REDISCOVERING THE JOY OF BELIEVING

By Rev. Fr. (Dr) Anthony Mario Ozele

Director, Warri Diocesan Commission on the New Evangelization

“God has stamped in our souls a longing for himself. We are born with a longing for the divine that cannot be satisfied by anyone or anything short of God. We are created to be seekers for the absolute love, which is God” (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 109).

It is this “stamp,” this seal set on our hearts by God himself at our conception, which makes us become seekers for the “more,” which can only be God. At some point in our lives we realize that we aren’t satisfied with what we are or what we have, and we start out on the journey to find something to make us happy.

Beginning from this October the Church will enter into the Year of Faith proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI who argues that, we must overcome the fatigue of faith and rediscover the joy of being Christians. “From this joy spring the energies that are needed to serve Christ in distressing situations of human suffering.” The Year of Faith is an auspicious opportunity to think about and perhaps more significantly to do something about our life with God. When we examine the world around us, what is the conclusion we must draw? I believe that it is simply this: Faith in our world today is hidden. It is not absent, it is simply hidden. This does not imply that faith is something covert, something hidden for a reason, although in many areas of our world we know that this is the case, we understand that there are men and women in our world for whom an active life of Christian faith is forbidden. Instead, faith is hidden because it is little understood, appreciated, practiced and shared, even among seeming intelligent and sophisticated Catholics.

The Holy Father speaks of this year as “a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world” (Porta Fidei, 6). Aside from recognizing the historic anniversaries of Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this is “a time of profound change” (10), a time in which Christians can no longer “think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition for life in society” (2). “To a greater extent than in the past, faith is now being subjected to a series of questions arising from a changed mentality which, especially today, limits the field of rational certainties to that of scientific and technological discoveries” (12).

In the Western world particularly, this sweeping change and the reduction of truth to only what is quantifiable has led Christians to question not just the specific doctrines and dogmas of their Creed, but its very foundations. This questioning has become more pertinent as believers are confronted with the increasing divergence between the Church and secular society on social and moral issues. The question, “Why believe?” or, “Why should I have faith?” is very real and relevant to many both within and outside the Church. This, at least in part, is why it is now opportune for a “Year of Faith”. Quoting the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:27), the Holy Father opens his Apostolic Letter, Porta Fidei, by reminding us that God opened the door of faith for the early Church and he opens it for each one of us. In doing so he invites us to step through the threshold into a deeper relationship with him (1). This 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 the Church.

In calling for this Year of Faith, it is the hope of the Holy Father for the whole Church that “we rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ.” Furthermore, this year calls the Church and every individual Christian to a renewed sense of mission and to a recommitment to Evangelization, for “the Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who give us life, and life in abundance,” (2).

This Year of Faith is a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Saviour of the world” (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. As reflection on the faith is intensified during this year we are invited to embrace the Gospel more vigorously and consciously.

The Year of Faith deeply rooted in the New Evangelization, derived from teachings of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, is also a call to all Catholics to reach out to our brothers and sisters who have fallen away from the Church: those who have lost a living sense of faith
, those who no longer consider themselves members of the Church
, and those who live far removed from Christ and his Gospel. We are called to help these friends (or ourselves!) renew or re-discover the Catholic faith, life in the Church, and an intimate relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI stresses, that a commitment to The New Evangelization is needed “to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” (Porta Fidei 7).

Pope Benedict XVI explains… Saint Paul asks his disciple Timothy to “aim at faith” (2 Tim 2:22) with the same constancy as when he was a boy (cf. 2 Tim 3:15). This invitation is directed to each of us, that none of us grow lazy in the faith. It is the lifelong companion that makes it possible to perceive, ever anew, the marvels that God works for us. What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end. (Porta Fidei 15)

This Year is a wonderful opportunity for Parishes to grow further in the grace of community, shared faith and action, as well as taking its position as a city built on the hilltop. Even the best parishes can strengthen and grow in the areas of welcome, life-long faith formation (or learning), and healing in some way. Within our parishes, clergy, religious, parish staff, laity, and parishioners at large should spend some time creatively thinking of ways to do this. At a minimum, parishioners should be invited to reflect more deeply on the Catechism, the Creed and some of the most relevant Documents of Vatican II, such as Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church), especially as they relate to these key areas of parish life.

Beyond that, parishes should celebrate and deepen those things that are most relevant to their particular mission in the world. The Bishop and the Warri Diocesan Commission on the New Evangelization have set out elaborate and detailed Guidelines for celebrating the Year of Faith in our diocese aimed at building more welcoming parish atmosphere overall, one where gifts are recognized, valued and given back in service, with increase, to the Lord. Hopefully, Clergy, Religious and religious education leaders and teachers can tailor programs to help children come to know Christ more deeply (or to begin to know Him!). Parish leaders in the areas of Adult Faith Formation, Youth and Young Adult ministries, Respect for Human Life, Evangelization and Hospitality can work toward deepening faith in people of all ages and stages in the faith journey. Clergy and parishioners alike can begin to build bridges of healing and compassion as they reach out to friends and family members who have wandered (or run) away from the Church.

Within our parish communities, every celebration of the Liturgy, every prayer uttered, every act of charity, every ritual offered is a teachable moment and a pathway to lead others to Christ. The world has need of rediscovering the joy of faith.