Let Love Speak : Reflections on Renewal in the Irish Church

n the opening words of his first encyclical, Deus Caritas est, Pope Benedict XVI focuses on 'the heart of the Christian faith', drawing inspiration from St John's words, 'God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him'. Reflecting on Deus Caritas est, Bishop Donal Murray says that in the crisis that we in Ireland are experiencing, in Church, in State, in many institutions, it would be easy to feel swamped and disheartened, but that we can find meaning and inspiration in the heart of Christian faith. The reflections in Let Love Speak seek to look at a number of aspects of a changing Ireland in the light of the central truth about God who is love and whose Word took flesh and lived among us.

Recognising these fundamental truths in our encounter with the Word made flesh, Bishop Murray believes, is where renewal begins.