just 100 days remaining…

Aug 5, 2013

Next week it will be just 100 days until the end of the Year of faith. There have been some great events in many dioceses. In Christchurch Diocese the FaithFest diocesan festival is being organised to mark the end of the Year of Faith.

It was Pope Benedict who called for the Year of Faith as a way to reawaken and inspire those in the church who had become complacent or tired. It is important that our parishes face the fact that many who are baptised as Catholic, now have little real contact with the Church. At times this might be a choice that they have made. But more often a drift away begins, and it can be difficult to reconnect with the Church even when people would like to. 

The real problem is that many of those who have drifted from the Church, also feel (perhaps as a result of their move) at a distance from God. This is never true, since wherever we go, God is present. Pope Benedict was aware of this when he called for this Year of Faith writing in his Year of Faith (Porta Fidei) letter
The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4)… 

…Ever since the start of my ministry as Successor of Peter, I have spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ. During the homily at the Mass marking the inauguration of my pontificate I said: “The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance.”

It is too easy to think that new pastoral programmes and parish initiatives are an adequate response to the invitation of faith. These are important, and at times are essential. However too often these well-intentioned endeavours become the sole focus of Parish Council meetings. We need to remember that the Church is not the community of people who, by their own efforts, make something happen, or who are simply waiting for something to happen.

A priest friend in the U.S. put this well when he wrote recently of his own successful parish renewal:

“We began from the fact that we are already united, putting our faith in Christ who has brought us together. Then we desired, in this Year of Faith, to tell the world that the object of our striving is neither an object nor a theory, but a Person. He’s alive here and how, and his name is Jesus”

Enhanced by Zemanta

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

Ascension

Ascension

Most people think of the Ascension of Jesus as being a ‘departure’ moment. Jesus was here and now he is gone. We imagine Jesus going up into the clouds and the disciples waving farewell from below.
This is an unhelpful image.
It is essential that we understand what does happen and what does not happen in the Ascension event.
It would be easy to wrongly think that in his ministry showed us how to build the city of God on earth, and now he has gone and the mission is left to us.

touching the sacred

touching the sacred

A few years ago I was on Rēkohu Chatham Islands for what has become one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most sacred days, the ANZAC day of remembrance in gratitude for those who gave their lives, their health, their youth, their service that we may live in peace.
The art above was produced by one of the students at the local Te One school.

every which way

every which way

A good number of Food For Faith readers have discovered one of the more recent FFF initiatives, the weekly Homily Studio.
The recording of this half-hour podcast is one of the highlights of my week.

in the room

in the room

Today’s reflection marks the end of the FFF Lent-to-Easter daily email posts. Thank you for your company on this journey.  While these daily posts (for those who have signed up for the Lent / Advent reflections at this link) will take a break until Advent, those who have signed up to receive every post or regular posts at this link.  You might take a moment now to visit this page now to check your email preferences.

During retreat this week I found myself pondering just how difficult it is to accept that God, in Jesus, is really with me today.

disciplined discipleship

disciplined discipleship

As I write I’m nearing the end of retreat days with a group of fifty priests from across the USA.  As I mentioned a couple of days ago the diversity and youth of the group is remarkable with the majority being aged under 40 and a good number ordained for fewer than five years.