What I learned from Year of Faith

It feels like just last month that the Year of Faith was launched by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. How very fast that ‘last month’ flies. And in these ‘last months’ we are moving fast towards the end of 2013.

Looking back, I realised I didn’t really accomplished anything great in the Year of Faith, sad to say. All the books I planned to finish by the end of 2013 are only half way through. That includes Lumen Fidei, which I enthusiastically awaited and picked up but never got round to finishing it. The most I’ve done was taking a little time reading the column in Today’s Catholic (our archdiocesan newspaper) on the Creed.

Is doing lots of readings and reflections, attending seminars and going for pilgrimages really enough to increase our faith and make us evangelisers? After all, Year of Faith was about learning more about my own faith and helping the others come to know about it (evangelisation and re-evangelisation). Wasn’t it so?

I thought so initially. But after a series of unpleasant experiences I’ve encountered this year, I came to understand many things a little differently.

I learned that no amount of reading would be able to increase my faith. I’m not lacking in ‘head knowledge’. (It’s not difficult at all to search for materials and read more on Christian Faith.) It is not so much about how much I know about the Faith, but how I can feel for others and identify myself with them (i.e. ‘heart knowledge’).

I learned that to evangelise, I must first be re-evangelised. It is not so much about how well I can preach, but how I live my life as a true witness to the Gospel. The most effective way to evangelise is through our own example, for action speaks louder than words.

I learned that when I’m all puffed up with pride, thinking that I know more than others and re-evangelisation is not for me, then I would not be able to grow spiritually because I’m too full of myself.

And I learned that the Church, although an institution, cannot be too institutional. For our main business has nothing to do with money, status, reputation or personal gain, but souls entrusted to us by Christ our Bridegroom. The most effective way to deal with people is by going back to the Gospel values, following the example of Christ.

To me, that is what evangelisation and re-evangelisation is all about. It is recognising that Christ is the centre of everything – our life and work, the church, the world, and acknowledging Him as the very reason we are who we are today – His coheirs of the heavenly Kingdom.

The Year of Faith might have come to an end last Sunday, but our journey of faith continues. I pray that the Lord would touch the hearts of many through the example of our daily living – may we preach by our actions, not by words.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn 13:35, NIV)

Food for thoughts

"Following the example of the Wise Men we adore the newborn King, and offer Him the gold of a loving heart, the frankincense of persevering prayer, and the myrrh of our readiness to labor and suffer for Him."

Sunday Reflection: No forgiveness, no future

On 21 July, Irish teenager Tara Whelan, killed in a terrorist bomb attack while on holiday in Turkey, was buried in her home village in the presence of thousands of mourners. Tara was described as 'a most honest, loving, caring and beautiful person." At the funeral Mass her parents publicly forgave her killers and offered a special prayer for them.

Some weeks earlier Marie Fatayi-Williams, a Nigerian woman whose 26-year-old son (the hope and pride of her life) died in the London terrorist bombings, prayed aloud at his funeral service in Westminster Cathedral, "Lord, take Anthony as a sacrificial lamb for peace to reign in our world." As she forgave his murderers, her impassioned plea for peace over BBC television touched viewers worldwide.

Such acts of heroic forgiveness by ordinary people in the face of great personal tragedy stand in stark contrast to the hatred and revenge which motivate the terrorists. Without any way excusing their horrible crimes, it requires greatness of heart and God-like generosity to forgive the evil-doers.

Forgiveness has been described as godly. The Son of God became flesh, lived among us and gave His life to gain forgiveness for our sins. As He lay dying on the cross He prayed for his killers, "Father forgive them". And during His life He repeatedly stressed the importance of forgiving. The Parables of The Unforgiving Servent and the Prodigal Son, as well as the incidences such as the adulterous woman and the sinful woman in Simon's house, all underline the primary need in our lives for mercy and forgiveness rather than condemnation and revenge. In fact He leaves us with no choice; we must forgive, not just once but 77 times if need be.

How true indeed are the words of the poet, William Blake, "It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend". Because of our smallness of mind and heart we find it difficult to forgive an angry word, an unfriendly stare, a small insult or loss of face, especially from someone close to us! We are too proud to make the first move towards reconciliation but allow hatred and bitterness, like an unseen cancer, to continue to eat away and destroy our peace of mind and our relationships.

Jesus warns that in such a state we are unworthy to worship God:"Leave your gift there in front of the altar, go make peace with your brother/sister and then come back and offer your gift to God". Only then will it be acceptable.

Perhaps Jesus' greatest act of forgiveness was not praying for His enemies on the cross but forgiving His closest friends and followers who had deserted Him in His hour of greatest need. He had begged, "Stay here and keep watch with me" but they "all left him and ran away"(Matt 26). Yet when He appeared to them after the Resurrection, in their state of guilt and confusion, there was no repromand, no "How could you...?" Instead there was only a gentle greeting, "Fear not; it is I... Peace be with you" (Matt 28).

This is what He continues to ask from each of us; to forgive and let go of past hurts. Not easy, in our human pride and self-righteousness, but the only way forward, for 'without forgiveness there is no future' (Archbishop Desmond Tutu).

- Bro. Columba Gleeson
(A De La Salle Brother who worked in schools in Sarawak from 1958-1987. From 1988-1997, he was the editor of Today's Catholic and was also involved in faith formation and catechetical programmes in the Archdiocese. He now works with the Brothers in Belfast, Northern Ireland.)