This Thursday, October 11, we celebrate the beginning of a new year. If that weren’t random enough, this year will be almost fourteen months long! How is this so?
Last year on October 11, Pope Benedict XVI published his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei (The Door of Faith). In it, he quotes Acts 14:27, where the Apostles “called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith” (emphasis added). He furthermore declared that the universal Church would observe a Year of Faith, running from October 11, 2012 (the anniversary of its publication) to November 24, 2013 (Christ the King).
All well and good, you might say, but isn’t every year a year of faith? Or, in the words of Fr. John, “how is this good news for us today?” Well, this year will be one of increased attention paid to our faith — what it is, how we live it, and how we spread it. In the words of the USCCB, the “Year of Faith is an opportunity for every Catholic to turn towards Jesus Christ, encounter him in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and rediscover the Faith and Church.” There will be many catechetical activities forthcoming that we will roll out through the coming months.
Our focus will be threefold:
- Know your faith. Others — parents, clergy, teachers — have been responsible for teaching us over the years, surely — they have held open the door of faith for us. But have we honored their example? As Catholics, the greatest part and toughest part of our faith is the same — there’s always more to know.
“Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-5
- Live your faith. We have to walk through the door ourselves; no one else can do it for us. Faith is not for Sundays — it’s for every day! We take it with us wherever we go — our work, our play, the car, the voting booth — but how well are we doing this?
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
- Share your faith. Catholics have not been known traditionally for our abilities of evangelization. But once we have found the “pearl of great price” (cf. Matthew 13), we can’t keep it to ourselves! We must, in turn, hold the door of faith open to others.
“My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20
–written by Tom Oram, pastoral musician and liturgist