CHAPTER FIVE

SERVING
THE GOSPEL OF HOPE

“I know your works, your love and faith and service
and patient endurance” (Rev 2:19)

The way of love

83. The word which the Spirit speaks to the Churches contains a judgment about their life. It concerns facts and forms of conduct. “I know your works” is the introduction which, like a refrain with minor variations, appears in the letters written to the seven Churches. If those works prove positive, it is because they are the result of effort, constancy, endurance in trial and tribulation, poverty, fidelity in time of persecution, charity, faith and service. The letters can thus be read as the description of a Church which, even more than proclaiming and celebrating the salvation which comes to her from the Lord, concretely “lives” it.

In order to serve the Gospel of hope, the Church in Europe is also called to follow the path of love. This path takes the form of a charity which evangelizes, a broad gamut of commitments in the service of others, and a decision for a generosity which is persevering and knows no limits.