Volunteering for service, without selfish motives, can make one healthier and can even add more years to one's life. Empathy and generosity can reduce stress and increase the feeling of peace. Jesus' new commandment to love one's neighbour, therefore, contains a truth that is to be accepted and practised. The depths of our being reveal God's law. We are not to live for ourselves alone but are, with Christ, to be for others. By being for others, we share in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has explicitly, through his historical words, deeds and presence, revealed the fullness of the truth of our human existence.

By allowing God's merciful love to flow out from our life, we incarnate the Spirit of Jesus Christ here and now for others. This merciful love goes beyond fulfilling the demands of justice. It is not motivated by selfish reasons but, being rooted in Christ, it generates a new fraternal communion that goes beyond natural family bonds, ethnic and national belongings. The quality of this binding love is sustained by union with Christ and by remaining in him. A deep personal communication with God in Christ through a communitarian life transforms a person into God's image before others.