Lumen Fidei: God is Here, Now

Last updated on: March 30, 2014 at 3:00 am by willduquette

Lumen Fidei: God is Here, Now 2014-03-28T17:43:28-05:00 willduquette

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In paragraphs 15, 16, and 17 of Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis explains how faith is not merely assent to a set of beliefs, but trust in a person; and specifically in the person of Jesus Christ; and specifically in the love of Christ and his Father for us; and specifically because the Father shows his love for us by raising Jesus from the dead and promising to do the same for us. Jesus not only tells us that he loves us, but he is willing to die for us; and his Father in Heaven raises him. He loves and has the power to love truly.

And then, at the end of paragraph 17, Pope Francis goes on to say something truly key:

Our culture has lost its sense of God’s tangible presence and activity in our world. We think that God is to be found in the beyond, on another level of reality, far removed from our everyday relationships. But if this were the case, if God could not act in the world, his love would not be truly powerful, truly real, and thus not even true, a love capable of delivering the bliss that it promises.

This notion that God is remote seems to be pretty generally shared. One of my commenters was surprised when I suggested that Christian faith is faith in a person who has acted in history, both in my personal history and in the history of the world at large. In his view, faith was blind acceptance in a set of propositions. What a bloodless, unsatisfying thing faith would be if that were the case!

Even Christians can act like God is remote. I’ve been a Christian for virtually all of my life; and I can remember large swathes of time when I seldom thought of God or Jesus from one day to the next. However I thought of him, practically speaking I treated him as remote. And yet God is here, now, where I’m sitting and where you’re reading. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that God, as pure Being itself, is the source and ground for all other being. When I look out the window at the mountains across the way, I think of geology and earthquakes and plate tectonics and erosion; but I also think of God sustaining those mountains in place from moment to moment. In their way, by what they are they speak of the perfection of God and so give him glory; I like to think of them as the crystallized love of God.

The pope goes on,

Christians, on the contrary, profess their faith in God’s tangible and powerful love which really does act in history and determines its final destiny: a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.

It’s possible to know the presence of God’s love and to keep it in mind; see, for example, Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God.

____
photo credit: qthomasbower via photopin cc

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 29, 2014

What Is Christian Fantasy?

Next Post

March 31, 2014 Why Catholicism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Admin App o' the Morning Ask the Dogmat Believing Thomas Bits of Fiction Blasts from the Past Bootstrapping the Interior Life Catholic Mom Christian Living Deep Thoughts from the Doghouse Dominicana Evangelii Gaudium Interviews It Was A Dark and Stormy Night Links to This and That Lumen Fidei Meme Watch On Writing Operation Gratitude Pedant Errant Photography Quill Random Barkings S'Mary's World Shakers of Salt Software Development The Dog Whistler The Dogmat Sez Third Orders Thomas Aquinas Uncategorized Vikings at Dinos Woof Guide to Cinema Woof Guide to History Woof Guide to Literature Woof Guide to Obscure Catholic Music Woof Guide to Philosophy Woof Guide to Popular Music Woof Guide to Technology Woof Guide to Theology Words I Wish I'd Written Works For Me

Select a Month September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many days and nights did it rain during the flood?

Select your answer to see how you score.

40 12 7 10