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Taken from Pope Benedict 16th Porta Fidei (Door of Faith):
…faith without charity
bears no fruit, while charity without faith would be a sentiment constantly at
the mercy of doubt. Faith and charity each require the other, in such a way
that each allows the other to set out along its respective path. Indeed, many Christians
dedicate their lives with love to those who are lonely, marginalized or
excluded, as to those who are the first with a claim on our attention and the
most important for us to support, because it is in them that the reflection of
Christ’s own face is seen. Through faith, we can recognize the face of the
risen Lord in those who ask for our love. “As you did it to one of the least of
these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25.40). These words are a warning that
must not be forgotten and a perennial invitation to return the love by which he
takes care of us. It is faith that enables us to recognize Christ and it is his
love that impels us to assist him whenever he becomes our neighbour along the
journey of life. Supported by faith, let us look with hope at our commitment in
the world, as we await “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness
dwells” (2 Pet 3.13; cf. Rev 21.1)…
…the “door of faith”
(Acts 14.27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with
God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold
when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by
transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that
lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6.4), through which we can
address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal
life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the
gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory
(cf. Jn 17.22). To profess faith in the Trinity-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-is
to believe in one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4.8): the Father, who in the
fullness of time sent his Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the
mystery of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who
leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return…
…we cannot accept that
salt should become tasteless or the light be kept hidden (cf. Mt 5.13-16). The people
of today can still experience the need to go to the well, like the Samaritan
woman, in order to hear Jesus, who invited us to believe in him and to draw
upon the source of living water welling up within him (cf. Jn4.14). We must
rediscover a taste for feeding ourselves on the word of God, faithfully handed
down by the Church, and on the bread of life, offered as sustenance for his
disciples (cf. Jn 6.51). Indeed, the teaching of Jesus still resounds in our
day with the same power: “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for
the food which endures to eternal life” (Jn 6.28). We know Jesus’ reply: “This
is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (Jn 6.29). Belief
in Jesus Christ, then, is the way to arrive definitively at salvation...
…we must not forget
that in our cultural context, very many people, while not claiming to have the
gift of faith, are nevertheless sincerely searching for the ultimate meaning
and definitive truth of their lives and of the world. This search is an authentic
“preamble” to the faith, because it guides people onto the path that leads to
the mystery of God. Human reason, in fact, bears within itself a demand for “what
is perennially valid and lasting”. This demand constitutes a permanent summons,
indelibly written into the human heart, to set out to find the One whom we
would not be seeking had he not already set out to meet us. To this encounter,
faith invited us and it open us in fullness…
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