Nothing but the blood of Christ is necessary to salvation.
Perhaps he will also bring up the mystery of Christ and the church being a marriage.
Where'd you get your copy of Deus Caritas Est? I know I can get it from USCCB but would rather send my money elsewhere :-P
Sounds like a good read. I recently read some of Brother Lawrence's writings. Wonderful insight on the love of God. He was a simple monk externally, and a mystic internally.
The most profound revelations are the simplest. Be blessed!
Oh, I am thrilled you are reading this, Alamo-Girl! I just read it yesterday, and it is amazingly, extraordinarily beautiful. I suspect it sets the "theme" for this Pope's papacy, which is Love.
The first of two parts is "speculative": This Pope is a world-class philosopher as well as world-class theologian. As philosopher, he has strong resonances to Neo-platonism. As theologian, his thought has been profoundly influenced by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, and St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscan friar -- both Saints and Doctors of the Church. (Turns out, he is also a great admirer of Karl Barth.) So in this first part, he speaks of caritas in all its forms in the abstract; e.g., eros, philia, agape.
The second part is "more concrete," dealing with the exercise of the commandment of love of neighbor. An excerpt:
Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of changing the world ideologically, and it is not in the service of worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philososphy. People of the present are sacrified to the moloch of the future -- a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now.... The Christian's programme -- the programme of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus -- is "a heart which sees." This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly....[Just couldn't resist adding the boldface!!!]Love is free; it is not practised as a way of achieving other ends.... Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practice charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and let love alone speak. He knows that God is love and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love. He knows ... that disdain for love is disdain for God and man alike; it is an attempt to do without God. Consequently, the best defense of God and man consists precisely in love....
There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: "The love of Christ urges us on" (2 Cor 5:14).
The real parousia, the Presence of Christ, is made evident and effective in the world in personal acts of Christian love. Such acts are a means of God's redemptive action in the world.
The Encyclical concludes with a poem/prayer to the Blessed Mother -- the Mother of the Church because the Mother of our Lord -- so profound, so perfect, that it might make you weep for joy. (It did me.) It may provide non-Catholics with some insight into why Mary is indispensable and essential to Catholic theology.
Needless to say, I highly recommend Christians of all confessions to read this sublime document on Christian love. Gloria in excelsus Deo!
Thank you so much, dear sister, for writing!