overcome barriers to recognizing Jesus in our midst, so that we can serve him.”
The pope likewise argues that Jesus Christ is the “flesh and blood” of love. He teaches that the cross, properly understood, is love in its most radical form. Because the cross is the self-donation of Christ for humanity, the pope writes, “It is from there that our definition of love must begin.”
Flowing from this understanding, the pope asserts that love must express itself in concrete acts of love to the poor and marginalized. Both Pope Benedict and Bishop Baker are calling the church back to a greater identity as a community of disciples who love one another and seek to selflessly serve others.
It was a surprise to many that Pope Benedict would begin his teaching office with the basic lesson of love. Some would have hoped for a more specified religious subject, while others desired an assessment of complicated church issues. The pope wasn’t seeking to be simplistic, nor dodge necessary subjects. Bishop Baker, in writing his book, wasn’t attempting to bypass diocesan problems or ignore essential issues. Both men, as ministers of the Gospel, vehemently sought to give a concerted summons back to the heart of the Gospel. It is too easy for
many of the church’s ethical or pastoral positions to be misunderstood or confused.
By starting with love, Pope Benedict and Bishop Baker were returning to the first principle and foundation of the Christian faith. They were giving the universal church as well as secular society a reminder of the meaning and purpose of life and its proper order. It is a reality and message always in need of being clarified and repeated.
Jeff Kirby, is a seminarian of the Diocese of Charleston studying at the North American College in Rome.
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Look to Gospel for Meaning of Love
Sunday, February 5th, 2006
“The Post and Courier”
By Jeffrey Kirby
In the modern world, we speak of love in relation to a significant other, our parents or siblings, children and friends, but also in reference to a favorite class, food or movie.
But what do we mean by love? And what are we to do when the way we love someone or something is in conflict with the truths of our faith?
These seem to be pressing questions for the modern Christian and the world around him.
The struggle for answers doesn’t only exist in abstract doctrinal debate, but truly lies at the very heart of the lived experience of Christian believers. Recently, a contribution to this search for answers came from an unexpected source.
Pope Benedict XVI recently issued his first encyclical. Titled, “God is Love,” from 1 John 3, the papal letter seeks to address the Christian understanding of love. An encyclical is one way for a pope to teach regarding current issues facing the church and the world.
A pope’s first encyclical is important because it indicates the principal themes and issues of his pontificate.
The pope asserts that love is an often used and misused word. The meaning and intention seem almost confused.
He diverts emphasis to the proper role of love, which is to self-donate oneself to another while desiring the authentic good of the one who is loved. The pope indicates that at times, love can be manipulated and made to serve selfish ends. This is an offense to love and to the dignity of each person.
Pope Benedict gives the Christian concept of the human person, made of both a body and soul. He writes that both must be involved in the act of loving another person. If the body or soul is overly stressed, such as in lust, then the ordered expression of love is lost. Contrary to the “intoxication” of passion, the person who loves and is loved is called to serve the other and to desire only truly good things for them and their benefit.
The pope teaches that Jesus Christ is the perfect example of love. In seeing his love for humanity, especially in the cross, we begin to comprehend the meaning of love. As Christian believers, we see the perfection of love there and the beginning of answers to our own questions and struggles with love.
In the second major part of the encyclical, the pope emphasizes that love must be seen in action. The works of love especially should be seen toward the poor and marginalized. The pope stresses that these exercises are not an optional part of the Christian life. This lesson recently was emphasized by Robert Baker, the local Catholic bishop, in his book, “Lord, When Did We See You?”
While choosing the topic of love might strike some people as a simplistic beginning to his pontificate, Pope Benedict’s decision to elaborate on love demonstrates his keen awareness and desire to summon all people back to the heart of the Gospel message.
Many of the church’s positions, especially in the realm of morality or pastoral practice, often can be misunderstood or badly taught. The proper starting point, and real center of struggle for the person, often is neglected or taken for granted.
Pope Benedict has decided not to take this essential lesson for granted and has sought to present as best as possible the Gospel’s explanation of love.
As we quickly approach St. Valentine’s Day, with its festivities of affection, perhaps it’s worth considering the pope’s contribution to the more stressing questions about love.
It’s a discernment worthy of our time, toleration and energy because the answers we choose to our questions will determine not only what we believe, but the way we will live and relate to others.
Jeff Kirby, is a seminarian of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
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