Pope Francis' 1st encyclical released (with link to full text) [CWN]
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choliks
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Michael_Francis
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LUMEN FIDEI
*** LUMEN FIDEI***
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON FAITH
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ENCYCLICAL LETTEROF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON FAITH
1. The light of Faith: this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Christ says of himself: "I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (*Jn *12:46). Saint Paul uses the same image: "God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts" (*2 Cor *4:6). The pagan world, which hungered for light, had seen the growth of the cult of the sun god, *Sol Invictus*, invoked each day at sunrise. Yet though the sun was born anew each morning, it was clearly incapable of casting its light on all of human existence. The sun does not illumine all reality; its rays cannot penetrate to the shadow of death, the place where men’s eyes are closed to its light. "No one — Saint Justin Martyr writes — has ever been ready to die for his faith in the sun".[[1]](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html#_ftn1) Conscious of the immense horizon which their faith opened before them, Christians invoked Jesus as the true sun "whose rays bestow life".[[2]](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html#_ftn2) To Martha, weeping for the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus said: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (*Jn * 11:40). Those who believe, see; they see with a light that illumines their entire journey, for it comes from the risen Christ, the morning star which never sets.
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landon13
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I can’t wait to get a copy and read it. How wonderful!
God bless the Supreme Pontiff!
God bless the Supreme Pontiff!
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JanetF
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Hearing this today, absolutely made my day!
. If there was an emoticon for shooting off fireworks, I would use it.
. If there was an emoticon for shooting off fireworks, I would use it.
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Church_Militant
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Alright! I love this! This will also help us address those who have erred into Sola Fide. These next two sections are very helpful.
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**Salvation by faith** * 19. On the basis of this sharing in Jesus’ way of seeing things, Saint Paul has left us a description of the life of faith. In accepting the gift of faith, believers become a new creation; they receive a new being; as God’s children, they are now "sons in the Son". The phrase "Abba, Father", so characteristic of Jesus’ own experience, now becomes the core of the Christian experience (cf. * Rom *8:15). The life of faith, as a filial existence, is the acknowledgment of a primordial and radical gift which upholds our lives. We see this clearly in Saint Paul’s question to the Corinthians: "What have you that you did not receive?" (*1 Cor *4:7). This was at the very heart of Paul’s debate with the Pharisees: the issue of whether salvation is attained by faith or by the works of the law. Paul rejects the attitude of those who would consider themselves justified before God on the basis of their own works. Such people, even when they obey the commandments and do good works, are centred on themselves; they fail to realize that goodness comes from God. Those who live this way, who want to be the source of their own righteousness, find that the latter is soon depleted and that they are unable even to keep the law. They become closed in on themselves and isolated from the Lord and from others; their lives become futile and their works barren, like a tree far from water. Saint Augustine tells us in his usual concise and striking way: "*Ab eo qui fecit te, noli deficere nec ad te*", "Do not turn away from the one who made you, even to turn towards yourself".[[15]](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html#_ftn15) Once I think that by turning away from God I will find myself, my life begins to fall apart (cf. *Lk * 15:11-24). The beginning of salvation is openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being. Only by being open to and acknowledging this gift can we be transformed, experience salvation and bear good fruit. Salvation by faith means recognizing the primacy of God’s gift. As Saint Paul puts it: "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (*Eph * 2:8).
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Church_Militant
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- Faith’s new way of seeing things is centred on Christ. Faith in Christ brings salvation because in him our lives become radically open to a love that precedes us, a love that transforms us from within, acting in us and through us. This is clearly seen in Saint Paul’s exegesis of a text from Deuteronomy, an exegesis consonant with the heart of the Old Testament message. Moses tells the people that God’s command is neither too high nor too far away. There is no need to say: “Who will go up for us to heaven and bring it to us?” or “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us?” (*Dt *30:11-14). Paul interprets this nearness of God’s word in terms of Christ’s presence in the Christian. “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)” (*Rom *10:6-7). Christ came down to earth and rose from the dead; by his incarnation and resurrection, the Son of God embraced the whole of human life and history, and now dwells in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Faith knows that God has drawn close to us, that Christ has been given to us as a great gift which inwardly transforms us, dwells within us and thus bestows on us the light that illumines the origin and the end of life.
