THE
P RTAL
October 2012
Page 3
Portal News
Will Burton recommends it!
From 11 th October 2012 until the Solemnity
of Christ the King, 24 th November 2013, the
Catholic Church is celebrating the Year of Faith.
Many of us think, or act as if we think, that our Rome for a synod themed, ‘The New Evangelisation
Catholic Faith is a private affair. It is something we do for the Transmission of the Christian Faith’.
or believe, others do or believe something else. We
keep our beliefs to ourselves. When we do think about six ways to mark the Year of Faith
it, we leave it to the clergy and Religious. It is none
We are invited to mark the Year of Faith in six ways.
of our business. Unfortunately,
ONE: To re-read four
this view is more common in
documents from Vatican II:
the Catholic Church than is
I. Lumen Gentium
good for it.
- on the Church;
II. Sacrosanctum Concilium
kept the Faith alive
- on the Sacred liturgy;
Faith can never be a mere
private affair. If we believe
III. Dei Verbum
the Catholic Faith, then we
- on Divine Revelation;
believe it because we believe it
IV. Gaudium et Spes
is true. If it is true, then it is of
- on the Church in the
major importance to everyone.
Modern World.
Our ancestors behaved the
TWO: We are invited to study
way they did because of their
the Catechism of the Catholic
Catholic Faith. Those brave
Church, either alone, or in
men and women whose names
groups.
are in the calendar as martyrs,
especially the martyrs of the
THREE: Our attention is
Reformation era, inspire us
to a deep commitment to Our Lord and to His Holy drawn to Conversion. This is not the preserve of a
Church. They died because they believed. Their deaths, certain kind of protestant, but an on-going processes
for all Christians, especially Catholics. Weekly
paradoxically, kept the Faith alive in these Islands.
attendance at mass and reception of Holy Communion
We can no more leave evangelisation to the clergy as a minimum, and more frequent use of the Sacrament
and religious, than we can leave politics to politicians! of Confession, together with daily Bible Reading will,
After all, politics is about how we live together in help us here.
society. Whether we like it or not, whether we know
Four: We are encouraged to practice charity in all
it or not; we are all involved by the mere fact of being
alive and living where we do. Similarly evangelisation things. Perhaps your Parish or Group has a branch of
is the business of the faithful, and that means all of us. the Society of saint Vincent de Paul? This would be a
good way to exercise this quality.
There is a booklet that you can download explaining
Five: Then comes the New Evangelisation. As the
much about the Year of Faith. You may download it
booklet says.
from:
www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/YOF_finalforemailcirculation.pdf
Six: Finally we are all encouraged to get involved!
The website explains:
There are many web sites to help us here. Two are:
The start date of 11 October 2012 also marks
www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/Featured/Year-of-Faith
the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the
and
Catechism of the Catholic Church. It coincides too
with a gathering of bishops from across the world in www.catholicyearoffaith.com/year_of_faith_materials.html