We have believed in Love
Chapter 1: Articles 8-22
Having established in the introductory note, that this is "a time when mankind is particularly in need of light" (4), in the first chapter the encyclical draws on history to paint the canvas of a holistic understanding of Faith. Beginning from Abraham, the father in faith (8-11), the focus traverses right up to the Church which serves as 'the one body in faith'(21), journeying through the experiences of Israel, the people of God in faith (12-13), those of Moses, the mediator of God in faith (14-15) and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son in whom we are made sons and daughters of the God who has loved us, called us and chosen us from eternity.
Presenting Abraham, the encyclical highlights from his experience that faith is "our response to a word which engages us personally" with a God, who is a God of persons (God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob) (8); a word which is at the same time a call and a promise (8) - a call to be faithful and a promise of the faithfulness of God (9). The words of St. Augustine is recalled fittingly here, "Man is faithful when he believes in God and his promises; God is faithful when he grants to man what he has promised." The man of faith gains strength by putting himself in the hands of the God who is faithful, explains the letter.
God's light shines for Israel through the remembrance of the Lord's mighty deeds, recalled and celebrated in prayer and worship, and passed down from parents to children (12). Israel as congregation of faith, were akin to us in their weaknesses in the face of the temptation of unbelief, defined in the word, IDOLATRY. It was after all their incapacity to bear the mystery of God's hiddenness (13). And as then, even today the way out of idolatry is true faith that "turns to the living God in a personal encounter" (13).
Moses is brought in as the icon of the meeting point of the communitarian aspect of faith and the personal commitment to faith. "The individual act of faith finds its place within a community, within the common 'we' of the people," affirms the encyclical (14). From Moses,the mediator who enabled people have a vision of God, through the eyes of faith, the encyclical makes a shift to Jesus the ultimate mediator, the one who makes known God to us, as John explains in his prologue.
Jesus, specially in his death, portrays the ultimate light of faith. The world may look at the death on the Cross as a scandal of faith, but "it is precisely in contemplating Jesus' death that faith grows stronger and receives a dazzling light," revealing to us a love that is capable of embracing death to bring us salvation (16), a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ's passion, death and resurrection (17).
Today, for us therefore, "faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is participation in his way of seeing" (18). There can be three shades of believing that form a complete expression of faith in Jesus - Believing that (that what Jesus tells us is true), Believing (accepting Jesus' words and testimony because he is truthful) and Believing in (that is allowing Jesus into our personal lives, moving closer to him, clinging to him and following him all the way) (18).
It is the Spirit that inspires us to make this move of faith towards Jesus and call him "Lord"; it is the Spirit that enables us to accept Christ's experience and call God, "Abba Father". Faith is a gift, a free gift of God, in the Spirit, who makes is children of God, in Christ Jesus (19-21).
Faith is necessarily ecclesial; it is not a private matter or a completely individualistic notion or a personal opinion (22). As Abraham "heard" God and obeyed him in faith, our faith too comes from hearing and it is meant to be expressed in words to be heard and proclaimed, says the encyclical at the end of the first chapter.
Some wonderful affirmations of this section on what faith is, inspired by the history of salvation, are worth being recounted here:
- Faith opens the way before us and accompanies our steps through time. (8)
- Faith is our response to a word which engages us personally. (8)
- Faith is the capacity to bear the mystery of God's hiddenness. (13)
- Faith is God's free gift, which calls for humility and courage to trust and to entrust. (14)
- Faith is participation in Jesus's way of seeing the reality. (18)
- Faith in Christ, is the light that illumines the origin and the end of life. (20)
With this framework of understanding faith, the following section will proceed to comprehend the depths of faith in relation to various other frameworks of understanding. (to be contd.)
Presenting Abraham, the encyclical highlights from his experience that faith is "our response to a word which engages us personally" with a God, who is a God of persons (God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob) (8); a word which is at the same time a call and a promise (8) - a call to be faithful and a promise of the faithfulness of God (9). The words of St. Augustine is recalled fittingly here, "Man is faithful when he believes in God and his promises; God is faithful when he grants to man what he has promised." The man of faith gains strength by putting himself in the hands of the God who is faithful, explains the letter.
God's light shines for Israel through the remembrance of the Lord's mighty deeds, recalled and celebrated in prayer and worship, and passed down from parents to children (12). Israel as congregation of faith, were akin to us in their weaknesses in the face of the temptation of unbelief, defined in the word, IDOLATRY. It was after all their incapacity to bear the mystery of God's hiddenness (13). And as then, even today the way out of idolatry is true faith that "turns to the living God in a personal encounter" (13).
Moses is brought in as the icon of the meeting point of the communitarian aspect of faith and the personal commitment to faith. "The individual act of faith finds its place within a community, within the common 'we' of the people," affirms the encyclical (14). From Moses,the mediator who enabled people have a vision of God, through the eyes of faith, the encyclical makes a shift to Jesus the ultimate mediator, the one who makes known God to us, as John explains in his prologue.
Jesus, specially in his death, portrays the ultimate light of faith. The world may look at the death on the Cross as a scandal of faith, but "it is precisely in contemplating Jesus' death that faith grows stronger and receives a dazzling light," revealing to us a love that is capable of embracing death to bring us salvation (16), a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ's passion, death and resurrection (17).
Today, for us therefore, "faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is participation in his way of seeing" (18). There can be three shades of believing that form a complete expression of faith in Jesus - Believing that (that what Jesus tells us is true), Believing (accepting Jesus' words and testimony because he is truthful) and Believing in (that is allowing Jesus into our personal lives, moving closer to him, clinging to him and following him all the way) (18).
It is the Spirit that inspires us to make this move of faith towards Jesus and call him "Lord"; it is the Spirit that enables us to accept Christ's experience and call God, "Abba Father". Faith is a gift, a free gift of God, in the Spirit, who makes is children of God, in Christ Jesus (19-21).
Faith is necessarily ecclesial; it is not a private matter or a completely individualistic notion or a personal opinion (22). As Abraham "heard" God and obeyed him in faith, our faith too comes from hearing and it is meant to be expressed in words to be heard and proclaimed, says the encyclical at the end of the first chapter.
Some wonderful affirmations of this section on what faith is, inspired by the history of salvation, are worth being recounted here:
- Faith opens the way before us and accompanies our steps through time. (8)
- Faith is our response to a word which engages us personally. (8)
- Faith is the capacity to bear the mystery of God's hiddenness. (13)
- Faith is God's free gift, which calls for humility and courage to trust and to entrust. (14)
- Faith is participation in Jesus's way of seeing the reality. (18)
- Faith in Christ, is the light that illumines the origin and the end of life. (20)
With this framework of understanding faith, the following section will proceed to comprehend the depths of faith in relation to various other frameworks of understanding. (to be contd.)