at Pope Francis's Encyclical
Faith is a relational experience
(ANS - Rome) - A few days after the publication of the
encyclical Lumen Fidei, Fr. Fabio Attard, the SDB general councilor
for youth ministry, offered a brief Salesian reading of Pope Francis’s first
major document.
We have heard much about
this document; now that we have it to hand, it is important not only to read
but to study it. For us Salesians, as educators of the young, the encyclical
builds on a key point: faith is a relational experience.
Presenting biblical
characters such as Abraham and Moses, John and Paul, the Holy Father shows that
this faith relationship is marked by love and loyalty: God is a
trustworthy and faithful God. It is a faith in which not only is God the protagonist
– the call is his -- but the person of the believer receiving the invitation
also becomes a protagonist. In a listening characterized by freedom and
enriched by intelligence, the believer comes to see, to the point of allowing
his heart to be touched by God. It is a faith that does not degenerate into a
burden to be borne, but it becomes a gift for that personal and common good that
cannot be upheld merely by vague principles, open to free interpretation. It is
a faith, in the end, that opens the horizon of meaning, resulting in the
experience of the “I” avoiding individualism and progressing toward the “we”
that becomes a community, the Church.
For us Salesians, as
pastors and educators, there are many reasons to study the encyclical.
First of all, Lumen
Fidei gives us the opportunity to examine the foundation of our faith,
from the spiritual point of view as well as from a theological one. It is not a
luxury if we devote a little time to renew the emotional understanding of our
faith. It does young people a lot of good to see we are able to give an account
of our faith.
The encyclical then deals
with the theme in a very pedagogical way. It has a style that brings
intelligence into dialog with the longing for the divine. It is a document
that provides a methodology of knowledge of the faith that is not afraid to
confront the ultimate questions that mark today’s globalized culture. In
relation to the various processes of education to the faith, to be found in the
various contexts in which Salesians are present, including multi-religious
ones, the content is very connected with those dynamics involved in the human
search for good. They are the dynamics we as Salesians try to inculcate and
cultivate in the hearts of our young people from all continents, races, and
religions. We are aware that the thirst for love and the need for loyalty dwell
in the hearts of young people, just as much as the joy and happiness that they
appreciate.
The third motive, finally,
is that this encyclical sketches a path that is very interesting and rich in
content for educational proposals for those who want to deepen their
faith. We have in mind so many young animators, educators, and teachers who
share the Salesian mission with us, parents, and many other people who are looking
for a space, a way to deepen their faith.
Out of many profound
phrases, I conclude with one in particular that for us teachers and educators
gives us the courage to continue on our path: “Christians, in their poverty,
plant a seed so rich that it becomes a great tree, capable of filling the world
with its fruit” (n. 37).
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