I'm on retreat all week, but before entering into the Great Silence, I pulled out a few highlighted passages from Pope Francis' first encyclical, "Lumen fidei" (Light of Faith). Today's passage (from #29) focuses on the "who" of faith. The "what" we believe is secondary. Faith is primarily a matter of relationship. Yes, faith is a sort of "knowing," but what does that mean? Pope Francis comments on Paul's "faith comes from hearing":
"Knowledge linked to a word is always personal knowledge; it recognizes the voice of the one speaking, opens up to that person in freedom and follows him or her in obedience."
Faith comes from hearing, yes; that means that faith has its origin in a relationship. Isn't that a redemptive notion of faith?
1 comment:
Yes, it IS a redemptive notion of faith, and it is why the time invested in developing a faithful prayer life is so important. How else can our hearts and souls hear what God has to say to us personally, individually? Hope your retreat is going well - Jean
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