True Faith in God Also Requires Loving, Serving Others, Pope says
September 14, 2009 by O'Meara Ferguson
Filed under spirituality
Catholic News Service – September 14, 2009
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Being a true believer in God requires living a life of love and concrete service toward others, said Pope Benedict XVI.
It is not enough to believe Jesus is God, he said; a true Christian must also follow in Christ’s footsteps and take up his cross out of love.
The pope made his remarks during his Sunday Angelus address Sept. 13 at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
“Jesus did not come to teach us philosophy, but to show us a way, rather, the way that leads to life,” said the pope.
The road to life is love, he said, and by loving others with a pure and generous heart people demonstrate they truly have encountered and know God.
“Instead, if someone says he has faith, but he doesn’t love his brothers, then he is not a true believer. God does not live in him,” he said.
Referring to the Letter of James, the pope said that without living justly, faith in God alone will not lead to salvation.
Pope Benedict asked people to learn from Mary, the mother of God, by bearing witness to one’s faith with “a life of humble service,” ready to suffer in order to remain faithful to the Gospel of charity and truth.
