The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbor is emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbor or hate him altogether. Saint John's words should rather be interpreted to mean that love of neighbor is a path that leads to the encounter with God, and that closing our eyes to our neighbor also blinds us to God.
Pope Benedict XVIGod is alive. He has created every one of us, and he knows us all. He is so great that He has time for the little things in our lives: โEvery hair of your head is numberedโ. God is alive, and makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time.
Pope Benedict XVIArt is elemental. Reason alone as it's expressed in the sciences can't be man's complete answer to reality, and it can't express everything that man can, wants to, and has to express. I think God built this into man. Art along with science is the highest gift God has given him.
Pope Benedict XVIWe are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.
Pope Benedict XVIThere is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.
Pope Benedict XVIDo not be afraid of seeming different and being criticized for what might seem to be losing or out of fashion; your peers but adults too, especially those who seem more distant from the mindset and values of the Gospel, are crying out to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity revealed by Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict XVI