Lumen Fidei. Lumen Fidei. Lumen Fidei. The Light of Faith 1. Lumen Fidei: On Faith. Manete in me, et ego in te

Transcription

1 The Light of Faith 1 Manete in me, et ego in te The desire for human intimacy-- to see myself through the Other s mirror and you to reflect your full face to me-- is the quest by which you draw us nearer. To know you as subject and thus be known is intimacy indeed. I ve the will and pray for the grace your Self to be shown; our desire for communion to fulfill. As now you in my wide open eyes gaze I ll gaze on you, all separation erase. To ease our souls perpetual malaise, to Thou unreserved I give my embrace. Turn, my love, and unreserved embrace me to dissolve into me and I into thee. 2 : On Faith 3

2 ...faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence (4). Faith is the willingness to let ourselves be constantly transformed and renewed by God s call (13). Faith is about encounter and conversion, call and response. 4 Faith is not only presented as a journey but also as a process of building (50)....not simply [to] brighten the interior of the Church, nor...serve solely to build the eternal city...it helps us build our societies in such a way that they can journey towards a future of hope (51). 5 Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time...it is a light coming from the past...is also a light coming from the future and opening up before us vast horizons which guide us beyond our isolated selves toward the breadth of communion (4). 6

3 Faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself see them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing (18). 7 Love cannot be reduced to an ephemeral emotion. True, it engages our affectivity, but in order to open it to the beloved and this to blaze a trail leading away from self-centeredness and towards another person...love aims at union with the beloved (27). 8 Faith and Reason: Hearing and Seeing truth leads to humility, since believers know that, rather than ourselves possessing truth, it is truth which embraces us and possesses us. Far from making us inflexible, the security of faith sets us on a journey; it enables us to witness and dialogue with all (34). 9

4 Those who have opened their hearts to God s love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves. Since faith is hearing and seeing, it is also handed on as word and light (37). 10 Because faith is born of an encounter which takes place in history and lights up our journey through time, it must be passed on in every age (38). The Church is a Mother who teaches us to speak the language of faith (38). 11 what is communicated in the Church, what is handed down in her living Tradition, is the new light born of an encounter with the true God, a light which touches us at the core of our being and engages our minds, wills and emotions, opening us to relationships lived in communion (38). 12

5 the sacraments, celebrated in the Church s liturgy, communicate an incarnate memory, linked to the times and places of our lives, linked to all our senses...in which visible and material realities are seen to point beyond themselves to the mystery of the eternal (40). 13 The transmission of faith occurs first and foremost in baptism...the God who called Abraham and wished to be called his God, the God who revealed his name to Moses, the God who, in giving us his Son, revealed fully the mystery of his Name, now bestows upon the baptized a new filial identity (41-42). 14 This change which takes place in baptism helps us to appreciate the singular importance of the catechumenate...for the new evangelization (42). We all should be sponsors! four elements which comprise the storehouse of memory which the Church hands down (46). 15

6 Faith and Family, Society (52-54). Because it sets every event in relationship to the origin and destiny of all things in the Father...Faith...by revealing the love of God the Creator, enables us to respect nature all the more, and to discern in it a grammar written by the hand of God and a dwelling place entrusted to our protection and care (55). 16 Mother, help our faith! Open our ears to hear God s word and to recognize his voice and call. Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise. Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith. Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially in times of trial, 17...beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may the light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord. 18