miniZibaldone

Baptism commits Christians to participating courageously in the spreading of the Kingdom of God, if need be cooperating with the sacrifice of life itself. Of course, not everyone is called to martyrdom by bloodshed. In fact, there is a non-bloody "martyrdom" which is equally significant...this is the silent and heroic witness of so many Christians who live the Gospel without compromise, doing their duty and dedicating themselves generously to the service of the poor.  This martyrdom of ordinary life constitutes a particularly important witness in the secularized society of our time. It is the peaceful battle of love. —Benedict XVI

From "Letter #16, 2016: Emeritus Pope Benedict Grants an Interview" Inside the Vatican The Christian Faith Is Not An Idea But A Life (Full text of a recent interview with Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI) From the Osservatore Romano, March 17, 2016 We publish here the full text of the interview with Benedict XVI in the book Through Faith: Doctrine of Justification and Experience of God in the Preaching of the Church and the Spiritual Exercises by Jesuit Fr. Daniel Libanori (Cinisello Balsamo, Edizioni San Paolo, 2016, 208 pages, € 20) in which the retired Pope speaks of the centrality of compassion in the Christian faith. The volume contains the proceedings of a conference that took place last October in Rome. As noted by Filippo Rizzi of Avvenire on March 16, who published excerpts from the interview, the conductor of the interview (whose name does not appear in the book) was the Jesuit Jacques Servais, a student of Hans Urs von Balthasar and scholar of his works....