Ring in The Year of Faith!

Today starts the Year of Faith proclaimed by Pope Benedict the 16th. Today the Church embarks on an effort to revitalize the faithful and call people back to a strong and vibrant faith in Christ the Savior. With the decline of Christianity and moral culture in Europe and America, there is no better time for the Church this year to hunker down and return to the roots of faith;  the bible, the Catechism and the documents of the Vatican 2 council.

In the midst of such a culture, the Catholic Church offers a message that is not its own, but comes from God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ two thousand years ago, yet is ever new and renewing as it is received, celebrated, lived, and contemplated today. The Church offers to all people the possibility of encountering the living God today and finding in him lasting meaning and hope.

    At 12 Noon on October 11, 2012, hundreds of Catholic churches and thousands of people across the United States will be joining together to ring in the first day of the Year of Faith. Every church is invited to take part.   Here is an online resource to find out more about how to participate in the Year of Faith.

    Not only can you renew your faith and share the gospel with others, but you can can obtain a plenary indulgence in the process! How cool is that?

From Pope Benedict on the Proclamation:  "The Year of Faith, from this perspective, is a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world. In the mystery of his death and resurrection, God has revealed in its fullness the Love that saves and calls us to conversion of life through the forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 5:31). For Saint Paul, this Love ushers us into a new life: “We were buried ... with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Through faith, this new life shapes the whole of human existence according to the radical new reality of the resurrection. To the extent that he freely cooperates, man’s thoughts and affections, mentality and conduct are slowly purified and transformed, on a journey that is never completely finished in this life. “Faith working through love” (Gal 5:6) becomes a new criterion of understanding and action that changes the whole of man’s life (cf. Rom 12:2; Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:20-29; 2 Cor 5:17).