- We come to see the difference, then, which faith makes for us. Those who believe are transformed by the love to which they have opened their hearts in faith. By their openness to this offer of primordial love, their lives are enlarged and expanded. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (*Gal *2:20). “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith” (*Eph *3:17). The self-awareness of the believer now expands because of the presence of another; it now lives in this other and thus, in love, life takes on a whole new breadth. Here we see the Holy Spirit at work. The Christian can see with the eyes of Jesus and share in his mind, his filial disposition, because he or she shares in his love, which is the Spirit. In the love of Jesus, we receive in a certain way his vision. Without being conformed to him in love, without the presence of the Spirit, it is impossible to confess him as Lord (cf. *1 Cor * 12:3).
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Church_Militant
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**The ecclesial form of faith** * 22. In this way, the life of the believer becomes an ecclesial existence, a life lived in the Church. When Saint Paul tells the Christians of Rome that all who believe in Christ make up one body, he urges them not to boast of this; rather, each must think of himself "according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" (*Rom *12:3). Those who believe come to see themselves in the light of the faith which they profess: Christ is the mirror in which they find their own image fully realized. And just as Christ gathers to himself all those who believe and makes them his body, so the Christian comes to see himself as a member of this body, in an essential relationship with all other believers. The image of a body does not imply that the believer is simply one part of an anonymous whole, a mere cog in great machine; rather, it brings out the vital union of Christ with believers, and of believers among themselves (cf. *Rom * 12:4-5) Christians are "one" (cf. *Gal *3:28), yet in a way which does not make them lose their individuality; in service to others, they come into their own in the highest degree. This explains why, apart from this body, outside this unity of the Church in Christ, outside this Church which — in the words of Romano Guardini — "is the bearer within history of the plenary gaze of Christ on the world"[[16]](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html#_ftn16) — faith loses its "measure"; it no longer finds its equilibrium, the space needed to sustain itself. Faith is necessarily ecclesial; it is professed from within the body of Christ as a concrete communion of believers. It is against this ecclesial backdrop that faith opens the individual Christian towards all others. Christ’s word, once heard, by virtue of its inner power at work in the heart of the Christian, becomes a response, a spoken word, a profession of faith. As Saint Paul puts it: "one believes with the heart ... and confesses with the lips" (*Rom *10:10). Faith is not a private matter, a completely individualistic notion or a personal opinion: it comes from hearing, and it is meant to find expression in words and to be proclaimed. For "how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?" (*Rom *10:14). Faith becomes operative in the Christian on the basis of the gift received, the love which attracts our hearts to Christ (cf. *Gal *5:6), and enables us to become part of the Church’s great pilgrimage through history until the end of the world. For those who have been transformed in this way, a new way of seeing opens up, faith becomes light for their eyes.
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Church_Militant
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There is so much here that speaks to us today, right here and right now. His Holiness(es), since the draft was done by Benedict XVI and Francis has finished as a joint work, goes on to teach us about the need for truth and love in this faith of ours so that we can address the secularism and lack of faith in our declining society.
Note the following excerpts:
YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND ** **
(cf. Is 7:9)
* Faith and truth
23.* Unless you believe, you will not understand (cf. *Is *7:9). The Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint translation produced in Alexandria, gives the above rendering of the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz. In this way, the issue of the knowledge of truth became central to faith. The Hebrew text, though, reads differently; the prophet says to the king: “If you will not believe, you shall not be established”. Here there is a play on words, based on two forms of the verb ’amān: “you will believe” (ta’amînû) and “you shall be established” (tē’āmēnû). Terrified by the might of his enemies, the king seeks the security that an alliance with the great Assyrian empire can offer. The prophet tells him instead to trust completely in the solid and steadfast rock which is the God of Israel. Because God is trustworthy, it is reasonable to have faith in him, to stand fast on his word. He is the same God that Isaiah will later call, twice in one verse, the God who is Amen, “the God of truth” (cf. *Is *65:16), the enduring foundation of covenant fidelity. It might seem that the Greek version of the Bible, by translating “be established” as “understand”, profoundly altered the meaning of the text by moving away from the biblical notion of trust in God towards a Greek notion of intellectual understanding. Yet this translation, while certainly reflecting a dialogue with Hellenistic culture, is not alien to the underlying spirit of the Hebrew text. The firm foundation that Isaiah promises to the king is indeed grounded in an understanding of God’s activity and the unity which he gives to human life and to the history of his people. The prophet challenges the king, and us, to understand the Lord’s ways, seeing in God’s faithfulness the wise plan which governs the ages.
