Lumen Fidei - Summary of the Light of Faith

Lumen Fidei.
after the pope published the document lumen fidei, many have read it in diverse enviroments, but still there are some who have not yet come across the document. I took some time to read it and put some outlined summary of it, as I was giving a talk about it over the weekend to a group of couples of Christ for family life. here is the summary:

 OUTLINE OF THE DOCUMENT: LUMEN FIDEI – LIGHT OF FAITH.

 Introduction.

The encyclical starts with what the ancients put their faith in and proceeds to move directly to what our culture believes about faith – that it is something for the blind, those driven by emotion. But, at the same time, our culture is discovering that reason is not enough. Confusion has set in on what is good and evil, right and wrong. Faith in Jesus and love in Him gives us a new vision to see the world.

Promulgated on 29^th june 2013, and published on 5^th july, 2013.

1^st of two popes: Benedict XVI and Francis.

Readings:

1.      He. 11,1 – definition of faith.

2.      Ef. 2, 8-9 – saved by faith not works

3.      LK. 18, 8 – your faith saves you.

4.      Jm 2,14 – faith without works.

5.      1 cor. 13,13 – the three theological virtues – faith, hope, love.

6.      Rm 14,7 – kingdom of God.

 

CONCEPT OF THE LOGO

The logo is composed of a square, bordered field on which a boat, symbolizing the Church, is represented as sailing on a graphically minimal representation of waves. The main mast of the boat is a cross from which sails are displayed in the form of dynamic signs which compose the trigram of Christ (IHS). The background to the sails is a sun which, associated with the trigram, refers also to the Eucharist.

Important Remarks.

Faith is a “theological” and “supernatural” virtue given by God (no. 7).

This context connects the idea of faith with the idea of experience and personal encounter, which establishes a relation between man and God, without making it clear whether this is the intellectual relation of knowledge or the affective relation of love.

The central idea is that faith is first of all existential, the product of an encounter with the living God that reveals love and leads to communion (no. 4, no. 8).  It is essentially dynamic, openness to the promise of God and memory of [that promise about] the future (no. 9), openness to love (no. 21, no. 34), attachment to the source of life and of all fatherhood (no. 11), an experience of love (no. 47)…. It consists of “the willingness to let ourselves be constantly transformed and renewed by God’s call” (no. 13).

 In other words: I believe in God because he is love and not because he is truthful.

 The necessity of faith in order to be saved is presented in a non-directive manner: the beginning of salvation is “openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being” (no. 19).

In short, faith, as it is presented in Lumen fidei, is first of all an experience of life and of love, fully realized in the “encounter with Christ” (no. 30): “Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment” (no. 26). Jesus is said to be the one savior because “all God’s light is concentrated in him, in his ‘luminous life’ which discloses the origin and the end of history” (no. 35)

If faith increases our knowledge, it is not initially and principally inasmuch as it teaches us certain objective truths by authorized testimony, but rather inasmuch as it unites us to the life of a subject, inasmuch as it initiates us, through loving thought, to another thought and another love.

It is not learning objective truths, but becoming united to the life of a subject and being initiated by loving thought to another thought and another love.

“Believing means entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history” (no. 13). “Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love. Through this blending of faith and love we come to see the

Kind of knowledge which faith entails, its power to convince and its ability to illumine our steps.

Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment. Faith’s understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes” (no. 26).

Chapter 1 – We Have Believed in Love (cf. 1 John 4:16)

1.      Abraham, Israel, Christian, salvation, ecclesial form of faith.

2.      Salvation History—the story of God’s people—to see faith throughout history. It begins with Abraham and finds its summation in Jesus.

3.      God is not something beyond us; He is someone who acts in the here and now. He is in our journey.

4.      Looking into our own history, can we perceive God´s intervention in it? Mention?

 

Chapter 2 – Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand (cf. Isaiah 7:9)

1.      Seeks to understand the relationship between faith and several other aspects - Faith and truth, knowledge of truth and love, faith as hearing and sight, faith and reason, faith and search of God, faith and theology.

2.      Faith is rooted in reality when it is rooted in truth; that truth which does not become cold and impersonal. The truth which in faith possesses us; we do not possess truth. As we become more possessed by truth, we grow in humility and in the knowledge of the faith.

3.      Which are the truths which we seek to understand in our life?

Chapter 3 – I Delivered to You What I Also Received (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3)

1.      Church – mother of faith, sacraments, prayer, Decalogue, unity and integrity.

2.      The nature of our lives forces us to have faith in the truth others are giving us; our Christian faith is passed on from one generation to the next. We accept this faith in a community and in the communion of the Church. The sacraments allow us to experience this faith in a special way. (Baptism and Eucharist.)

3.      Is there any element of faith which I don’t understand or I don’t agree with in the history of the church?

 

Chapter 4 – God Prepares a City for Them (cf. Hebrews 11:16)

1.      Faith and common good, family, light for life in society, consolation and strength amid suffering.

2.      faith should be the foundation of our society, marriage and family which in turn helps form our other relationships as well.

3.      Proclaiming God publicly, God in our society: are we ashamed of him?

4.      Faith also provides strength in suffering. Faith does not answer every question, but provides a lamp to help us navigate through the darkness and the presence of God who is with us personally in our suffering.

5.      In the end, faith should provide us with joy. The sign of our faith lives should be a joy in Jesus.

6.      F.A.I.T.H. – face the reality, accept it, imagine a positive change, trust in God, and hope in Him.

 

Conclusion.

Blessed is she who believed – Lk 1,45.

When our own spiritual lives bear fruit we become filled with joy, which is the clearest sign of faith’s grandeur. Mary accepted Jesus with joy, we too should follow her example.