In Need of God's Light, the Light of Faith

On 28 October 2012 in the Vatican Basilica, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI presided at a celebration of the Eucharist with Synod Fathers for the closure of the thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which began on 7 October and has been examining the theme: "The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith".

Extracts from the Holy Father's homily are given below.

"The whole of Mark’s Gospel is a journey of faith, which develops gradually under Jesus’ tutelage. The disciples are the first actors on this journey of discovery, but there are also other characters who play an important role, and Bartimaeus is one of them. His is the last miraculous healing that Jesus performs before His passion, and it is no accident that it should be that of a blind person, someone whose eyes have lost the light. We know from other texts too that the state of blindness has great significance in the Gospels. It represents man who needs God’s light, the light of faith, if he is to know reality truly and to walk the path of life. It is essential to acknowledge one’s blindness, one’s need for this light, otherwise one could remain blind forever.

"Bartimaeus, then, at that strategic point of Mark’s account, is presented as a model. He was not blind from birth, but lost his sight. He represents man who has lost the light and knows it, but has not lost hope: he knows how to seize the opportunity to encounter Jesus and he entrusts himself to Him for healing. ... And when Jesus calls him and asks what he wants from Him, he replies: 'Master, let me receive my sight!' ... In the encounter with Christ, lived with faith, Bartimaeus regains the light he had lost, and with it the fullness of his dignity: he gets back onto his feet and resumes the journey, which from that moment has a guide, Jesus, and a path, the same that Jesus is travelling".

“... I would like here to highlight three pastoral themes that have emerged from the Synod. The first concerns the Sacraments of Christian initiation. It has been reaffirmed that appropriate catechesis must accompany preparation for Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The importance of Confession, the Sacrament of God’s mercy, has also been emphasised....”

"Secondly, the new evangelisation is essentially linked to the 'Missio ad Gentes'. The  Church’s task is to evangelise, to proclaim the message of salvation to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ. During the Synod, it was emphasised that there are still many regions in Africa, Asia and Oceania whose inhabitants await with lively expectation, sometimes without being fully aware of it, the first proclamation of the Gospel. So we must ask the Holy Spirit to arouse in the Church a new missionary dynamism, whose protagonists are, in particular, pastoral workers and the lay faithful".

"A third aspect concerns the baptised whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism. ... Such people are found in all continents, especially in the most secularised countries. The Church is particularly concerned that they should encounter Jesus Christ anew, rediscover the joy of faith and return to religious practice in the community of the faithful. Besides traditional and perennially valid pastoral methods, the Church seeks to adopt new ones, developing new language attuned to the different world cultures, proposing the truth of Christ with an attitude of dialogue and friendship rooted in God Who is Love".

"Bartimaeus, on regaining his sight from Jesus, joined the crowd of disciples, which must certainly have included others like him, who had been healed by the Master. New evangelisers are like that: people who have had the experience of being healed by God, through Jesus Christ. ... Let us put away, then, all blindness to the truth, all ignorance and, removing the darkness that obscures our vision like fog before the eyes, let us contemplate the true God".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/new-evangelisation-applies-to-the-whole-of-church

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-homily-at-mass-concluding-the-xiii-ordinary-a

http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-pope-closes-the-synod-the-new-evangelizati

 

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May Jesus’ healing hand be upon all those who are suffering in body, mind or spirit.  May our encounter with Jesus Christ help us to see the truth with eyes of faith.  May our experience inspire us to share the Good News of God’s love with those we meet on our journey.

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Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee


Year of Faith Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Join Fr. Joseph Gotwalt as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus from March 9 – 19, 2013.  The scriptures will come alive on this journey to the roots of our faith. Tour includes:  Daily Mass at holy sites, licensed Christian guide, accommodation in First Class hotels (five nights in Jerusalem, three nights in Tiberias, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee), breakfast and dinner daily, land transportation by deluxe motorcoach, roundtrip motorcoach transportation from Harrisburg to New York JFK, roundtrip airfare from JFK on nonstop flights with Delta Airlines, and more, for $3,150 per person/double occupancy.

For complete details on this pilgrimage, please contact:  George’s International Tours, (800) 566-7499, sales@georgesintl.com, or Karen Hurley, k.m.hurley1@gmail.com.