October is Respect Life month. We are invited to reflect on the dignity of
the human person from the first moment of conception until natural death and
beyond. God creates each soul as a
unique and unrepeatable gift. The human
person is called to live on earth in anticipation of an Eternal destiny. If we look at the teachings of our Catholic
Church through this lens, we will see how they are truly one fabric, a whole
that makes perfect sense.
So often, the Church’s teachings are
presented in fragmented ways. The
starting point of discussion is something other than the human person. When we fail to put the human person in view
first, with an awareness of God’s relationship to each unique person at the
center, we come up with conclusions that fail to address the real
problems. The world is all about
shortcuts, shortcuts at the beginning, the middle and the end of life.
A hard truth that the Church must
hold out before the world is that some kinds of suffering are inevitable in
earthly life and that suffering itself, when seen through the eyes of Faith,
can have a redemptive quality. The
shortcuts and quick fixes that the world offers fail to take into account the
human person and the whole life of the person.
They also take away the possibility of the greatness of the person being
brought out by suffering.
The Church is called to proclaim the
Gospel of Life. She is also responsible
to give help and show compassion to those who find themselves in distress in
the face of the challenges of life: an unexpected pregnancy, relational
struggles, illnesses that are heavy burdens.
In all of these situations, she is called to shed light on God’s plan
for the unique persons He has created and on the power of grace to enable us to
see our way through difficulties of every kind.
Life is God’s gift. We must
cherish it and give Him glory.
[A quick note: My Mom came to Mass at St. Timothy Church Saturday evening! It was a happy surprise to me. The Gospel called us to give thanks and I gave thanks to God and to all who have prayed for her recovery. Welcome home, Mom!]
Year of Faith October
11, 2012 – November 24, 2013
We continue our journey through the Year
of Faith. As one way of observing this
year, each week a small section of the Catechism
of the Catholic Church is read before the start of Mass.
CHAPTER THRE
E MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD
The freedom of faith 160 To be human, “man’s response to God by faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act.” (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 10; cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 748 § 2.) “God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced.... This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus.” (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 11.) Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. “For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself.” (Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Human Freedom 11; cf. John 18:37; 12:32.)
The necessity
of faith 161
Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is
necessary for obtaining that salvation.
(Cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:36; 6:40 et al) “Since ‘without
faith it is impossible to please [God]’ and to attain to the fellowship of his
sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will
anyone obtain eternal life ‘but he who endures to the end.’” (Dei Filius
3: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 3012; cf. Matthew
10:22; 24:13 and Hebrews 11:6; Council of Trent: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 1532.)
Perseverance
in faith 162
Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this
priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare,
holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons
have made shipwreck of their faith.” (1
Timothy 1:18-19.) To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end
we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our
faith; (Cf. Mark 9:24; Luke
17:5; 22:32.) it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope, and
rooted in the faith of the Church. (Galatians 5:6; Romans 15:13;
cf. James 2:14-26.)
Comment: The Act of
Faith is a fully human act. It is not a
stepping out of our human nature, but rather a personal expression of it,
indeed, the highest possible expression of it in this life. This Act opens us to God and His plans for
us. No other act we can do has the
capacity to bring us into contact with God in such depth. To be Faith, it must be free. It is necessary because it is the only
adequate means to unite us to God.
Perseverance is holding to Faith through to its goal: the moment when
our life reaches is culmination. How do
you exercise your Gift of Faith?
Focolare Word of Life for October 2013:
"Owe no one anything, except to love one
another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom.13:8)
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