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# Pope Benedict XVI, papal encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
# Pope Benedict XVI, papal encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
==Quote==
==Quote==
When [[Jesus]] sent his apostles out to teach and preach the gospel, he did not send them out to introduce persons to a [[book]]. He did not attempt to educate them how to educate their hearers about the previous visits to our world by other [[celestial]] helpers who had gone astray. He did not burden the hungry of [[spirit]] with historic details or with excessive [[cosmology]] and extensive [[hierarchy]]. He taught the love of [[God]].
This is the crux of our teaching also. Love cannot be taught; it must be [[experience]]d, and love, in its [[ideal]] is learned experientially, and when it is learned it is never forgotten. A flash of [[cosmic]] [[insight]] may come upon a person as a spiritual experience which is [[unique]] for that [[individual]], and all seekers will have significant experiences, but many times, from a sense of unworthiness, some may not accept this as the touch of God and therefore may need to learn how to accept more fully the love of God in the course of living. Even this we cannot teach by ourselves but must call upon the [[Spirit of Truth]] to accompany us, and in trust of its ability to do its work, we find the [[words]] necessary to enable the Spirit of Truth to open the [[heart]]s of those who hear our words, of those who seek to know the love of God.
The love of God is simple and profound. It is a living [[reality]] that will live beyond this life in the flesh. It will transcend the difficulties of this mortal existence giving us a new [[dimension]] of appreciation for the religionist, that is to say, one who is not necessarily a scientist of [[religion]] who studies academically and [[intellectual]]ly a religious way of [[thinking]] as this is a theologian, but one who lives life as if he was having a constant and on-going spiritual experience, who incorporates Father in all that he does and all that he is.
The hunger for Father's love and direction is present in some form in all persons. It is true that many may have learned to cling to a [[truth]] that has tickled their fancy and helped lighten their burden but only the love of God will fill their [[soul]]s with that for which they hunger and thirst. For us to teach and preach the gospel then is to manifest [[divine]] love in our very lives through our [[behavior]]s and attitudes, and as active apostles of the Christ, there is responsibility and [[grace]] entailed -- and danger, yes, of a sort; excitement, certainly -- but the joy of sharing this [[knowledge]], our experience itself is our greatest gift, our testimony. This may entail our personal [[narrative|story]], over which we have some [[authority]] and conviction; it may entail our philosophic assessment as to what is going on in the world today; it may entail our praise and thanksgiving and our confidence of a happy ending to all life's challenges; it may entail any number of [[things]] and be genuine -- if it is ours.
I am reminded of the symphony and how it is that each of us are all our own instruments, musical instruments - the lute, the harp, the trumpet, the kettle drum, the violins, the piano - and each one has its own notes to play, its own [[sound]], and as each instrument obeys the leading of the Divine Conductor, the symphony is created and [[music]] is heard throughout the spheres. And so, as we minister while passing by, it is true that each will reflect their own instrument.
We do well not to compare these individual teaching and preaching techniques with others. They are different sounds emanating from different instruments. We need to know who we are and how we sound and be sensitive to the cues from the Conductor so that when we have the opportunity to play our notes, they will be clear and appropriate, as a part of the living symphony of this divine love.
==Sources==
==Sources==
*Chadwick, Henry. "Saint Augustine Confessions." Oxford University Press, 1998.
*Chadwick, Henry. "Saint Augustine Confessions." Oxford University Press, 1998.
