The Church Universal

At the tomb of his papal patron, Francis of Assisi, the Holy Father is scheduled to sign the third encyclical of his pontificate, "Fratelli tutti."  The title reflects the thought of St. Francis: "Let us all, brothers, consider the Good Shepherd who to save his sheep bore the suffering of the Cross." The visit to Assisi will mark the pontiff's first trip outside Rome since the pandemic began. We have already begun to hear of some of its content: reference to the interrelatedness of all of humanity; a vision for the post-pandemic world; an integration of much of the pontiff's teaching on our role as stewards of creation and as responsible for each other. 

As we await this teaching pointing to our post-pandemic lives, it may be frutiful to recall the first encyclical of this pontificate. It was in fact a text shared between two popes, signed and released by Pope Francis, who attributed much of its content to Benedict XVI. This pre-pandemic encyclical articulates truths of faith which it is helpful to contemplate in the present moment: what it means for faith to provide light; what it means to entrust our lives to God; how it is that faith enables us to make sense of suffering, through its testing.

“Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness,
but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey.” (Lumen Fidei)

1. The light of Faith: this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Christ says of himself: "I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (Jn 12:46). Saint Paul uses the same image: "God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts" (2 Cor 4:6). The pagan world, which hungered for light, had seen the growth of the cult of the sun god, Sol Invictus, invoked each day at sunrise. Yet though the sun was born anew each morning, it was clearly incapable of casting its light on all of human existence. The sun does not illumine all reality; its rays cannot penetrate to the shadow of death, the place where men’s eyes are closed to its light. "No one – Saint Justin Martyr writes – has ever been ready to die for his faith in the sun." Conscious of the immense horizon which their faith opened before them, Christians invoked Jesus as the true sun "whose rays bestow life." To Martha, weeping for the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus said: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (Jn 11:40). Those who believe, see; they see with a light that illumines their entire journey, for it comes from the risen Christ, the morning star which never sets…

4. There is an urgent need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfilment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time…

5. Christ, on the eve of his passion, assured Peter: "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail" (Lk 22:32). He then told him to strengthen his brothers and sisters in that same faith. Conscious of the duty entrusted to the Successor of Peter, Benedict XVI, proclaimed the present Year of Faith [2013], a time of grace which is helping us to sense the great joy of believing and to renew our wonder at the vast horizons which faith opens up, so as then to profess that faith in its unity and integrity, faithful to the memory of the Lord and sustained by his presence and by the working of the Holy Spirit…

56. Writing to the Christians of Corinth about his sufferings and tribulations, Saint Paul links his faith to his preaching of the Gospel. In himself he sees fulfilled the passage of Scripture which reads: "I believed, and so I spoke" (2 Cor 4:13). The reference is to a verse of Psalm 116, in which the psalmist exclaims: "I kept my faith, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted’" (v. 10). To speak of faith often involves speaking of painful testing, yet it is precisely in such testing that Paul sees the most convincing proclamation of the Gospel, for it is in weakness and suffering that we discover God’s power which triumphs over our weakness and suffering. The apostle himself experienced a dying which would become life for Christians (cf. 2 Cor 4:7-12). In the hour of trial faith brings light, while suffering and weakness make it evident that "we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord" (2 Cor 4:5)…

57. Nor does the light of faith make us forget the sufferings of this world. How many men and women of faith have found mediators of light in those who suffer! So it was with Saint Francis of Assisi and the leper, or with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her poor...