Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Devotion for today: The Catechism of the Catholic Church: a systematic and organic synthesis of the faith

In today’s section of Pope Benedict XVI’s letter declaring the Opening of the Year of Faith, he addresses the importance of reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

11. In order to arrive at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith, all can find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool. It is one of the most important fruits of the Second Vatican Council. In the Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum, signed, not by accident, on the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Blessed John Paul II wrote: “this catechism will make a very important contribution to that work of renewing the whole life of the Church ... I declare it to be a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion and a sure norm for teaching the faith.”

It is in this sense that that the Year of Faith will have to see a concerted effort to rediscover and study the fundamental content of the faith that receives its systematic and organic synthesis in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here, in fact, we see the wealth of teaching that the Church has received, safeguarded and proposed in her two thousand years of history. From Sacred Scripture to the Fathers of the Church, from theological masters to the saints across the centuries, the Catechism provides a permanent record of the many ways in which the Church has meditated on the faith and made progress in doctrine so as to offer certitude to believers in their lives of faith.

In its very structure, the Catechism of the Catholic Church follows the development of the faith right up to the great themes of daily life. On page after page, we find that what is presented here is no theory, but an encounter with a Person who lives within the Church. The profession of faith is followed by an account of sacramental life, in which Christ is present, operative and continues to build his Church. Without the liturgy and the sacraments, the profession of faith would lack efficacy, because it would lack the grace which supports Christian witness. By the same criterion, the teaching of the Catechism on the moral life acquires its full meaning if placed in relationship with faith, liturgy and prayer.

12. In this Year, then, the Catechism of the Catholic Church will serve as a tool providing real support for the faith, especially for those concerned with the formation of Christians, so crucial in our cultural context. To this end, I have invited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, by agreement with the competent Dicasteries of the Holy See, to draw up a Note, providing the Church and individual believers with some guidelines on how to live this Year of Faith in the most effective and appropriate ways, at the service of belief and evangelization.

To a greater extent than in the past, faith is now being subjected to a series of questions arising from a changed mentality which, especially today, limits the field of rational certainties to that of scientific and technological discoveries. Nevertheless, the Church has never been afraid of demonstrating that there cannot be any conflict between faith and genuine science, because both, albeit via different routes, tend towards the truth.

My thoughts: Many people ran out and bought the Catechism when it first appeared 20 years ago. Many people mistakenly placed it on a bookshelf and never looked at it again, much as they did with their Bibles. Well, if you are one of those people, this is the year to take it off the shelf, along with your Bible, and begin to read it. The majority of Catholics today really don’t know what their faith is about, and what they don’t know can and will hurt them. Most Catholics know the Church’s position on public issues; they basically know what they can and can’t do, and they know that being “Catholic” means practicing a different kind of “Christianity” from Protestants. If you were trying to firmly understand a person, or a political party, or the family of a new dating partner, would that be enough information to cause you to believe in them? I think not. The time is here to begin to really learn why the Church teaches what it teaches; where it gets its ideas on what is right and what is wrong; what its history and traditions are; why Catholics should love Jesus so much that Sunday Mass would not be an obligation, but a weekly chance to meet with their beloved, to feast at the greatest banquet table of all time, to receive the Bread of Life, to hear God’s love letters proclaimed to them. Enter into the world of God by grabbing your Catechism and Bible, and let God begin to speak to you. Enter into the world of Truth.

Prayer: Prayer of St. Augustine (354-430)
O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee, the life of the souls that love thee, and the strength of the wills that serve thee; help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee; so to love thee that we may fully serve thee, whom to serve is perfect freedom.

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and let your angels protect those who sleep.  Tend the sick.  Refresh the weary.  Sustain the dying.  Calm the suffering.  Pity the distressed.  We ask this for the sake of your love.

Lord Jesus, our Saviour, let us come to you.
Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love.
Our hearts are sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood.
Our hearts are weak; strengthen them with our joyous Spirit.
Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine presence.
Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours; possess them always and only for yourself.

 

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