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Love Is For The Brave

The document discusses how love, especially love for the poor and vulnerable, is the distinguishing mark of Christians. It summarizes St. John Paul II's teaching that true Christian values involve serving the weak rather than seeking power, pleasure, or wealth. Several passages from the Bible emphasize that love is the most important Christian virtue and should be shown through charitable actions. The document then gives examples of how the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and its parishes partner with other organizations to provide humanitarian aid programs for families in need, such as health clinics and childcare services. It argues that advocating for the poor through charitable works is the true expression of Christian love.

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Ambrosio Valerio Rojas
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181 views3 pages

Love Is For The Brave

The document discusses how love, especially love for the poor and vulnerable, is the distinguishing mark of Christians. It summarizes St. John Paul II's teaching that true Christian values involve serving the weak rather than seeking power, pleasure, or wealth. Several passages from the Bible emphasize that love is the most important Christian virtue and should be shown through charitable actions. The document then gives examples of how the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and its parishes partner with other organizations to provide humanitarian aid programs for families in need, such as health clinics and childcare services. It argues that advocating for the poor through charitable works is the true expression of Christian love.

Uploaded by

Ambrosio Valerio Rojas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Love is for the Brave

(782 Words)

"The distinguishing mark of the Christian, today more than ever, must be love for the poor, the
weak and the suffering. Living this demanding commitment requires a total reversal of the
supposed values that make people seek only their good: power, pleasure, the unscrupulous
accumulation of wealth. Yes, it is precise to this radical conversion that Christ's disciples are
called".

St. John Paul II

The quote "The distinguishing mark of the Christian" led us to reflect on our disposition to
service, which must be the way of all who lives by the word of Jesus. This disposition promotes
the love for the suffering and helpless brothers and sisters. And must be generated from a
commitment to protect our neighbors as ourselves in their weaknesses and difficulties.

John (Jn1 4-8) says that "Charity is the supernatural virtue by which we love God above all
things and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God", making us to realize that this love
turns us into Christians and is manifested under the practice of charity which is an endless action,
especially when St. Paul expresses that it "does not end with our earthly life, but in eternal life,
we shall live charity continually" (1 Cor. 13, 13; and 13, 87).

Today we can see how charity and goodwill are running through various humanitarian programs
that are focused to help and protect the weakest and most vulnerable communities. And as a
principle of Church social justice doctrine is one of the most relevant practices which should be
professed on a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith" (1 Timothy 1:5).

There are non-governmental organizations that carry out these programs worldwide and the
Church as active social agent partners with these groups to bring care to the weak and helpless.

This is the case of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, which through the Ministry for Migrants and
Refugees (AMMR), the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) in collaboration with the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Living Waters Community, the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Children's Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, had
been executing humanitarian aid programmes for these communities in the whole country.

Established in 2018, and through twenty-seven parishes (PMMRs) so far, the AMMR has been
able to roll out programs of assistance to all families in need. Aid goes from the Primary Medical
Care Contact with its "Meet the Doctor" sessions and Legal Aid Clinics, to others such as the
Child-Friendly Spaces and the Alternative Care Program, both in collaboration with UNICEF. In
all these activities the work of these parishes has an important relevance, because it is they who
stimulate its effectiveness and use by those most in need.

From these kinds of actions, we can affirm that faith cannot be separated from charity towards
the poorest and weakest, and that the words of St. John Paul II keep alive the meaning of
Timothy's pure heart and Psalm 82:3 where it is advocates the protection of them. Followed by
the meaning of love in the reminiscence described by St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians,
"Love is... helpful... does not boast... does not seek its interest... does not consider the harm it has
received...". We might to understand that advocacy for the poor must come from the action of
love.
On the other side, understanding our role as servants of social care leads us to reflect that a part
of us echoes St. Paul's service to the most vulnerable when he says that "You know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9). Calling us to practice charity under the action of the
love professed by Jesus. This is where the whole Catholic community is invited to take an active
role in the charity, integrating and contributing voluntarily to these different programs that the
Church promotes.

To conclude, it is important to emphasize that the distinctive mark of the Catholic Christian must
protect the poor, the weak and the vulnerable and practice the meaning of the word love in its
fullest expression every day by the action of charity, taking apart any kind of particular desires
out of our actions, to achieve that we must to encourage ourselves into that conversion. Only in
this way, with humility and compassion, we can say that love is an act that is for the braves.

To learn more about the AMMR and CCSJ care programs, we invite you to visit our websites at
https://rcsocialjustice.org/

https://rcsocialjustice.org/?page_id=43

Ambrosio A. Valerio Rojas

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