Believing in love. Such is the proposal of Benedict XVI in this last Lent of his pontificate, already bittersweet for so many people. At the same time, as is clear to those who have closely followed his steps as Pope, believing in love is the proposal that represents the exercise of his ministry.

It is the proposal that he began by exposing, in his first encyclical, that God is love, in a novel way that had an impact on Christians and non-Christians alike. And then, throughout his oral and written teachings, that central message has been gaining in intensity, like a sonata that repeats the background topic , but enriching it as the score progresses, more and more intensely.

Precisely because he personally believes in love, he has been able to strengthen the unity and faith of Christians, to open the world more to God and to open us all more to love.

This is difficult, it will be said, because love is, in many circles, a worn-out word, and it participates little or not at all in certain activities that bear its name. And yet, in Christianity, love is the synthesis and the fruit, the life and the test of faith.. This is why the Pope proposes to truly believe in love, despite the difficulties; for, as the message says, "believing in charity gives rise to charity".

The message for this Lent has four points. The first explains that faith is a response to God's love (cf. 1 Jn 4:16). A response which, as Benedict XVI points out, is both a response of faith and of love on our part. It implies at the same time intelligence, will and feeling. And it is not only an "act" but also a process, which must never be finished (cf. Deus caritas est, nn. 1 and 17). It includes love of neighbor, as a consequence, "not as a commandment, so to speak, imposed from without". It is light and impetus for action (cf. Ibid. 39). And for all this, he says, it is clear that "the principal characteristic attitude of Christians is precisely 'love founded on faith and shaped by it' (ibid., 7)".

Second, if faith is the response to God's love, this response is based on faith and takes the form of faith: it is what we call charity. Charity is "life in faith". An existence, as we have already seen, enlightened, full of meaning, filled with wonder and gratitude, which is translated into action.

What subject of action? It is not a matter of a strenuous effort to imitate divine generosity by doing the things of everyday life - attention to the family, the work, social relations, etc. - according to the law of "more difficult still"; but rather in accepting that love that makes us live in a new way (cf. Gal 2:20).

This is how the Pope puts it: "To open ourselves to his love means to let him live.

in us and leads us to love with him, in him and like him; only then does our faith truly come 'to act through charity' (Gal 5:6) and he dwells in us (cf. 1 Jn 4:12)". And so we find the relationship between faith, charity and truth. Charity is to walk in the truth of faith, to live it, to practice it, to make it bear fruit.

It is already seen -thirdly- that faith and charity are indissolubly united in authentic Christian life. in the authentic Christian life. There is no faith without the works that are its fruits. There are no works of charity that make faith useless. "For a healthy spiritual life," Benedict XVI maintains, "it is necessary to shun both fideism and moralistic activism. The advertisement of Christ leads, through love, to promote the integral development for humanity and for each person.

And what does Lent have to do with this? "Lent," he writes, "with the traditional indications for the Christian life, invites us precisely to nourish our faith through a more attentive and prolonged listening of the Word of God and participation in the sacraments and, at the same time, to grow in charity, in love of God and neighbor, also through the concrete indications of fasting, penance and almsgiving".

Fourth and last point, it concludes by recognizing the priority of faith and the primacy of charity. the priority of faith and the primacy of charity. Through faith we look to the future and with hope we trust in the victory of love. And through charity, the Holy Spirit makes us share in Jesus' love for the Father and his brothers and sisters. "Faith," the Pope affirms, "precedes charity, but it reveals itself to be genuine only if it culminates in it. Only in this way does it attain the truth.

An expression of faith made life, made charity, is the decision Benedict XVI made, with courage and simplicity, to resign from his ministry. He looks to the future with hope, without thinking himself indispensable; because he knows, as he has said on various occasions, that the Church is God's, and not ours. And so he prays for his successor, whom the Holy Spirit will know how to find.

This is the path that Lent indicated to usThe Pope's invitation is supported by his own conduct: to rekindle faith in Christ in order to participate in his love. That is, in Christianity, "to believe in love".