Faith and Hearing

As I began to read Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis' first encyclical, I was delighted. I was delighted because it read pretty easily, and yet demanded prayerful attention. This encyclical, as indicated in the preface, is a work of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

We read in paragraphs eight to eleven, that "faith is linked to hearing." Abraham, our father in faith, did not see God, but he 1) was called by God, and 2) was given a promise. Faith has always required a step into new horizons. This step is possible, because of the promise.

Faith is an act of "remembrance." Abraham remembered God's promise, and so acted and responded to that promise. Because it is a promise for the future, it sheds light also there - illumining the path before him. The promise thus becomes the solid rock, the creative Word of God, on which his whole life can be built and around which it can be centered.

We cannot separate either hope or trust from this faith. The Word of God tells us to go somewhere and to do something. Faith demands that we respond, entrusting ourselves to this Word, and trusting that all will be accomplished. Faith, literally, upholds us and makes us strong for the journey.

Finally, the promise of God did not come from "out of the blue." It was a response to the growing ache and silent cry of all humanity: to be a part of something bigger, to have a purpose and destiny, to beget life. Pope Francis states, "For Abraham, faith in God sheds light on the depths of his being, it enables him to acknowledge the wellspring of goodness at the origin of all things and to realize that his life is not the product of non-being or chance, but the fruit of a personal call and a personal love." (#11)

Faith is 

a RESPONSE to a CALL and a PROMISE

PERSONAL

LIGHT

an ACT OF REMEMBRANCE