THE CATECHESIS OF THE YEAR OF FAITH
On
Abraham's Faith
"Saying
'I believe in God' means founding my life on Him"
On 23rd January 2013, Pope
Benedict XVI, in his Catechesis of the Year of Faith, reflected on the theme “I
Believe in God”. This declaration opens our profession of our faith as it is
enshrined in the Apostle’s Creed. To
believe in God “implies adherence to Him,
the welcoming of his Word and joyful obedience to His revelation”. Faith is
“the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals
himself". By divine revelation, God makes himself known to us, he comes to
meet us where are. In an experience of this dialogue with God, we come to
commit ourselves in total trust so that we enter into communion with Him.
The Holy Father gives reference to Letter
to the Hebrews by stating that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped
for and the conviction of things not seen" (11:1). He presents the
faith of Abraham as the model of what it means to believe in God (Rom 4:18). I
here highlight the main sub themes that his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has
emphasizes in this week’s Catechesis of the Year of Faith.
- Faith is total trust in God’s promises: The Pope reminds us that Abraham trusted that God’s promises would be fulfilled and for this reason he set out on a journey from his land and went to the unknown. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you” (Gen 12:1). It is a journey that calls for a radical obedience and trust, accessible only through faith. This darkness of the unknown – where Abraham must go – is illuminated by the light of a promise. "I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you, and make your name great... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 12:2-3).
- Faith that God’s Promises are fulfilled unconditionally: The Holy Father explains that because of this radical act of the faith of Abraham, God promised to bless him abundantly. Through this act of faith, God assures Abraham that he will be a great nation, his descendants would multiply and the blessings will pass from generation to generation. So Abraham, in the divine plan, is destined to become the "father of a multitude of nations" (Gen 17:5; cf. Rom 4:17-18) and to enter into a new land in which to live.
- Faith that God fulfills his Promise in His own time: The Pope goes further to emphasize that faith does not offer instant and magical solutions to our situation.
“Abraham treaded a paradoxical path. God promises abundant blessings, but without
the visible signs of blessings; he was promised to become a great nation yet
his life was marked by the barrenness of his wife Sarah; he is brought to a new
homeland but he will have to live there as a foreigner, and the only possession
of the land that will be granted him will be that of a plot to bury Sarah” (cf.
Gen 23:1-20).
This situation did not make
Abraham waver in faith concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his
faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do
what he had promised"(Rom 4:18-21). Our faith in God should not be
conditioned by the visible signs alone, but more by realizing the presence of
God in our day to day life. Like Abraham, our faith must go beyond the
appearances, material results or miracles, but opens to an appreciation of the
level of our friendship with God.
- Faith is comes through sincere friendship with God: The Holy Father challenges us to look at our faith in God beyond the material accomplishments. He says, “When we affirm: "I believe in God," we say, like Abraham: "I trust You; I entrust myself to You, Lord," but not as Someone to run to only in times of difficulty or to whom to dedicate a few moments of the day or of the week.” To say “I believe in God” means: “Founding my life on Him, letting his Word orient me each day, in the concrete choices, without fear of losing something of myself.”
- Faith challenges us to go beyond conformity: The Pope explains that our faith is lived within the context of our world and the unfolding history of our time. To believe in God makes us bearers of values that often do not coincide with the fashionable thinking of our time. Therefore, Christians should not be afraid “to go against the grain in order to live their faith and resist the temptation to conformity”. We are living in a society where man wants to live as though God was absent from life. A society where positive advancements in science and technology have led man to think he/she is self-sufficient and has no need for God. It is a time for witnessing to our faith through the life of those men and women who have a sincere thirst for God and for whom the Gospel message continue to give sense of purpose in their lives.
The Holy Father concludes his catechesis
saying:
To say "I believe in God"
leads us, then, to set off, to go out of ourselves continually, just like
Abraham, to bring into the daily reality in which we live the certainty that
comes to us from faith: the certainty, that is, of the presence of God in
history, even today; a presence that brings life and salvation, and opens us to
a future with Him for a fullness of life that will never diminish.”
Please, you are invited to read the
original text by the Holy Father Benedict XVI on the YEAR OF FAITH CATECHESIS web page of the Pastoral Department Blog
Source: AMECEA Pastoral Department
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