Pope speaks on 2013 lent
Pope Benedict XVI has delivered a message to the Catholic Church for the 2013 lent, urging Catholics to engage in charity and practise faith and love.
The pope’s message, titled Believing in charity calls forth charity, released on February 1 2013, says faith is important in learning to love and obey God.
“Charity ushers us into the love of God manifested in Christ and joins us in a personal and existential way to the total and unconditional self-giving of Jesus to the Father and to his brothers and sisters.
“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,” reads part of the statement.
According to national pastoral secretary of the Catholic Secretariat, Father Emmanuel Chimombo, the pope’s message is focused on illuminating the relationship between faith and love.
“By filling our hearts with God’s love, the Holy Spirit makes us sharers in Jesus’ filial devotion to God and fraternal devotion to every man,” said Chimombo.
