Blog of Q's

From the encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, #30 b: Church
agencies, with their transparent operation and their faithfulness to the duty of
witnessing to love, are able to give a Christian quality to the civil agencies
too, favouring a mutual coordination that can only redound to the effectiveness
of charitable service.

Numerous organizations for charitable or
philanthropic purposes have also been established and these are committed to
achieving adequate humanitarian solutions to the social and political problems
of the day. Significantly, our time has also seen the growth and spread of
different kinds of volunteer work, which assume responsibility for providing a
variety of services. I wish here to offer a special word of
gratitude and appreciation to all those who take part in these activities in
whatever way. For young people, this widespread involvement constitutes a school
of life which offers them a formation in solidarity and in readiness to offer
others not simply material aid but their very selves. The anti-culture of death,
which finds expression for example in drug use, is thus countered by an
unselfish love which shows itself to be a culture of life by the very
willingness to “lose itself” (cf. Lk 17:33 et passim) for others.