Note the following excerpts:
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CHAPTER TWO
**UNLESS YOU BELIEVE,(cf. Is 7:9)
* Faith and truth
23.* Unless you believe, you will not understand (cf. *Is *7:9). The Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint translation produced in Alexandria, gives the above rendering of the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz. In this way, the issue of the knowledge of truth became central to faith. The Hebrew text, though, reads differently; the prophet says to the king: “If you will not believe, you shall not be established”. Here there is a play on words, based on two forms of the verb ’amān: “you will believe” (ta’amînû) and “you shall be established” (tē’āmēnû). Terrified by the might of his enemies, the king seeks the security that an alliance with the great Assyrian empire can offer. The prophet tells him instead to trust completely in the solid and steadfast rock which is the God of Israel. Because God is trustworthy, it is reasonable to have faith in him, to stand fast on his word. He is the same God that Isaiah will later call, twice in one verse, the God who is Amen, “the God of truth” (cf. *Is *65:16), the enduring foundation of covenant fidelity. It might seem that the Greek version of the Bible, by translating “be established” as “understand”, profoundly altered the meaning of the text by moving away from the biblical notion of trust in God towards a Greek notion of intellectual understanding. Yet this translation, while certainly reflecting a dialogue with Hellenistic culture, is not alien to the underlying spirit of the Hebrew text. The firm foundation that Isaiah promises to the king is indeed grounded in an understanding of God’s activity and the unity which he gives to human life and to the history of his people. The prophet challenges the king, and us, to understand the Lord’s ways, seeing in God’s faithfulness the wise plan which governs the ages.
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Church_Militant
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- Read in this light, the prophetic text leads to one conclusion: we need knowledge, we need truth, because without these we cannot stand firm, we cannot move forward. Faith without truth does not save, it does not provide a sure footing. It remains a beautiful story, the projection of our deep yearning for happiness, something capable of satisfying us to the extent that we are willing to deceive ourselves. Either that, or it is reduced to a lofty sentiment which brings consolation and cheer, yet remains prey to the vagaries of our spirit and the changing seasons, incapable of sustaining a steady journey through life. If such were faith, King Ahaz would be right not to stake his life and the security of his kingdom on a feeling. But precisely because of its intrinsic link to truth, faith is instead able to offer a new light, superior to the king’s calculations, for it sees further into the distance and takes into account the hand of God, who remains faithful to his covenant and his promises. (emphasis mine)
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Church_Militant
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- Today more than ever, we need to be reminded of this bond between faith and truth, given the crisis of truth in our age. In contemporary culture, we often tend to consider the only real truth to be that of technology: truth is what we succeed in building and measuring by our scientific know-how, truth is what works and what makes life easier and more comfortable. Nowadays this appears as the only truth that is certain, the only truth that can be shared, the only truth that can serve as a basis for discussion or for common undertakings. Yet at the other end of the scale we are willing to allow for subjective truths of the individual, which consist in fidelity to his or her deepest convictions, yet these are truths valid only for that individual and not capable of being proposed to others in an effort to serve the common good. But Truth itself, the truth which would comprehensively explain our life as individuals and in society, is regarded with suspicion.
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Church_Militant
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Surely this kind of truth — we hear it said — is what was claimed by the great totalitarian movements of the last century, a truth that imposed its own world view in order to crush the actual lives of individuals. In the end, what we are left with is relativism, in which the question of universal truth — and ultimately this means the question of God — is no longer relevant. It would be logical, from this point of view, to attempt to sever the bond between religion and truth, because it seems to lie at the root of fanaticism, which proves oppressive for anyone who does not share the same beliefs. In this regard, though, we can speak of a massive amnesia in our contemporary world. The question of truth is really a question of memory, deep memory, for it deals with something prior to ourselves and can succeed in uniting us in a way that transcends our petty and limited individual consciousness. It is a question about the origin of all that is, in whose light we can glimpse the goal and thus the meaning of our common path.
