Celebrating the Year of Faith, Oct 2012 – Nov 2013
The Year of Faith coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It is an invitation to everyone in the Church to celebrate and renew their faith – individually, in families, in parishes and schools, in our Diocese, country and across our global Catholic community.
Pope Benedict XVI outlines the purpose of the year of faith:
“To give renewed energy to the mission of the whole Church to lead men and women out of the wilderness in which they often find themselves and toward a place of life-friendship with Christ who gives us fullness of life.”
“Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy.”
Focus
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” John 10: 10
We receive the gospel from Jesus Christ through the Apostles and it will be the same gospel until the end of time. The gospel does not change but the circumstances in which the Church announces the gospel have changed – cultural context, new technologies, the domination of science and technology – and we continue to seek after the sense of our own personal existence. (Refer “Sharing the Gospel Today” – The Catechetical Directory for Aotearoa NewZealand, 2012)
As we prepare for this Year of Faith we are invited to ask ourselves:
- How might we celebrate this Year of Faith?
- As disciples of Jesus Christ, as members of his Church through our school community, how can we enter into this Year and bring it to life?
- How can we put our faith into action in the service of others?
- How can we grow in our faith understanding and as witnesses to the teaching of Christ and his Church?
We are being called to GREATNESS in faith and service and we ask:
What can we do in our school and school community?
What can we do in our families?
What can I do individually?
Logo of the Year of Faith
Image of the ship symbolizes the Church
The mast of the vessel is a cross with full-blown sails which form the monogram of Christ (IHS)
The background is a sun representing the Eucharist.