In the year 2000, the Church celebrated the Year of the Great Jubilee. "The primary objective" of the Great Jubilee was to be "the strengthening of faith" (Towards the Third Millennium, 42). The year 2012-2013 was declared by the Church to be the Year of Faith. If we had let the Lord Jesus prepare us in both the Great Jubilee year and the Year of Faith, we should be seeing an ever-increasing faith in the Lord.
By faith, we will be able to restore justice to our society and live in the freedom of the Great Jubilee (see Lv 25:8ff). By faith, we will see debts forgiven, especially the debt of sin. By faith, we will set free the hundreds of millions of people enslaved by addictions, compulsions, anxieties, fears, and self-hatred. By faith, our culture of death will be replaced with a civilization of love and life. Our culture will be permeated with the Gospel of Jesus (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 899).
Who, then, is conqueror of the world? The one who has faith that Jesus is the Son of God (see 1 Jn 5:5). "The power that has conquered the world is this faith of ours" (1 Jn 5:4). Believe and receive the heritage of faith.
| PRAYER: | Jesus, I have faith. Help my lack of faith (see Mk 9:24). |
| PROMISE: | Fear nothing." –Lk 12:7 |
| PRAISE: | St. Paul of the Cross wrote, "When the cross of our dear Jesus has planted its roots more deeply in your hearts, then you will rejoice." |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College