Allocutio at Concilium - August 2013 - Fr. Bede McGregor, OP

The Light of Faith

On the feast of St. Peter and Paul on the 29th of June 2013 in the Year of Faith Pope Francis gave us his first encyclical letter on the Light of Faith. The theme of faith is central to Christian existence and is certainly fundamental to the life of the individual legionary and the Legion as a whole. There is no Christian life without faith and certainly no Legion life without faith. So it would be important for us to read, study and pray this new encyclical letter.

The Handbook tells us that the Legion aspires to imitate Mary above all else in her faith: ‘Blessed is she who has believed.’ Let me quote just one of the many passages in the Handbook on Mary’s faith and ours: ‘She pronounced that consent which, though we cannot fully understand, common sense nevertheless tells us that her fiat must have been inconceivably the most heroic act ever performed in the world – such that in all ages no other creature but she could have performed it. Then to her came the Redeemer; not to herself alone, but through her to poor helpless humanity, on behalf of whom she spoke. With him, she brought everything that the faith means, and the faith is the real life of men. Nothing else matters. Everything must be abandoned for it. Any sacrifices must be made to get it. It is the only thing in the world of any worth. Consider, therefore, that the faith of all generations: those that have passed away up to the present and the uncountable millions yet to come: the faith of all has depended on the words of that maiden.’

We have to constantly ask ourselves as legionaries: Is our Catholic faith in practice the most precious gift in our lives? Is our faith the absolute priority in our lives? Every day we pray in our concluding prayer from the Tessera for the great grace to be able to answer ‘yes’ to those challenging questions about faith. We pray: ‘Confer O Lord on us who serve beneath the standard of Mary that fullness of faith in you and trust in her to which it is given to conquer the world.’ And then we repeat six more times our request for faith under various aspects.

But what is this faith that we are talking about? Let us start with some lines from Pope Benedict XVI that great teacher of faith: ‘Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an encounter with the Son of God that gives new energy to the whole of our existence. When we enter into a personal relationship with Him, Christ reveals our true identity and, in friendship with Him, our life grows towards complete fulfilment.’ I think that in one way or another the whole encyclical of Pope Francis is simply a further elaboration of that teaching of Pope Benedict.

The heading for Chapter One of the Letter is: ‘We have believed in Love.’ Now there is surely nothing more interpersonal than love. Love is the most precious of all relationships. Faith has its origin in the infinitely personal and intimate love of God for each one of us. It is unmerited and indeed underserved and there can be no greater gift than faith in this personal love of God. Faith is always rooted in the fact that God first loved us. Pope Francis writes: ‘Christian faith is thus faith in a perfect love, in its decisive power, in its ability to transform the world and to unfold its history. “We know and believe the love that God has for us” (1Jn 4:16). In the love of God revealed in Jesus, faith perceives the foundation on which all reality and its final destiny rest.’

Let us look once more on the faith of Mary. Her very identity is defined in terms of her relationship to Jesus. As mother and disciple of Jesus, she is totally focused on Him. There is absolutely nothing more precious to her than her relationship to Jesus. And it is precisely this relationship that she wishes to share with all her other children. The spirit of Mary is quintessentially the spirit of faith and therefore the spirit of the Legion must be above all to seek the spirit of faith too.

I have taken only one simple idea from the encyclical letter of Pope Francis on the gift of faith but I do suggest very earnestly that you read the whole letter.

Let me say a word about Frank Duff and the place of faith in his life. He writes of his dear friend Joe Gabbett: ‘He was a person whose like I had never before encountered. For him there existed only one thing: his faith. For this, no sacrifice was too big for him. But what he demanded from himself he also asked from others.’ Those words could be applied to Frank Duff with absolute accuracy. It would surely be a great blessing for the Legion if it could be said that like our Founder that our Catholic faith in every deed is the most precious reality in the life of every Legionary and each one of us has an all consuming desire to share it with others in the spirit of Mary.

Let us conclude in the same way Pope Francis concludes his encyclical letter: ‘Let us turn in prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of our faith.

• Mother help our faith!
• Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognise his voice and call.
• Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
• Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
• Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
• Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
• Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
• Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord. Amen.’

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