WOW!! It has been a while since I actually posted something here! I totally apologize and have every intention of changing that this year! It is my goal to have a new post up every Thursday - so keep checking back! And I figured this was the perfect Thursday to launch this new committment as today we welcome in The Year of Faith as declared by Pope Benedict!
Now, I have to be honest with you - when I saw that the theme for this year was "The Year of Faith", my mind did a little hiccup, and I thought, "Wait a minute....shouldn't EVERY year be a year of faith? Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing every day, every week, every month, and every year - living a LIFE of Faith? And of course, the answer to that is a resounding "YES!!!!".
So what's with this whole "official" Year of Faith thing than? Why do we need a special year for faith if, as Catholic Christians, we are called to live our faith all the time?
When I stopped to think about it, what I realized was that having a Year of Faith is not so much a comment on our faith as it is a comment on our culture because we live in a media driven world that has, for the most part, turned away from God.
Popular culture today screams to us that what matters, what is valuable and what makes you worthy is wealth, fame, money, beauty, success, power...the material success and transient possessions of the world. And that the "right" thing to do is whatever feels good to you, whatever gets you what you want or desire or makes you happy. That it is nobody's business what you do, say, think or feel - that your truth is your truth and no one has the right to tell you anything different. That objective truth doesn't exist. That this life is what you make of it, so you'd better make the most of it.
But at the same time, Jesus screams to us that what matters, what is valuable and what makes you worthy is simply the fact that you exist, that you are a child of God, that you are loved....the spiritual and eternal things of the Kingdom of God. He says that the right thing to do is whatever is for the benefit of others, that serves the poor and vulnerable, that is sacraficial and unselfish and makes others, and God, happy. That it is His business what you do, say, think or feel - becuase it is His truth that will bring you true happiness and radical joy. That He is Truth and is real. That you have been given this life to honor and glorify God with.
Now, those are radically different views. And as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, they stand in very stark contrast to each other. Because in the last 50 years, what has changed is not our faith, what has changed is our culture.
So by calling us to celebrate the Year of Faith, the Holy Father is not calling us to simply do what we have, or perhaps have not, been doing, but rather he is calling us to be a new, brighter, stronger and louder voice for Christ in our world. He is calling us to commit anew, or perhaps for the first time, to turning away from the lies of the world and to the Truth of the Cross - and then to bring that Truth into the world in love, hope, peace and charity.
It is my prayer for all of us in this Year of Faith that we can grow in our personal faith, and be a light to those in our lives who do not know Him. Let this be a year of Faith not just for our Church, but for the entire world.
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