For The Sake of the Gospel #15
The Mystery of Faith

This past Thursday, October 11, Pope Benedict inaugurated a “Year of Faith” to mark the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The beginning of this Year of Faith is an opportunity for us to reflect on the mystery of faith.
Each week, immediately after the consecration, the priest proclaims, “the mystery of faith,” and the congregation responds with one of the following acclamations, which summarizes the mystery of our faith: (1) We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you come again; (2) When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again; (3) Save us, Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. Although the acclamations vary, each of them proclaims the same mystery: the mystery of Christ saving death and resurrection.
We usually think of a mystery as a problem to be solved. For example, we enjoy reading detective novels and watching mystery movies because we like to solve the mystery. Who is responsible? Who committed the crime? The word “mystery,” however, has a different meaning in the Church’s liturgy. The mystery of faith is not a mystery to be solved but a mystery into which we enter; it is a mystery in which we participate.
The mystery of our faith is the mystery of Christ’s saving death and resurrection, whereby God raised the crucified Jesus into an entirely new life—resurrection life—a life we will not fully comprehend until we ourselves have been raised from the dead. We participate in this life already, however, when we celebrate the Eucharist. Sharing in the Eucharist unites us with Christ’s saving death and assures us of resurrection life. The Eucharist, then, is more than a remembrance of a past event; it is the way in which we participate in the central mystery of our faith: Christ’s saving death and resurrection.
The mystery of faith defines our life as Christians; it is the mystery that gives meaning and purpose to all that we do. It promises that if we die with Christ, we will rise with Christ. If we live with Christ, we will reign with Christ.
This Year of Faith is an opportunity for us to grow in our understanding of our faith and enter more fully into the mystery of Christ’s saving death and resurrection. It is an opportunity for us to reach out and proclaim to others the good news of Christ’s saving death and resurrection.
Too many people live on the surface of life, unaware of the rich mystery of God’s life. Too many people live without a sense of God’s presence in their lives. Too many people are unaware that the central mystery of life is the mystery of death and resurrection. This is why faith must lead to evangelization. This is why we must proclaim the mystery of faith to those who have left the church and to those who have never heard the word of the gospel.
Fr. Matera