My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
In this week’s Tablet, you will find the first encyclical by Pope Francis entitled, Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith). This encyclical was begun by Pope Benedict XVI to complete the trilogy, which began as the Encyclical of Love, Hope, and now Faith – the three theological virtues.
It is not uncommon that one pope has finished the encyclical begun by another. Encyclicals are letters sent to the bishops and people of the Church on important issues of faith and morals that need to be clarified for particular phases of Church history. The three last encyclicals give us a very practical understanding of how the gifts of faith, hope, and love truly influence our lives.
Christ, indeed, is the Light of the World. Faith sheds light on all of our human experiences. Faith finds its place in the world even in a world that seems to believe nothing but science. Faith supplements what cannot be known by human reason. Faith is in no way unreasonable. Some have considered faith to be associated with darkness and truly a blind, so-called leap of faith. But faith is more related to truth – a truth that we want to discover.
Again, Faith covers every aspect of our lives. Faith is a gift from God which allows us to live our lives in a world full of doubt. It gives us that opportunity that we need to reaffirm the goodness of our existence and creation itself.
This encyclical is particularly important as it comes to us as we approach the end of the Year of Faith, a time when Pope Benedict calls upon us to reflect on the meaning of faith in our lives. This encyclical gives us something important to reflect upon. It is interesting that the encyclical describes for us the foundations of our faith. In the first Eucharistic prayer, we call upon Abraham, our father in faith and a man who received the call and the promise that those who would follow him, not only his blood relationships, but also all who have come to believe in the One True God, would find a relationship – the same relationship with God that Abraham had; the same election and call that he experienced.
Faith does not merely allow us to believe what we cannot understand, but it gives us hope in the future and allows us to understand love as associated with faith. Our faith is not something that can be defined by any series of doctrines. Our faith is a belief in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is His light in which we live. It is His teaching we follow. Our faith is defined not by what we know but by what we believe about Jesus Christ.
Faith and truth are truly related. Truth goes beyond technology. Truth is not something that can scientifically be demonstrated. Truth is when what we know is what exists beyond our knowledge.
One striking line in the encyclical quotes a philosopher who tried to explain the connection between faith and certainty. Ludwig Wittgenstein said that “believing can be compared to the experience of falling in love.” It is something subjective which cannot be proposed as a truth valid for everyone.
These encyclicals tell us indeed that most people nowadays would not consider love as related in any way to truth. Love is seen as an experience associated with the world of fleeting emotions, no longer with truth. This phrase harkens us back to the first encyclical in which we understand the love of God and human love. But faith also is associated with love and the truth. When we believe, we are led to the truth. Then we can truly love the truth for what it is.
One most important aspect pointed out from the encyclical is the transmission of faith. The Church’s responsibility is to hand on faith from one generation to another beginning with the apostolic community, to this very day. Faith, most importantly, the encyclical tells us, must be handed on in the family. A stable union of man and woman is critical to handing on the faith to their children.
Several weeks ago in a parish visitation, a couple asked the question, how were they to transmit the faith to their children in a world that seemed not to support their faith in any way. They had been discussing this and wanted me to end the discussion. There is no quick answer to how we can hand on the faith to others, but it has something to do with love. When a person is loved by another, the truth of that love becomes clear and faith, then, has something from which to build. The love of human families truly is the perfect ground for the handing on of the faith.
Our Holy Father Pope Francis has put out in the deep by attempting to explain the gift of faith to a world in which faith seems not to matter all that much,where faith has been privatized, where faith seems to hold few answers for a searching humanity. Join me as we meditate on this encyclical and as we pray for its message to be diffused in the world that we, as the Church, will hand on the precious gift of faith given to us.
