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   LOVE IS THE PATH TO ETERNAL LIFE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 26 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus today Benedict XVI   
   turned his attention to this Sunday's Gospel narrative of the rich man and the   
   poor Lazarus. While the former lives in selfish luxury and, when he dies, goes   
   to hell, Lazarus, who eats the crumbs from the rich man's table, at his death   
   is carried by the angels to an eternal dwelling with God.   
      
   "This parable", the Pope told faithful gathered in the courtyard of the   
   Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo, "tells us two things: firstly, that God   
   loves the poor and raises them from their abjection; secondly, that our eternal   
   destiny is dependent upon our behaviour, it is up to us to follow the path God   
   has shown us in order to achieve life, and this path is love, understood not as   
   an emotion but as service to others in the charity of Christ".   
      
   The Holy Father then went on to recall the fact that tomorrow marks the feast   
   day and the 350th anniversary of the death of St. Vincent de Paul, patron of   
   Catholic charity organisations. "In seventeenth-century France he personally   
   experienced the great contrast between rich and poor. As a priest he was able   
   to frequent aristocratic circles, the countryside and the deprived areas of   
   Paris. Encouraged by Christ's love, Vincent de Paul organised regular forms of   
   service to the marginalised, creating the ... 'Charitees'; that is, groups of   
   women who dedicated their time and goods to helping the poorest".   
      
   In this context, the Pope made specific mention of St. Louise de Marillac who,   
   together with Vincent de Paul, founded the Daughters of Charity, "the first   
   female congregation to live their consecration 'in the world', among the   
   people, serving the sick and the needy".   
      
   "Only Love with a capital 'L' brings true happiness!", the Holy Father   
   exclaimed. "This was also made evident by another witness, who was proclaimed   
   blessed here in Rome yesterday. I am talking about Chiara Badano, an Italian   
   girl born in 1971 who died of an illness when she was just under nineteen, but   
   who was a ray of light to everyone, as her nickname says: Chiara Luce".   
      
   The beatification of Chiara Badano, who was a member of the Focolari Movement,   
   the Pope concluded, "is a feast day for all young people, who may see in her an   
   example of Christian coherence".   
   ANG/VIS 20100927 (400)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
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