Happy New Year!

Happy New Year of Faith,  that is!

Today marks the opening of the "Year of Faith," as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the opening Second Vatican Council, and the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not a coincidence ;-).

One year ago, Pope Benedict delivered his letter Porta Fidei, the Door of Faith, announcing and explaining the celebration of this "Year of Faith." Here's an excerpt I love:  

“Caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14): it is the love of Christ that fills our hearts and impels us to evangelize. Today as in the past, he sends us through the highways of the world to proclaim his Gospel to all the peoples of the earth (cf. Mt 28:19). Through his love, Jesus Christ attracts to himself the people of every generation: in every age he convokes the Church, entrusting her with the proclamation of the Gospel by a mandate that is ever new. Today too, there is a need for stronger ecclesial commitment to new evangelization in order to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith. In rediscovering his love day by day, the missionary commitment of believers attains force and vigour that can never fade away. Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy. It makes us fruitful, because it expands our hearts in hope and enables us to bear life-giving witness: indeed, it opens the hearts and minds of those who listen to respond to the Lord’s invitation to adhere to his word and become his disciples.                                 PF 7 (bold emphases mine)

I think it's going to be a beautiful, beautiful year! I can't wait to see what the Holy Spirit has in store!