"Knowledge of the content of faith is essential for giving one's own assent, that is to say for adhering fully with intellect and will to what the Church proposes." (Porta Fidei §10.5) By writing this is the Pope saying that we need to understand the entire deposit of the Faith before we can give our assent to it? Not at all. He goes on to say, "The giving of assent implies that, when we believe, we freely accept the whole mystery of faith, because the guarantor of its truth is God who reveals himself and allows us to know the mystery of love." (Ibid.) What this means is that when we give our own assent of faith, of believing in the Truth revealed to us by the Son of God, we can do so because God Himself guarantees that the Faith we have received through the Church is true. We don't have to understand it completely we simply have to trust in God.

On the other hand, there are those parts of the Faith that people can't accept because of their own ignorance or won't accept because of their own sinful stubbornness and pride. Therefore, all Catholics must strive to understand the content of their Faith in a more complete manner, especially if there is something that they do not agree with. To say that we don't agree with a part of the Truth that the Church teaches us is to say that we don't trust God, because it is God Himself who guarantees the Truth that we question.

To correct this problem we need to understand our Faith in a more perfect manner and therefore, we must study our Faith. The Pope points out, "In order to arrive at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith, all can find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool." (§11.1) And he goes on to say, "...the Year of Faith will have to see a concerted effort to rediscover and study the fundamental content of the faith that receives its systematic and organic synthesis in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church." (§11.2)

No matter where a given Catholic may be on his journey of faith we could all benefit from studying the content of our Faith because we can never competely exhaust what it has to teach us. We can most certainly give our assent of faith  but the deeper our knowledge of the Faith goes the deeper will be our faith in it. 

Pope Benedict tells the bishops of the world that during this Year of Faith, "Reflection on the faith will have to be intensified, so as to help all believers in Christ to acquire a more conscious and vigorous adherence to the Gospel." (§8)

But common sense tells us that the bishops could talk and reflect on the Faith until they are blue in the face and it would have no effect unless each individual Catholic takes as of utmost importance his own faith in Jesus Christ. And that is exactly his next point. The Pope goes on to say, "Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to learn the creed from memory. It served them as a daily prayer not to forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism." (§9.2)

The word commitment in this quote is very important. Each Catholic has received baptism as "an effective sign of entry into the people of believers in order to obtain salvation." (§10.4) Due to this fact, all Catholics have a commitment to the Catholic Faith. And just because most Catholics were baptized as infants and therefore don't remember their baptism taking place doesn't change the fact that this commitment still exists. We must treat this commitment to Christ and to the Catholic Faith in a serious manner, as if our lives depend upon it, because they do. The lives of our eternal souls are at stake. There is no more time to waste as nominal Catholics. We must realize who Christ is, what He has done for us, and live our lives accordingly in a completely committed manner.

The release of the Pope's letter Porta Fidei coincided with the beginnning of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The theme for this particular Synod, as indicated in Porta Fidei, is "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith." (§4)

And why is a new evangelization necessary? As I indicated yesterday, we can no longer take for granted that people in the world, or even those within the Church, have any real knowledge of the Faith. This is a very serious problem and it must be corrected.

But how is this new evangelization to take place? Pope Benedict explains, "The renewal of the Church is...achieved through the witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the world. Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus has left us." (§6.1) But for this to be possible then Catholics must know the Faith. And that is why the Pope has enacted this Year of Faith. He writes, "The Year of Faith...is a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world." (§6.2) We are called by the Pope himself during this year to become so convinced of the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that our very presence in the world will lead to its evangelization. It may sound impossible, but this task is no more daunting than what the Apostles faced 2,000 years ago and in order to make it happen we will need the same courage and the same sincere belief in Jesus Christ that they possessed.

To make this happen I believe the first thing we need to do is contained here in Pope Benedict's own words,

We must rediscover a taste for feeding ourselves on the word of God, faithfully handed down by the Church, and on the bread of life, offered as sustenance for his disciples (cf. Jn 6:51). Indeed, the teaching of Jesus still resounds in our day with the same power: “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life” (Jn 6:27). The question posed by his listeners is the same that we ask today: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (Jn 6:28). We know Jesus’ reply: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (Jn 6:29). Belief in Jesus Christ, then, is the way to arrive definitively at salvation. (§3)

We are called to belief in Jesus Christ. And this belief is strengthened by "feeding ourselves on the word of God." And it must be remembered that "word of God" does not only refer to the Sacred Scriptures but also to everything contained within Sacred Tradition, both of which make up the word of God and have been "faithfully handed down by the Church." But our belief is strengthened in a more magnificent, and yet mysterious way by feeding on "the bread of life" through receiving our Lord's  Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And with the strength we receive from the word of God and the Bread of Life we can go out and bring others to Christ by the witness of our lives in the world. 

In his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei Pope Benedict wrote,

It often happens that Christians are more concerned for the social, cultural and political consequences of their commitment, continuing to think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition for life in society. In reality, not only can this presupposition no longer be taken for granted, but it is often openly denied. (Porta Fidei, §2)

To me it seems the Pope is telling us that we can no longer assume that people in the world understand anything at all of the Christian Faith. And with the many Catholics that have been affected by a worldly and secular mentality I think we could say the same about many people within the Church.

But there also seems to be a second meaning in regards to his reference to people who "are more concerned for the social, cultural and political consequences of their commitment." What I think this means is that some people put more emphasis on these consequences he has listed than on proclaiming the saving work of Christ. But these consequences are secondary and dependent upon a belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind. Therefore, the most important thing that any Catholic has to do is to first proclaim the Truth of the Gospel: that the Son of God became Man through the Blessed Virgin Mary, that He has revealed to all mankind who God is and that God wants all mankind to be saved from sin and eternal death, and that the death and Resurrection of Jesus was the only possible sacrifice that could save us from sin and eternal death. But because so many people of the world, and even within the Church, no longer understand this we need more than anything else at this time a Year of Faith. And during this year each member of the Catholic Church needs to learn his faith in a more perfect manner and proclaim it to the world.

Earlier today I read Pope Benedict's Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei. The release of this letter marks the beginning of the Year of Faith inaugurated by Pope Benedict. This letter is absolutely wonderful and I recommend that all Catholics read it. Doing so will help ensure that everyone is on the same page, so to speak, with what this Year of Faith is all about.

I know my posts have been sporadic lately. Due to that fact I am going to start posting various parts of this great document on my blog. I will try to comment on every post but some may not need any comment like the one for today. Today's post is from section 9 and I believe that it gives us the main purpose for both the letter and the Year of Faith.

We want this Year to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope. It will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist, which is "the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; ...and also the source from which all its power flows." At the same time, we make it our prayer that believers'  witness of life may grow in credibility. To rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed, and to reflect on the act of faith, is a task that every believer must make his own, especially in the course of this Year.

I don't think this really needs any further comment. May we all grow deeper in our own faith during this Year of Faith, but let us realize that won't happen unless we put our own effort into it.