Gustave Thibon used to say: "It is not the light that is lacking in our gaze, but our gaze that is lacking in the light" (Nuestra mirada ciega ante la luz, ed. Rialp 1973). He could also have said something like this: it is not the strength and life of God that is lacking in our heart, but our heart that is lacking in that strength and life. God's life is given to us as a torrent that seeks to transform our life, so often blind and weak.

All this may be happening with the encyclical "Caritas in veritate" (June 29, 2010), which is celebrating its first anniversary at this time.

It is an anniversary that has passed, in fact, quite unnoticed. And this, paradoxically, should not fail to attract attention. Especially in contrast to the reaction to Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, which is logical, since topic was unexpected and its treatment, integrating eros with agape, was novel for many. However, something fundamental has not been grasped: the deepening and practical impulse to live love and truth in the social sphere, particularly in the present circumstances of globalization and crisis.

The encyclical, therefore, did not intend to propose "novelties" of a theoretical subject nature in the Social Doctrine, but to promote, in depth, the life of charity, in coherence with the Gospel and the Natural Law.

In "Deus caritas est" we saw an appeal to Christian life from the fundamental root of love. Why is it that now we have not seen a similar appeal in the repercussion of the same thing in society?

Perhaps the document has been read too little, too quickly, or with the prejudice that it would deal with "more of the same"; perhaps because in the two previous encyclicals, topics that attracted attention or were approached from an original perspective were addressed in the foreground; But it is likely that the same "charges of depth" that were not fully grasped at the time have yet to burst forth in the minds and hearts of many, who are a bit asleep, numb or accustomed to comfortably considering the things of social life through a prism already known and which, deep down, there is little interest in changing.

In psychopathology, the sensations of "déjà vu" (already seen) and "déjà vecu" (already lived) are described, which can happen at some time to anyone, but which, if repeated frequently, denote a basic illness that needs to be investigated. Perhaps our western civilization suffers too often from these symptoms and needs an effective medicine.
Perhaps there is an unconscious tendency to consider "social" as an area that exclusively affects politicians, businessmen and economists, without realizing that society is built by all of us and that social issues require a committed response from every Christian. It is not only a matter of "understanding" the social dimension of the person and of the Christian, but of "living" in deed what the encyclical proposes. And what does it propose?

In a synthetic way we could say: it proposes to believe in love and to put it into practice; to know and be open to the Gospel as the main force of development for people and cultures; to live charity in truth, together with all noble human values.

In the present circumstances of globalization and crisis, this encyclical is a torrent of light and strength that is still waiting to be met with deeds.