Year of Faith
Ignorance of faith risks creating cafeteria Catholics, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ignorance of the faith puts Christians at risk of following a "do-it-yourself" religion, Pope Benedict XVI said. People need to become more familiar with the creed because it is there that the "Christian moral life is planted and ... one finds its foundation and justification," the pope said Oct. 17 at his weekly general audience. Before an estimated 20,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope began a new series of audience talks to accompany the Year of Faith, which marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Holiness and the spiritual battle
Oct. 17 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes: He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no […]
The mysteries of Christ’s life through the sacraments
Oct. 16 Jesus’ words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal mystery. They announced and prepared what he was going to give the Church when all was accomplished. The mysteries of Christ’s life are the foundations of what he would henceforth dispense […]
Faith: The gift of God
Oct. 15, 2012 When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come “from flesh and blood”, but from “my Father who is in heaven.” Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. “Before this faith […]
Study your faith in Year of Faith, Archbishop advises in opening Mass
Archbishop Charles Chaput officially opened the Year of Faith called for by Pope Benedict XVI at the 6:30 p.m. Mass Oct. 14 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Judging by the turnout it should be a very good year. There were 1,127 members of the laity, bishops, priests and religious filling the Cathedral for the liturgy. We know the precise figure because this happens to be October when the cathedral staff, along with every other parish, counts the house. Although many of us think we know all about the Catholic faith, none of us really do, and all must continue to study, the Archbishop explained.
The Year of Faith and how we’re called to live it
In leading us into the Year of Faith, which began October 11, Pope Benedict calls on each of us as believers to “rediscover [God’s] joy,” to “radiate [God’s] word,” and to make our Christian witness “frank and contagious.” Now those are wonderful words, but how do we actually live them? We need to begin by realizing that we’re not being asked to do the impossible – only the uncomfortable and inconvenient. Benedict is asking us to examine our hearts and our habits of life without excuses or alibis. He’s asking us to tear down the cathedral we build to ourselves, the whole interior architecture of our vanities, our resentments and our endless appetites, and to channel all the restless fears and longings of modern life into a hunger for the Holy Spirit. If you think that sounds easy or pious, try it this week.
Getting ready for a Year of Faith
Before I was a bishop and even before I became a priest, I was a Capuchin Franciscan. The Capuchins were a reform movement within the Franciscan community. They wanted to get back to the real St. Francis; the radical, simple St. Francis. History calls Francis the vir Catolicus — the embodiment of everything a Catholic believer should be; a person filled with faith, joy, simplicity, courage, charity and zeal for Jesus Christ. Francis had all these qualities, and of course even non-Catholics remember him because of his love for life and nature, and his witness for peace.