Lumen Fidei: Pope Francis on Faith

I. Introduction

Introduction

Lumen Fidei (“Light of Faith”) is Pope Francis’s first encyclicalThree questions to answer before looking at the encyclical: 1. What is the Year of Faith?2. What is a pope?3. Who is Pope Francis?

1. What Is the Year of Faith?Lumen Fidei has appeared during the “Year of “Faith”Q. What’s the Year of Faith? A.• Proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI• Began last October 11– 50th anniversary of opening of

Vatican II– 20th anniversary of publication of

Catechism• Ends Sunday– November 24 = Feast of Christ the

King

1. What Is the Year of Faith?What’s the Point of the Year of Faith?“This year will be a propitious occasion for the faithful to understand more profoundly that the foundation of Christian faith is ‘the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.’ Founded on the encounter with the Risen Christ, faith can be rediscovered in its wholeness and all its splendor. ‘In our days too faith is a gift to rediscover, to cultivate and to bear witness to’ because the Lord ‘grants each one of us to live the beauty and joy of being Christians.’” (Pastoral Recommendations for the Year of Faith)

1. What Is the Year of Faith?• The Year of Faith is an

occasion to reflect on two main dimensions of our faith: 1. Encounter: Faith as springing

from a personal relationship Jesus

2. Witness: Faith as shaping the way we carry ourselves in the world

• Both these themes are fleshed out in Lumen Fidei

2. What Is the Pope?

Lumen Fidei is a letter from the popeQ. What, exactly, is the pope?A. What ISN’T the Pope?1. CEO of Catholic Inc. – The pope is not like the director of a company who has ultimate personal

authority over whatever the company does– Rather, the pope is like a trustee whose role is to protect what

2. Totalitarian “Dear Leader”– St. Ignatius may have gone a bit overboard when he wrote, “To be right

in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it.”

3. Living voice of God among us– 19th c. English Catholic W.G. Ward misunderstood the nature of the

papacy when he quipped that “I should like a new [infallible] Papal Bull every morning with my Times at breakfast.”

2. What Is the Pope?

The papacy is an office that has two main dimensions: 1. The pope is the bishop

of Rome2. The pope exercises the

Petrine ministry

2. What Is the Pope?1. Bishop of Rome• A bishop like any other bishop– The pope shepherds the Christian

community of Rome in the same way David Ricken shepherds the Christian community of Green Bay

• A bishop unlike any other bishop– The most authoritative early

witnesses to Jesus died and were buried in Rome: Peter and Paul

– The Roman community and the pope have always been associated with keeping the faith Peter and Paul proclaimed

The Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome (note: St. Peter’s is not a cathedral)

2. What Is the Pope?2. Petrine MinistryBiblical roots• Mt 16:13-19: “You are Peter [Petros], and upon this

rock [petram] I will build my Church.” • Jn 21:1-23: “Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep.” The meaning of the ministry• Touchstone of orthodoxy: You can find out

whether you’re preaching the same Gospel as Jesus by checking with the Church of Rome– Pope has personal responsibility for preserving Peter’s

confession of faith through time– Pope is living voice of Tradition of the Church

• Center of unity: You can find out whether you’re in communion with the whole church by checking whether you’re in communion with Rome– Pope has a personal responsibility to work for unity of

the Church

Ancient statue of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

3. Who Is Pope Francis? Lumen Fidei was begun by Pope Benedict XVI but completed and published by Pope Francis: his first major teaching statement• Born Jorge Maria Bergoglio

(1936), Buenos Aires, Argentina• Before becoming pope: Head

of Argentine Jesuits and archbishop of Buenos Aires

• Runner-up in papal conclave that elected Benedict XVI (2005)

3. Who Is Pope Francis? • Elected pope after retirement

of Benedict XVI (March 13, 2013)

• Named “Francis” after Francis of Assisi, who devoted himself to serving Christ in the poor

• First “New World” pope• “Pope Francis” the “most-

discussed proper name on the internet” in 2013, per Global Language Monitor

II. Lumen Fidei on Faith

Introduction

• Lumen Fidei an “encyclical”: – Letter by Pope Francis to the “universal Church”– i.e., a letter to the worldwide community of

Christians in communion with the bishop of Rome, i.e. the pope

• Official version written in Latin language• Official title comes from the first words in the

Latin version: “Lumen fidei”: the “light of faith”

IntroductionPope Francis: this is the “work of four hands”: completes Pope Benedict’s series of reflections on the theological virtues• Based on New Testament: Paul often talks

about trio of faith, hope, and love• Pope Benedict: Two letters on love …

– Deus Caritas Est / God Is Love (2005)– Caritas in Veritate / Love in Truth (2009)

• … and one on hope– Spe Salvi / Saved by Hope (2007)

Important to know this, because Lumen Fidei develops themes common to these other letters• Christian life as communal life: “I” am not

saved, but “we” are• Encounter with Jesus as source of love and

hope

Introduction

Four main themes: 1. Faith as Encounter2. Faith as Light3. Faith as Communal4. Faith as a Way of Seeing

Faith as Encounter

• First theme: Faith is born of an encounter with Jesus, not memorizing the contents of the Creed or Catechism.

