Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Pope: Consequences Disastrous Of Faith Not Embodied In Love

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Pope: Consequences Disastrous Of Faith Not Embodied In Love

    POPE: CONSEQUENCES DISASTROUS OF FAITH NOT EMBODIED IN LOVE

    AsiaNews.it
    http://www.asianews.it/index.php ?l=en&art=13855&size=A
    Nov 26 2008
    Italy

    A general audience marked by ecumenism, with the presence of Aram
    I, catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians. Joint effort for full
    unity. Benedict XVI speaks to the faithful of the relationship between
    faith and works.

    Vatican City (AsiaNews) - If faith alone is sufficient to justify us,
    meaning to make us just before God, "the consequences of faith that
    is not embodied in love are disastrous." The relationship between
    faith and works, which "has caused not a few misunderstandings among
    Christians," was addressed today by Benedict XVI during the general
    audience, strongly characterized as ecumenical through the presence,
    in the Paul VI hall, of Aram I, catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians
    (located in Antelias, in Lebanon), who is paying a visit to the
    Vatican and met with the pope on Monday.

    Benedict XVI and Aram I - accompanied by a dozen bishops - entered the
    hall side by side, and, in front of the approximately 9,000 people
    present, exchanged a greeting, in which both emphasized how the
    "fraternal visit is an occasion to strengthen the bonds that exist,"
    "a further step in the journey toward full unity, which is the
    objective of all Christians and a gift of the Lord." The pope again
    recalled "the many martyrs" that the Armenian community has numbered
    in its fidelity to Christianity, and thanked Aram I for his efforts
    in dialogue groups, beginning with the mixed commission.

    Like Benedict XVI, Aram I also spoke in English, in an improvised
    greeting in which he emphasized "the bonds that connect the two
    apostolic Churches" and the "communion of traditions and values" that
    make it possible to be look to the journey toward full unity. Aram
    I finally highlighted the importance of "the shared effort of
    evangelization in Europe, in the Middle East, and in the world,
    to bring peace to a world that is so tormented by conflicts and
    by hatred."

    In his address to those present at the audience, Benedict XVI,
    continuing to illustrate the thought of St. Paul, reiterated the
    principle that "a man becomes just before God only because God gives us
    justice by uniting us with his Son. Salvation does not come from our
    works, but from faith. But "faith is not an opinion, it is communion
    with Christ, and thus becomes life, it becomes conformity with Jesus,
    in other words becomes charity, it expresses itself." "Without this
    fruit, faith would be dead."

    Therefore "the consequences are disastrous of a faith that is not
    embodied in love, because it reduces itself to arbitrariness and
    subjectivism for ourselves and for our brothers." And "the opposition
    is unfounded" that some set up between the theology of St. Paul,
    about salvation being obtained through faith, and that of St. James,
    which requires works. This opposition - which has been central in
    the theological dispute between Catholics and Protestants - was
    defined by the pope as "a misunderstanding" and "confusion," giving
    rise to the problem of "justification" that was at the origin of
    Luther's schism. Recalling the representation of the last judgment,
    the pope clarified that "Christian ethics is not a form of moralism,
    it is not born from a system of commandments, but is a consequence
    of our friendship with Christ.

    In reality, while Paul says that "faith is necessary and sufficient,"
    James "highlights its consequences in life," when he affirms that
    "faith without works is dead." And Paul himself, in the letter to the
    Galatians, "highlights the relationship between faith and charity,
    between faith and works," when he speaks of "faith working through
    love." At the same time, Benedict XVI commented, "what would a
    liturgy be, if it were directed to the Lord alone, without also
    becoming service of our brothers?" St. Paul himself says that "we
    must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
    may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether
    good or evil." "This," he concluded, "must guide our daily lives."

    Finally, today's was the first "environmental" audience: the solar
    panels on the roof of the Paul VI hall were switched on, providing
    part of the energy necessary to light and heat the room.
Working...
X