Life is Still Worth Living, Ep 26, The Virtue of Charity
This week on Life is Still Worth Living – The Virtue of Charity.
As Quoted, Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est is here.
Six quotations this week.
First, From the Baltimore Catechism (browse • buy)
Q. What is charity?
A. Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
Next, Several from the Catechism of the Council of Trent (browse • buy)
#45 Q. What is meant by loving God above all other things?
A. To love God above all other things means to prefer Him to all creatures, even the dearest and most perfect, and to be willing to lose everything rather than offend Him or cease to love Him.#46 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole heart?
A. To love God with our whole heart means consecrating all our affections to Him.#47 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole mind?
A. To love God with our whole mind means directing all our thoughts to Him.#48 Q. What is meant by loving God with our whole soul?
A. To love God with our whole soul means consecrating to Him the use of all the powers of our soul.#49 Q. What is meant by loving God with all our strength?
A. To love God with all our strength means striving to grow ever more and more in His love, and so to act that all our actions should have as their one motive and end the love of Him and the desire of pleasing Him.#55 Q. How is charity regained?
A. Charity is regained by making acts of the love of God, by duly repenting and making a good confession.
From Pope Bendict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (browse • buy)
#39 Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practise it because we are created in the image of God.
#33 With regard to the personnel who carry out the Church’s charitable activity on the practical level, the essential has already been said: they must not be inspired by ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). Consequently, more than anything, they must be persons moved by Christ’s love, persons whose hearts Christ has conquered with his love, awakening within them a love of neighbour. The criterion inspiring their activity should be Saint Paul’s statement in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “the love of Christ urges us on” (5:14).
From The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (browse • buy)
404. What else is required for an authentic human society?
Charity requires and makes possible the practice of justice and is the greatest social commandment. (paraphrasing)
An Act of Charity
O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.
Music: Matthew Casteel
Fr. Ryan | Posted in Life is Still Worth Living | 1 Comment »
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Joe
