Year of Faith to a Life of Faith (and Hope and Charity)

The Year of Faith will be over tomorrow, but our life of faith is hopefully forever strengthened. When we get to heaven (God willing and Our Lady leading), we will be eternally amazed at the graces poured out into our lives while traversing this valley of tears. We'll "look back" on this Year of Faith and marvel forever at God's goodness. 

This leads me to consider the importance of HOPE in our life of faith. What's the difference?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. 

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. 

Hope orders our human desire for happiness. It keeps us from indulging in the here and now, because we know that something greater is coming. We pass up that delicious steak or that gallon of ice cream on a Friday, because we know that our true happiness is coming --- we don't need that steak to be happy, we don't even need that ice cream. Hope tells us to hold on and live for what is greater. 

Hope also acts as a healing warmth when we can't understand the brokenness and evils around us, because we know that we are still waiting for our true home. It is much easier to put up with aches and pains when we know we are healing, or to sit still on an airplane for hours and hours when you know we are going somewhere, or to run those miles when we know there is a finish line. Hope tells us it's worth it. 

Faith, is more about the here and now, the eternal present. Faith tells you there is a God, it is an intellectual, willed decision to believe everything he tells us and to CONFORM our lives to this truth. 

Faith without works is dead. 
Faith without Hope is stagnant. 
Faith and Hope without Charity is impossible. 

But, put them all together and you have an unstoppable force for Good, and a joy that no one can take away. 

As we cross through the "Door of Faith," my prayer is that this year of faith will become a life of Faith, one day at a time, in the Hope of being with him forever, and enflamed by that Love that knows no limits. 

The Empty Chair: Part II

The Year of Faith opened with great jubilation. All across the world parishes and diocese were preparing classes on the Catechism, the Second Vatican Council, and the Creed. Conferences, studies, prayer vigils sprung up in all parts of the world. I personally say the logo for the Year of Faith in Italian, German, French, Polish, Vietnamese, Spanish, Korean, English, Tagalog, and of course Latin. What a marvelous blessing to see so many thrilled to celebrate our common faith!

Then, on the morning of February 11th I received a very early morning text saying that Pope Benedict was resigning. The reactions were as vastly different as the members of the Church. One moaned they were an orphan, another that Pope Benedict never was as great as John Paul II, still others were sure the world was going to end before Easter Sunday, and many applauded this historic step. One emotion not expressed, whether by secular, gnostic media sources or fervent Catholics, was indifference.

At a moment of apprehension and wonder, our faith was tested again. It is not always easy to accept all that the Church teaches, and we cannot always accept what Her members do. Waiting like the disciples after the Ascension, it is not easy to be on the outside of the upper room wondering and praying for the apostles to lead us in all their human frailty. Still, many of us laughed to ourselves as we heard talk about the Church as if She were a purely human instituion. "Maybe, finally, a Pope will be elected who will get with the times?!"

While our faith was tested; we were also strengthened. The Papal election process and the vacancy of the Chair of Peter leaves us all with one - sometimes subtle - question: Am I still in? Was I a follower of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict, or Jesus? Am I absolutely certain that I should pray for the Cardinals in conclave, and yet equally certain that nothing will prevail against the Church?

Many, many wait to see who is elected before making the response of faith. Most of us make the response the moment the Chair is vacant, and yet I am certain that we all must make it.

Therefore, that moment - those weeks - that seemed so very extraordinary in the life of the Church, was perhaps the greatest gift of the Year of Faith. We were given the opportunity to recognize our human side, and adore the Divine, to say yes again to the Lord through His Vicar, and to celebrate what faith is at its very heart: knowing that God is in charge, in control, and ever-present, even when there is "no one in the chair."

The Door Opens: Looking back on the Year of Faith (Part I)

When the Door of Faith opens, it lets in incredible light that compels and guides our evangelization. This is, in one sentence, my reflection on the Year of Faith that begun with "Porta Fidei" in 2011, continued through "Lumen Fidei" and will conclude with  the Apostolic Exhortation: "Gaudium Evangelii." Faith. Light. Joy.

Here are just a few highlights for us to reflect on and for which we can give thanks to God:

October 11, 2011 With the Apostolic Letter "Porta Fidei" (text)Pope Benedict announces the Year of Faith to begin on the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

October 11, 2012 The Year of Faith begins.

October 21, 2012 The canonization of 8 persons, including St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

February 11, 2013 World Day of the Sick, Pope Benedict announces resignation

February 28, 2013 Ash Wednesday, at 11am (PST) Pope Benedict resigns

March 13, 2013 Cardinal Jorge Borgoglio elected the 266th Pontiff  (video) and leader of 1.2 billion Catholics. He takes the name Francis.

June 2, 2013 Worldwide Adoration

June 29, 2013 Encyclical "Lumen Fidei" (text) given.

July 23-28, 2013 World Youth Day Celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, (video) Brazil

September 7, 2013 Global day of prayer and fast for the "Syrian Crisis"

October 13, 2013 Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary  (kolbemission video)

November 24, 2013 The Year of Faith closes.