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JReducation
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OK, where to begin. Let’s begin by saying that I just finished reading the encyclical. It’s an easy read. There are some points that jumped out at me. I’ll start with statements that have been made around the Internet against the encyclical. The common thread is that the encyclical does not define faith using the classical language.
The answer to that is simple. Why write an encyclical to repeat what has been said using the words that have already been used? The purpose is to elaborate, not repeat like a parrot.
Another complaint is that it does not condemn false faiths. Again, there is a logic here. The purpose of the encyclical is not to prattle off a bunch of anathemas, but to help the faithful think about the faith from a different perspective. One can never say that one has it all figured out. Faith is like a diamond. What gives it it’s brightness is the many cuts. Each time you hold it up to the light, you’re going to see something different, not because the diamond changed, but you changed how you were holding it. In this case, the writer changed the approach to the subject. There is nothing wrong with that.
Now, to speak on one or the other points in the document itself.
The gift of faith is not toxic. It gives life, because it makes us part of a body called the Church. As long as we remain attached to that body, we will be nurtured and we will not die, nor will we be poisoned by toxic faith.
The answer to that is simple. Why write an encyclical to repeat what has been said using the words that have already been used? The purpose is to elaborate, not repeat like a parrot.
Another complaint is that it does not condemn false faiths. Again, there is a logic here. The purpose of the encyclical is not to prattle off a bunch of anathemas, but to help the faithful think about the faith from a different perspective. One can never say that one has it all figured out. Faith is like a diamond. What gives it it’s brightness is the many cuts. Each time you hold it up to the light, you’re going to see something different, not because the diamond changed, but you changed how you were holding it. In this case, the writer changed the approach to the subject. There is nothing wrong with that.
Now, to speak on one or the other points in the document itself.
I loved the phrase, because I never thought of faith as looking at everything through the eyes of Christ. If we follow this logic, to accept the gift of faith is to accept Christ’s invitation to see things from his point of view, not our own. Therefore, we’re not saved by a faith grounded in beliefs, but a faith grounded in a living person who shares his vision with us. This is a gift which should honor us.
This passage continues the same thread. We are transformed. We do not transform ourselves. We cannot give ourselves the gift of faith. When accept the gift of faith, we begin to see things differently. This is very important. It means that we should begin to see others differently. If we cannot see others through the eyes of Christ and not see them as Christ sees them, then it is not faith that is driving us, but what we believe to be faith. This is toxic faith.
The gift of faith is not toxic. It gives life, because it makes us part of a body called the Church. As long as we remain attached to that body, we will be nurtured and we will not die, nor will we be poisoned by toxic faith.
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Church_Militant
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Thanks Brother Jay! Your (name removed by moderator)ut is always insightful.
There is so much in this encyclical!
Pope Francis closing prayer has become my own as well and speaks to us all I believe.
There is so much in this encyclical!
Pope Francis closing prayer has become my own as well and speaks to us all I believe.
- Let us turn in prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of our faith.
Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
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AndyP2010
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Lumen Fides 48:
Emphasis mine. I like how forceful and clear this is. Reading it is like listening to a duet of the two popes. Clearly Benedict can be heard in long solos and Francis in shorter ones. There are part that come across as beautiful two part harmonies where it seems that one of Benedict’s ideas has be rephrased by Francis in more strait forward and concrete terms.
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Nabooru
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Unfortunately the Pope, due to politically correct pressure, can no longer condemn false faiths. This sad fact is expressed in this encyclical, but not explicitly since truth has to be couched in vague terms in order to not set off any alarms.
Truth HAS to be relative, because otherwise people won’t be happy in themselves. Of course, without the Faith of Christ, I believe that they cannot truly be happy, as the Pope hints at. But the only thing that matters anymore is that people cannot be told that they cannot do whatever they want. We are all overgrown children these days who expect to have our own way, not God’s.
Can you imagine what would happen if the Pope stopped pretending the Dalai Lama or sheikh of Al-Azhar was his spiritual equal? Bombs would literally go off.
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