5. In some respects, my venerable predecessor saw this
Year as a “consequence and a necessity of the postconciliar period”, fully conscious of the grave difficulties of the time,
especially with regard to the profession of the true faith and its correct
interpretation. It seemed to me that timing the launch of the Year of Faith to
coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican
Council would provide a good opportunity to help people understand that the
texts bequeathed by the Council Fathers, in the words of Blessed John Paul II,
“have lost nothing of their value or
brilliance. They need to be read correctly, to be widely known and taken
to heart as important and normative texts of the Magisterium, within the
Church's Tradition ... I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the
Council as the great grace
bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a
sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning.” I would also like to emphasize strongly what I had
occasion to say concerning the Council a few months after my election as
Successor of Peter: “if we interpret and implement it guided by a right
hermeneutic, it can be and can become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary
renewal of the Church.”
6. The renewal of the Church is also achieved through the
witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the
world, Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus
has left us. The Council itself, in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen
Gentium, said this: While “Christ, ‘holy, innocent and undefiled’ (Heb 7:26) knew nothing of sin
(cf. 2 Cor 5:21), but
came only to expiate the sins of the people (cf. Heb 2:17)... the Church ... clasping sinners to its bosom,
at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of
penance and renewal. The Church, ‘like a stranger in a foreign land, presses
forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God’,
announcing the cross and death of the Lord until he comes (cf. 1 Cor 11:26). But by the power
of the risen Lord it is given strength to overcome, in patience and in love,
its sorrow and its difficulties, both those that are from within and those that
are from without, so that it may reveal in the world, faithfully, although with
shadows, the mystery of its Lord until, in the end, it shall be manifested in
full light.”
The Year of Faith, from this perspective, is a summons to
an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world.
In the mystery of his death and resurrection, God has revealed in its fullness
the Love that saves and calls us to conversion of life through the forgiveness
of sins (cf. Acts 5:31).
For Saint Paul, this Love ushers us into a new life: “We were buried ... with
him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Through faith, this
new life shapes the whole of human existence according to the radical new
reality of the resurrection. To the extent that he freely cooperates, man’s
thoughts and affections, mentality and conduct are slowly purified and
transformed, on a journey that is never completely finished in this life.
“Faith working through love” (Gal 5:6)
becomes a new criterion of understanding and action that changes the whole of
man’s life (cf. Rom 12:2; Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:20-29; 2 Cor 5:17).Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Col 3:9-10: Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Eph 4:20-29: That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
2 Cor 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
My thoughts: Pope
Benedict XVI tells us that it is time for us to learn our faith. The
misunderstandings and false statements being made about our beautiful faith
today must be countered by knowledgeable facts. We must take time this year to
rediscover the truth about who we are as Catholics. Begin today by meditating
on the above Bible passages, and make a commitment to spend this year of faith
becoming a truly faith-filled lover and follower of Jesus Christ.
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