Vatican City, Nov 11, 2011 / 13:15 pm
Pope Benedict XVI says that Christian volunteer efforts should not merely be “an expression of good will” but should be “based on a personal experience of Christ.”
“He was the first to serve humanity, he freely gave his life for the good of all. That gift was not based on our merits. From this we learn that God gives us himself. More than that: Deus Caritas est – God is love,” he said.
The Pope made his remarks Nov. 11 at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. He was speaking to a group of around 160 Catholic volunteer workers from 25 countries who are in Rome for a two-day meeting marking the European Union’s Year of Volunteering.
The Pope told them that their experience of God’s generous love should “challenge us and liberate us,” to adopt “the same attitude towards our brothers and sisters: ‘you received without paying, give without pay.’”
For Catholics this is most clearly manifested in the Eucharist, where Jesus “brings together the vertical dimension of his divine gift” and the “horizontal dimension of our service to our brother and sisters.”