"God is Love"

Pope Benedict's First Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" was published yesterday.

As if you didn't know, right?

I'm sure you've all seen the usual excerpts from other Christian News Agencies and Catholic Bloggers. If you're catching up like me, Happy Catholic offers an excellent round-up of Catholic Bloggers' responses here.

This requires a more careful reflection than I have time for right now. For the moment, let me say this: I can't imagine a more timely topic for a Papal encyclical than this one. The Opposite Legions of the Enemy--Islamofascism and the Dictatorship of Relativism--flank civilization and eclipse the light. Our cultures and societies lose sight of who God truly is. Pope Benedict has chosen to shout from the rooftops what the Apostle John proclaimed long ago:

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16).

We all desperately need to experience this message and so believe it that it becomes part of our very being. May Deus Caritas Est help us all to do just that.