New Year of Faith Catechesis series:

Today at the General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he is going to interrupt the catechesis on prayer which he had been giving in order to dedicate the Wednesday audiences to the Creed.  As we progress through this year, the Pope will open up for us the Apostles' Creed, one of the most fundamental formulas of our faith.

What is is this going to look like?

First of all, it's important to know what exactly the General audience is.  Every Wednesday when he is in Rome, Pope Benedict invites pilgrims from all over the world to the Vatican for the "general audience".  This meeting is a chance for the successor of Saint Peter to teach and to pray with the pilgrims who come to see him and receive his blessing.  Usually, the Pope picks a theme and then develops it over a period of several months or even longer--this is what we mean by "catechesis" in this context.

In today's audience--which included over 20,000 pilgrims--the Holy Father basically gave a program of what he is going to talk about during this Year of Faith.  The Vatican's translation is not ready yet, but once it is, you will be able to find it here.  Please note that the notes below are my own, but the Pope's speech is given in Italian. 

• Why did the Holy Father announce the Year of Faith?  So that Church might renew the enthusiasm that comes from believing in Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world; revivify the joy that comes from following the path He has showed us; and testify in a very real way the transforming power of faith.
• What does it look like when faith is something exterior, something set apart from my daily life?  I live my faith passively; I refuse to become educated and knowledgeable about what I believe; there is a rupture between my life and my faith.  Relativism creeps in and my thinking becomes muddled: I no longer believe in the singular salvific power of Christianity.  Faith becomes something that I make up, a do-it-yourself religion, no longer truth that I assent to.
• How does this split between faith and life happen?  There is a two-fold process going on.  First there is the advancement of secularization and the spreading of a nihilistic mentality present in our culture.  Both of these promote a mentality and a lifestyle that cannot offer true ideals or solid hopes.  This has a profound effect on people, and is the catalyst for the second process, which happens on the individual level.  The search for truth and a desire to understand the most profound meaning of existence--both of which come naturally to us!--become unimportant.  Our desire for the infinite is blunted, and we settle for less.  This affects us not only in our relationship with God, but in every facet of our life, day-in-day-out.  Our human relationships also suffer: they are suspect to emotivity instead of true love; instability instead of a joined, willed effort at communion and happiness; responsibility becomes a burden, when it is actually a sign of maturity.
• How can faith help us through all this?  Faith is not outside of me--it is the soul of my concrete experience of life.  Or rather, it has the power to be so.  In faith we know that the fullness of being human consists in love, a love that is given to me by God and that animates my entire life, every aspect, every day.

That is the challenge of the Year of Faith for all of us.  By leading us through the contents of the faith as enumerated in the Apostles' Creed, Pope Benedict is also going to continue to ask us to examine what the contents of that Creed really mean in our daily lives.