|
Catholic Apostolate Center Newsletter
From the Director's Desk
Greetings!
 "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16). With these words of the First Letter of St. John, Pope Benedict XVI began his first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love). Throughout his pontificate he has returned to this theme of love or charity which was also very much present in his writings as a young theologian. The theme has been consistent through his life and his Lenten Message for 2013 underscores the ramifications of living charity by quoting a significant and central passage from his first Encyclical: Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction ... Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere 'command'; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us (Deus Caritas Est, n. 1). A personal encounter or friendship with Christ by all the faithful is not simply what Pope Benedict XVI desires for the Year of Faith, but as the way of the New Evangelization. How does this happen? Again, as he did at the Synod on the New Evangelization and throughout his pontificate, he underscores the "indissoluble relationship of faith and charity." He echoes and refines his teaching in Porta Fidei (the document which inaugurated the Year of Faith), when he offers this in his Lenten message: Faith is knowing the truth and adhering to it (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); charity is "walking" in the truth (cf. Eph 4:15). Through faith we enter into friendship with the Lord, through charity this friendship is lived and cultivated (cf. Jn 15:14ff). In the din of media new and old incessantly analyzing the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, few have bothered to mention, except those of faith, that what he did was an act in response to his faith in Christ and his love for Christ's Church. Pope Benedict XVI is simply living by this humble act of faith and charity that he has consistently taught. We are in thanksgiving for his great ministry over these last years and our prayers are with him. May we continue to draw from his teachings and live more deeply our friendship with Christ in faith and charity. May the charity of Christ urge you on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank | 
One of the great legacies that Pope Benedict XVI leaves is his efforts to re-propose the Gospel through the New Evangelization. Equipping the faithful for effective catechesis in order to form apostles has been a great part of his mission and one that we share in this ministry as well. 
