The Year of Faith..Ho Hum

Are saying "ho hum"about the Year of Faith which has begun?? I sure hope not!!!

Are you celebrating the 50th anniversary of John or of James?

 

These two anniversaries depict well the call and challenge of the Year of Faith.  We have a choice to make in this modern world.  Will I respond to Christ's call to holiness and invite others to the universal call to holiness that was highlighted in Vatican II?  Or will I be seduced into the 007 World of gadgets, luxury, violence and sexiness (really the womanizing of pretty women)? The allure of the James Bond culture is strong in our times.

What tools do we have to find holiness?  Prayer would be obvious, but what else?  Another basic choice is to spend our time with others who are also seeking holiness--spending time in the right atmosphere to cultivate prayer and virtue.

Pope Benedict XVI in his homily for the opening of the Year of Faith
Pope's homily for opening the Year of Faith
encourages us to go back to the documents of Vatican Council II and to soak in its wisdom. Here is an excerpt from Blessed John XXIII's opening address of Vatican II:

Pope John XXIII - Address at the Opening of Vatican Council II - 11 October 1962
"There was no need to call a council merely to hold discussions of that nature. What is needed at the present time is a new enthusiasm, a new joy and serenity of mind in the unreserved acceptance by all of the entire Christian faith, without forfeiting that accuracy and precision in its presentation which characterized the proceedings of the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. What is needed, and what everyone imbued with a truly Christian, Catholic and apostolic spirit craves today, is that this doctrine shall be more widely known, more deeply understood, and more penetrating in its effects on men's moral lives. What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which the faithful owe obedience, be studied afresh and reformulated in contemporary terms. For this deposit of faith, or truths which are contained in our time-honored teaching is one thing; the manner in which these truths are set forth (with their meaning preserved intact) is something else.

This, then, is what will require our careful, and perhaps too our patient, consideration. We must work out ways and means of expounding these truths in a manner more consistent with a predominantly pastoral view of the Church's teaching office."

This quote could easily be used by Pope Benedict XVI as the Synod of Bishops meets now on "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith."  Another words, how do we share the great news of the love of Christ and the grace of His saving sacrifice?

I will be sharing with you a Daughter of Charity who was an auditor of the council.
What are your thoughts about the "new evangelization"?