Last month, Pope Benedict XVI issued an apostolic letter called Porta Fidei (The door of faith). Since his election as the 265th successor of Saint Peter, the German Pontiff has been constantly promoting initiatives that directly address “the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ” (§ 2).
Bearing this noble intent in mind, he decided to personally announce a Year of Faith that will begin in October 2012, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and conclude on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King, on 24 November 2013.
What does this journey of discovery imply? The first necessary qualification for unearthing our faith is an invitation for a genuine and renewed conversion to our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks to the mystery of his death and resurrection, God the Father has revealed the fullness of his love that essentially saves and urges us to conversion of life by means of the forgiveness of sins. As the letter to the Romans says: “We were buried therefore 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). Conversion is a lifelong project. “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” (§ 6). A second qualification the Pope offers us is a general reflection on the faith which incorporates bishops, priests, families, religious communities and parishes. The Holy Father said that “reflection on the faith will have to be intensified, so as to help all believers in Christ to acquire a more conscious and vigorous adherence to the Gospel, especially at a time of profound change such as humanity is currently experiencing” (§ 8).
In Porta Fidei, Benedict XVI sketches an interesting path that is “intended to help us understand more profoundly not only the content of the faith, but also the act by which we choose to entrust ourselves fully to God, in complete freedom” (§ 10). First, there is an assent of faith that stems from one’s personal decision in his heart to follow the Lord. Second, the confessing of the lips shows that faith entails public witness and commitment. The profession of faith is an ecclesial act. Third, knowledge of the faith is vital in order for one to understand clearly what he is assenting to. Thus, the ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church’ is a valuable and crucial instrument for that matter. As Blessed John Paul wrote in Fidei Depositum: “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.”
Fourth, knowledge of the faith also implies “retracing the history of our faith, marked as it is by the unfathomable mystery of the interweaving of holiness and sin” (§ 13). The figures of Mary, the apostles, the disciples, the martyrs, men and women in consecrated life as well as countless number of Christians who bore witness to their faith in the family, workplace, public life and the exercise of charisms and ministries, all attest that living the Christian faith is indeed possible.
Fifth, the Year of Faith will be a splendid occasion to increase and strengthen the witness of charity. “Through faith, we can recognise the face of the risen Lord in those who ask for our love. ‘As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’” (Matt 25, 40) (§ 14). Sixth, perseverance in our journey of faith since “the life of Christians knows the experience of joy as well as the experience of suffering” (§ 15).
Is it not cool to be and live as a Christian?
Mario Attard OFM Cap