Pope says service to others is touchstone of our faith

(April 3, 2009) The authenticity of our fidelity to the Gospel is tested on the basis of our attention and concrete solicitude towards our neighbour, especially the weakest and the marginalized. Pope Benedict made the remark on Friday while addressing members of “Circolo San Pietro” group of Rome who handed him the annual Peter’s Pence collection made in parishes of Rome for his charity. Members of the group also engage in charitable works such as running soup kitchens and providing clothes for the needy and offering accommodation to needy female university students and families who come from far to have their children treated at Rome’s Bambino Jesù children’s hospital. Pope Benedict said that charitable service carried out in numerous ways becomes a privileged form of evangelization in the light of Jesus’ teaching who regarded as done to Him whatever was done to the least and forgotten of our brethren. “In order that our service is not merely philanthropy, which is useful and worthwhile, one needs to charge it with constant prayer and trust in God,” the Pope said. Thus the “loving support offered to others,” he said, “is translated in participation and sharing in their hopes and suffering, thereby rendering visible and almost tangible, on the one hand the infinite mercy of God for every human being and on the other, our faith in Him.”