Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
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Musings on the election of Francis
Like many of my fellow Presbyterians, I have been following the story of the resignation of Benedict the XVI and the election of Francis. I was among the first to know of the election results thanks to having signed up with PopeAlarm.com (with the great tagline: "When the smoke goes up, you'll know what's going down.").
I am no expert on all things Vatican, and thus I don't know enough to know if Francis was the best choice or not, but I do have a few thoughts.
I am impressed with his personal bearing: the simplicity of his life and the priority of the poor in his discipleship, preaching, and church leadership. I trust this will have a strong influence not only in the Roman Catholic Church but will also spill over into other churches, including my own.
I am particularly intrigued with his role in the "New Evangelization" movement. According to a very interesting article by George Weigel, "The First American Pope" Francis was a central figure in formulating this approach to ministry in contemporary context:
- The Church of the 21st century cannot rely on the ambient public culture, or on folk memories of traditional Catholic culture, to transmit the Gospel in a way that transforms individual lives, cultures, and societies. Something more, something deeper, is needed.
- That “something” is radical personal conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ and an embrace of the friendship he offers every human being: a friendship in which we both see the face of the Father of Mercies (who calls us out of our prodigality into the full dignity of our humanity) and learn the deep truth about our humanity (that it is in making our lives into a gift for others, as life itself is to each of us, that we come into human fulfillment).
- This conversion of minds and hearts builds a community that is unlike any other: a “communion” of disciples in mission, who understand that faith is increased as it is offered and given away to others.
- That communion-community best embodies the truth of the human condition if each individual member of it, and the Church itself, fully embraces the entire symphony of Catholic truth, and in doing so, lives the moral life as a life of growth in beatitude, in compassion for others, and in evangelical charity.
- Finally, this communion-community lives “ahead of time,” because it knows, through the Easter faith the Church will celebrate in a few weeks, the truth about how the human adventure will end: God’s purposes in creation and redemption will be vindicated, as history and the cosmos are fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, where death will be no more and every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:2–4).
We Presbyterians have been trying to figure out who we shall be and how we are to proclaim the Gospel for some time now, often without much success. I wonder if we might learn a bit about evangelization from our Catholic brothers and sisters. That would be a new kind of Reformation.
What do you think?
- Posted at 10:53 p.m.
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