Wednesday after Epiphany
On December 25, 2025, we just celebrated Christmas, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. December 25, 2025, also marked the twentieth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical letter Deus Caritas Est. Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the letter on December 25, 2005, in the first year of his Pontificate. Pope Benedict uses this document to clarify the essential nature of Christian love and its manifestation in the Church. Nevertheless, like most Papal encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est has a short life. The life of a Papal encyclical is dependent upon the Papacy, in which the letter is promulgated. After the end of such a Papacy, loyalty quickly shifted to the new Pope, and the letter from the previous Pope is mostly forgotten. Nonetheless, the message of Deus Caritas Est remains fresh and relevant even twenty years later. It's worth taking a little time to review Deus Caritas Est. The encyclical is divided into two distinct but interconnected parts: The first part provides a theological and philosophical reflection on the different dimensions of love. Here, Pope Benedict explores the distinction between eros (human love marked by desire) and agape (divine love that is self-giving and sacrificial). The second part focused on the practical implementation of Christian love. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that charity is a responsibility, constituting a constitutive part of the Church's identity, alongside the celebration of Sacraments and the proclamation of the Word. Pope Benedict then distinguishes between the just ordering of society and the State, which is a central responsibility of politics, and the role of the Church, which provides acts of charity fueled by God's love.
The first reading from today's scripture is taken from the First Letter of John, specifically the verse “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words are the exact words that inspired the Deus Caritas Est, which was promulgated twenty years ago. Twenty years later, it is relevant for us to reflect on the world we live in today. There is always a push to make the Church take up a political battle for a just society. But as Pope Benedict XVI said, the Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to create the most just society possible because the Church cannot and must not replace the State. Politics must achieve a just and humane society, but not the Church. Nonetheless, the Church must still play a part in the fight for justice, through rational arguments to bring openness of mind and will.