Zagreb, (IKA) – Caritas Sunday is intended to stir Christians and all persons of good will to effective love, stated the president of Croatian Caritas, Bishop Josip Mrzljak, in his Pastoral Letter for Caritas Sunday, that will be commemorated on the third Sunday of Advent, December 17, He noted that this year’s Caritas Sunday has taken its theme from the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas est ─ God is Love. The entire second section of the Pope’s encyclical is devoted to Caritas and is entitled “Caritas ─ The Practice of Love by the Church as a ‘Community of Love.’” In this section, the Pope emphasizes that charitable work is a responsibility of the Church and love of one’s neighbor is grounded in the love of God, in the first place, and the responsibility of the entire ecclesial community at every level. The fullness of love is realized in concrete deeds, and this is the fundamental function of the Church. The Church has the obligation of transmitting God’s love to the world and sharing it.

In Bishop Mrzljak’s message, he emphasized that the parish communities are privileged places for the life and activities of Christians such as the proclamation of the Word of God and the liturgy, as well as for charity. “We ask ourselves the question: how many of our parishes are “inns” of the Good Samaritan, and how many indifferently pass by the “person who has fallen into misfortune.” From experience, we know that Caritas encounters many difficulties in integrating itself with the pastoral plans of many parishes,” cautioned the bishop, urging the faithful not to forget that catechesis and liturgy which are not translated into an authentic life of effective love and the mission of providing testimony in the world community and brotherhood are at risk of sterility. The testimony of effective love, if it is not supported by contemplation and faith, is transformed into mere assistance and good works, he noted. “If we do not live as Christians every day and do not share in the spirit of justice and love, then we are not fulfilling our duty, which is to accept the “news” that we are Christians in order to renew society in the light of the Gospel of effective love. Without this testimony, the great hope of our time disappears. Without this testimony of love, our neighbors in need remain alone, abandoned and forgotten,” stated the bishop.

Speaking of Marxism, which criticized the charitable activity of the Church, asserting that the poor do not need charity but justice, the Pope tells us: “It is true that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state and that the aim of a just social order is to guarantee to each person, according to the principle of subsidiarity, his share of the community#!s goods.” Citing the words of St. Augustine, who said a state which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves, the Pope emphasized the role of the Church in the formation of conscience in political life and the stimulation of greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice. Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means unto itself for achieving ideological changes in the world, nor is it in the service of world strategies, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man always needs, stated the pastoral letter from the president of Croatian Caritas.

As Christians, he added, we have the right to engage in the re-examination of political and social decisions that determine social relations and the manner in which they affect the poor. The moral examination of the society of which we are a part is in how we relate in our decisions to our most vulnerable members: women, children, the elderly, the sick, the handicapped, the unemployed, workers whose labor rights are violated or short-changed, addicts etc.,said the bishop, emphasizing that there are many forms and opportunities for charitable activity in parishes and other communities. “Love is an invention . . .” but it is necessary to have it.