• Quote: “In the love of God revealed in Jesus, faith perceives the foundation on which all reality and its final destiny rest.” (15)

• Let’s unpack this a bit …

Faith as Encounter

“Standarized test” model of faith:• Faith = The willingness to say

X, Y and Z are true• Belief = Belief in facts• Example: “Sure, I believe in

UFOs and space aliens”• Example: “Sure, I believe that

God is triune”• Having faith = memorizing

the right answers, checking the right boxes on the test

Faith as Encounter

Problems with “standardized test” faith: • It confesses a God remote from

the world• “Our culture has lost its sense

of God’s tangible presence and activity in our world. We think that God is to be found in the beyond, on another level of reality, far removed from our everyday relationships.” (17)

• It doesn’t make any difference whether it’s true or not

Faith as EncounterAgainst the “standardized test” model of faith: “Christians … profess their faith in God’s tangible and powerful love which really does act in history and determines its final destiny: a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.” (17)Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Come

after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt 4:19)

Faith as EncounterReflection questions: • How have I

encountered Jesus? • Is my faith just a list of

facts, or is it rooted in the person of Jesus?

Mosaic icon of Christ, Hagia Sophia basilica, Istanbul

Faith as Light

• Second theme: Faith does not lead us into darkness and irrationality, but into light and truth.

• Quote: “Jesus [is] the true sun ‘whose rays bestow life’.” (1)

• Let’s unpack this a bit …

Faith as Light• Think of a phrase like “blind

faith”• Faith is often presented as a

walk in darkness– Isn’t it irrational to believe

God became man? – Isn’t it absurd to claim Jesus is

the sole mediator between God and humanity in our pluralistic world?

– Doesn’t science enlighten us, whereas faith obscures things?

Faith as LightLumen Fidei talks about faith as a light: hence the title!1. Seeing the light2. Reflecting the light

Faith as Light1. Seeing the light• Faith allows us to see further

than reason and science allow: – Origin of all things– Beyond veil of death– True meaning of life

• In a sense, the lack of faith is a kind of darkness

• “Unless you believe, you will not understand.” (Is 7:9: one of St. Augustine’s favorite verses)

Faith as Light1. Seeing the light• Sometimes we walk in

darkness despite the light of faith– St. Francis of Assisi– Mother Teresa

• “Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey.” (57)

Faith as Light2. Reflecting the light• The light of faith “is a light

reflected from one face to another.” (37)

• The encounter with Christ should transform us, make us like Christ

• Cf. Service of Light at Easter Vigil

Faith as Light2. Reflecting the light“The light of Christ shines, as in a mirror, upon the face of Christians; as it spreads, it comes down to us, so that we too can share in that vision and reflect that light to others, in the same way that, in the Easter liturgy, the light of the paschal candle lights countless other candles. Faith is passed on, we might say, by contact, from one person to another, just as one candle is lighted from another. Christians, in their poverty, plant a seed so rich that it becomes a great tree, capable of filling the world with its fruit.” (37)

Faith as Light

Reflection questions: • How has faith enlightened me? • What aspects of my life are illuminated by

Jesus?• How has faith been a “lamp for my way” in

dark times? • In whose face do I see Christ’s light?

Faith as Communal

• Third theme: Faith is never just my faith, it is always also our faith.

• Quote: “The individual’s act of faith finds its place within a community, within the common ‘we’ of the people who, in faith, are like a single person.” (14)

• Let’s unpack this a bit …

Faith as Communal• On the one hand, faith is always

personal– Example: I can hire someone to

cut my grass, but I can’t hire someone to believe for me

• Risk: Focus on personal dimension of faith can eclipse its communal nature– Luther: “Here I stand, I can do

no other”– Bumper sticker slogan: “Believe

in yourself”• Against this view, the Pope

reminds us: “It is impossible to believe on our own.” (39)

Luther: “Here I stand”

Faith as Communal

• “Persons always live in relationship. We come from others, we belong to others, and our lives are enlarged by our encounter with others.” (38)

• Who I am is rooted in relationships: – With family – With language and culture

Faith as Communal• My faith in is also rooted

in relationships with others

• “Self-knowledge is only possible when we share in a greater memory.” (38)

• Faith = A sharing in the memory of the Church– Eucharist: “Do this in

memory of me.”

Faith as Communal

Reflection questions: • Who have I received my faith from?• How have my memories been shaped by the

Church’s memory?

Faith as a Way of Seeing

• Fourth theme: Faith is the Holy Spirit’s way of helping us see the world through the eyes of Jesus.

• Quote: “Faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing.” (18)

• Let’s unpack this a bit …

Faith as a Way of Seeing• Faith in a deep sense = the Holy

Spirit working in our hearts• “The beginning of salvation is

openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being. … 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).” (19)

Faith as a Way of Seeing• Holy Spirit makes us

“contemporaries of Jesus” (38)• “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.” (21)

Faith as a Way of Seeing

Reflection questions: • What signs do I see in my own life that I have

personally received the gift of the Holy Spirit? • How do I see myself as a “contemporary of

Christ”? • Do I think I am able to look at the world

through Christ’s eyes? Why or why not?

Conclusion

Four main themes: 1. Faith as Encounter2. Faith as Light3. Faith as Communal4. Faith as a Way of Seeing

Conclusion• Lumen Fidei concludes

with a reflection on Mary• Mary symbolizes all the

themes of the letter• Mary “treasured in her

heart all that she had heard and seen, so that the word could bear fruit in her life” (58; cf. Lk 2:19)

Conclusion

For more information: • Read the encyclical!– Available online– Available from On This Rock or Amazon.com

• Explore Mary as an icon of faithful discipleship through our Advent program– Mondays in December (2, 9, 16, 23)– 9:00–10:30 am or 6:00–7:30 pm

• This presentation available on the parish website, http://stjudeoshkosh.org