Holy Hour Opens Year of Faith

All are welcome on Thursday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. for a Holy Hour in the church with Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament as our parish marks the beginning of the Year of Faith.  Join us for prayers, hymns, a spiritual talk and Benediction (at approximately 8:20 p.m.).

 

October 11 begins the Catholic Church's celebration of the Year of Faith, called for by Pope Benedict XVI.  Above all, this year is a celebration of our belief in a Person, Jesus Christ, "the leader and perfecter of faith" (Heb 12:2). 

In his Apostolic Letter, Porta fidei ("The Door of Faith") released October 17, 2011 to announce the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us, "The 'door of faith' (Acts 14:27) is always open to us."

The Holy Father wrote, "To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory (cf. 1 Jn 4:8)."

"Faith," the Holy Father added, "commits every one of us to become a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord in the world.  What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end" (Porta fidei, 14).

The Vatican has designated a website -- Annus Fidei -- filled with information about this special year.  The October 11 starting date for the Year of Faith was chosen by the Pope to mark two significant anniversaries, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the promuglation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  The Year of Faith will conclude on November 24, 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Growing in our faith in Jesus Christ and continually being formed by his Gospel through the Holy Spirit is an important task we all share in this year.  "To rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed, (cf. Constituzione Apostolica, Fidei Depositum, 116) 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” (Porta fidei 9).