Transformation: The Fruit of Faith
‘Sin is not so much doing something wrong; sin is not being true to who we are.’ – Mother Dolores Hart, OSB
In his first encyclical, ‘Lumen Fidei,’ Pope Francis highlights the power of faith in Jesus Christ as the ground of the new creation. New ways of seeing and being result from ‘seeing things as Jesus sees them, with His own eyes; it is a participation in His way of seeing.’
Such transformation comes only through ‘a radical openness to…a love that transforms us from within, acting in us and through us.’ This is neither faith in faith nor a generic longing for happiness but rather faith in the truth of Jesus.
I marvel at the graceful assurance Francis granted me through this document, not unlike Pope Emeritus Benedict. When our culture of death pretends to overshadow ‘the Light of the world’, God uses these men to anchor me in the Rock that is Christ, Lord of creation and redemption. Jesus has unique authority to remind us of who we are. That has special meaning for persons dealing with same-sex attraction who face unprecedented pressure to relent to the ‘gay self.’
Commentaires