Year of Faith Concluded -- Conclusions?

[quiet52]

The “Year of Faith” (Oct. 11, 2012 to Nov. 22, 2013) as proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI has concluded and Pope Francis has distributed worldwide his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which means “Gospel of Joy.”

All Catholics were called to deeper conversion in Christ. So how did it go?

To remind us of the purpose of of the Year of Faith, this is what we read last year:

In the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that God has opened the door of faith for the early Church. But did you know that God has opened the door of faith for each one us and he invites us to step through the threshold into a deeper relationship with him. The upcoming 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.

With his Apostolic Letter of October 11, 2011, Porta Fidei. . . , Pope Benedict XVI declared that a “Year of Faith” will begin on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013. October 11, 2012, the first day of the Year of Faith, is the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. . . (Vatican II) and also the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. During the Year of Faith, Catholics are asked to study and reflect on the documents of Vatican II and the catechism so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.

The upcoming Year of Faith is a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world” (Porta Fidei 6). In other words, the Year of Faith is an opportunity for Catholics to experience a conversion – to turn back to Jesus and enter into a deeper relationship with him. The “door of faith” is opened at one’s baptism, but during this year Catholics are called to open it again, walk through it and rediscover and renew their relationship with Christ and his Church.

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/

You are invited to respond to some or all of the following:

• What did your parish do to promote the Year of Faith? How did it go?
• What did your diocese do, and how did it go?
• What did you do to deepen your relationship with Jesus, and how did it go?
• What did you do to help others in their faith?
• What are you going to do from this point on, for yourself, and for others as a witness to the faith?
• How did the Year of Faith challenge and/or help you?

Evangelii Gaudium
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10390

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“The ‘door of faith’ (Acts14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church.”—Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei for the Indiction of the Year of Faith.

 

[CruceSignati]

You are invited to respond to some or all of the following:

• What did your parish do to promote the Year of Faith? Nothing How did it go?Not bad.

• What did your diocese do, and how did it go?Held a youth rally. Went pretty well.

• What did you do to deepen your relationship with Jesus, and how did it go? Started reading the Bible more.

• What did you do to help others in their faith?Got my brother to start reading the Bible with me.

• What are you going to do from this point on, for yourself, and for others as a witness to the faith?I am going to try and stand up for what I believe in if my friends or family are supporting something that goes against Catholic teaching.

• How did the Year of Faith challenge and/or help you?It made me think seriously about what I believe.

Evangelii Gaudium
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10390

 

[Jeanne_S]

I participated in a year long study of the Catheism.I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of Church teachings.
An amazing experience and growth in faith!

 

[quiet52]

I’m happy for you Jeanne! I’m also glad you parish (?) offered this opportunity. It must have been a blessing for several reasons. May you know the fire of our Lord’s love.

I guess none of the other readers participated?

I was a catechist, and also helped people one-on-one.

 

[kingston1]

I visited the church of my baptism in another state and I visited the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception in DC among many other things. I had the most powerful year of conversion because of my beloved Papa Benedict who called us to the year of faith! 2013 despite the ills of the world has been a year of renewal, I don’t know if other people have noticed or is it just me but despite the evil in the world people are returning to their faith!

 

[adawgj]

My parish played Fr Barron’s Catholicism DVD series
also played the movies “The Way”, “Of God’s and Men”, “There be Dragons”
We also had Jesse Romero, Fr Don Calloway MIC, speak at our parish.

For me personally I went through a transition from being a Catholic who went to Mass, but forgot the meaning and purpose of it, one who stopped praying to God and began believing in a Deistic creator for a brief time,

However thanks to the Holy Spirit I learned how to pray again, trust and put my faith in God (the one true God), and started to read and study the faith. Ive learned a ton and after some thinking and talking I have started to discern becoming a priest in the Society of Jesus.

 

[Avila123]

What did your parish do to promote the Year of Faith? How did it go?
Our parish is small (one priest with 2 churches and diocesan duties) so beyond the newsletters there was no other resource.
What did your diocese do, and how did it go?
The diocese arranged some talks (sadly poorly attended). The real work was going one behind the scenes and the year of faith ended with a call to the lay people to become actively involved in the New Evangelisation. By my calculations, God willing, this will start bearing fruit at the end of 2014.
What did you do to deepen your relationship with Jesus, and how did it go? * I attended the diocesan talks, managed to get onto RCIA 12 years after reverting and generally kept going on the journey of faith. Any deepening of my relationship with Jesus is down to Him.*
What did you do to help others in their faith?
To be honest, I doubt that I managed anything.
What are you going to do from this point on, for yourself, and for others as a witness to the faith?
Same as I have tried to do since reverting, preaching through living the faith, falling down, receiving God’s help in getting back up and then carrying on.
How did the Year of Faith challenge and/or help you. For me personally, in the last 12 months, not a great deal on either count but I don’t mean it negatively because I am forever on a journey of faith and our diocese is still working on a lot of long term projects. On a diocesan level, the year of faith is only the start.

 

[quiet52]

Thank you for sharing!

 

[globaljim2]

We have witnessed one of the greatest acts of Faith by the very Man who called for this year
of Faith, Pope Benedict. Everyone knows that this act of resignation has not happened before for over five hundred years. But it is an act of heroic humility. Pope Benedict knew
the teachings of our Faith better than any person alive and he was the Guardian of the Faith
in the Office he held for years. But he knew that it is not enough to have knowledge - that it
must be translated into action and what he saw was the immense need for Evangelization in
a whole new way. He knew also that he was not capable of doing what was necessary -for
any number of reasons. It was a personal decision.
The gentle and humble way he did it not only attests to his holiness, But the way the
Church received it attests to the extraordinary Faith of our Catholic People and to the strength of our Church.