BY Ian Dunn | February 7 | 
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‘Let us be concerned for each other’
In his Lenten message, Pope Benedict XVI says that 'indifference and disinterest' should not be passed off as respect for privacy. Link to full message below.
In his Lenten message, Pope Benedict XVI calls on Catholics everywhere ‘not to remain isolated and indifferent’ to the fate of others.
Materialism and a sense of self-sufficiency are obstacles to a Christian life of charity, the Pope says before adding that God’s commandment to love ‘demands that we acknowledge our responsibility toward those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God.’ He added that ‘indifference and disinterest’ should not be passed off as respect for privacy.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the office that handles the Pope’s charitable giving, and Mgr Segundo Tejado Munoz, the council’s undersecretary, presented the annual Lenten message during a Vatican news conference today.
The cardinal highlighted the Holy Father’s call for ‘fraternal correction’ and the Church’s prophetic mission in denouncing situations of injustice and poverty in the world. The true root of the world’s injustices stems from ignoring or denying God’s existence, Cardinal Sarah said. By not acknowledging there is a creator and Lord who is greater than man, society degenerates into a ‘conflictual individualism’ and a struggle of one person against another.
The theme of the 2012 Lenten message was taken from St Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”
Concern for others, the Pope says, means wanting what is good physically, morally and spiritually for one’s neighbour. But he noted that contemporary culture ‘seems to have lost the sense of good and evil.’
“There is a real need to reaffirm that good does exist and will prevail,” the Holy Father says, defining good as ‘whatever gives, protects and promotes life, brotherhood and communion.’
Pope Benedict adds that time is precious and people must not become lukewarm about performing good works and using their God-given spiritual and material riches for the benefit of others.
In a world ‘which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works,’ he says.
— To read the full text of the Pope’s message at click here.
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