WE HAVE COME TO BELIEVE

As we all know, the faith is in crisis in our times. Even the survival of a viable Christianity is at risk, especially in European countries. People have walked away, a process accelerated by the pandemic of a few years ago. Cultural Catholicism remains in place – fragile and in many ways an empty shell.

Much of this is understandable, given the recent, and not so recent history, at least in Ireland. For those of us who have remained, the Gospel is very direct: Will you also go away? If not, why stay? Why am I still here? What attracts me?

Does my personal response reflect something of Peter’s “We have come to believe that you are the Holy One of God”? What experiences are my convictions based on? What makes sense of my continued faithfulness to Christ?
The focus here is not the ethical teaching of the Church or some aspect of Christian doctrine. It is the very person of Christ himself. What have I come to know and believe about Jesus? One day, Jesus asked his disciples what people thought about him, who they believed he was. “Who do you say I am?” he asked Peter directly. In asking Peter he asks the Church in every age.

Some need to experience the truth of Jesus in a deeply felt way – to love and to live what they believe. “Christian faith is not primarily a cult-like worship of the person of Jesus but is the path of following Christ. That doesn’t mean imitating Jesus of Nazareth as a historical person. It’s a journey of trust, courage, love and faithfulness – a movement towards the future that Christ inaugurated” – Tomas Halik, THE AFTERNOON OF CHRISTIANITY 3.
Fr. QQ – 22/08/2024