Here are key quotes I chose in each and every paragraph of the newest encyclical, Lumen Fidei.  I endeavored to keep it to one sentence per paragraph but sometimes context, fleshing out of a concept, or the presence of multiple important ideas required more extensive treatment.  Since some sections have multiple paragraphs, quotes from additional paragraphs are listed with small letter subheadings.  All chapter headings and subheadings from the original document are included.  The numbering matches the associated section in the encyclical.

I undertook this task as a way to study the document more closely, remember it better, and easily refer back to its highlights.  In addition, I hoped it would be a way for folks who might not want to dive into the complete text to get a flavor of it.  In so doing, I hope this will spur you on to read the complete work.

God bless you.  And, as always, Keep the Faith!

The lesson from Sirach this day (Sir 5:1-8) is that we should not rely on earthly things like wealth, strength, or power as opposed to God.  If we do, we will surely be punished.  And just because something bad has not happened yet due to our sinfulness does not mean that it will not in the future.  And while the mercy of the Lord is great, so is His justice.  We are not to be overconfident or presumptuous of the forgiveness of our sins, nor are we to put off asking for pardon, but rather we are to convert from sin and wrongdoing immediately (see above)  or risk eternal destruction.

We are never out of the reach of God’s mercy.  No sin is too frequent, no transgression too heinous, for forgiveness to be ours if we sincerely desire it and have a firm purpose of amendment.  This can happen at any time in our lives, even the deathbed.  But that does not mean we can feel free to lead a profligate life only to ask forgiveness when we see our days waning.  We might not have that chance as “the best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry.”  Paul tells us that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night” (1 Thess 5:2).  Jesus says, “stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Mt 25:13).  The best advice is the time-tested “live every day as if it were your last because one day it will be.”  Let us always be ready to meet the Lord with joy and never with dread.  “Repent and believe”! (Mk 1:15)

Jumping ahead a couple of chapters (Sir 4:11-19), Sirach begins this section by listing the benefits to those who love, seek, serve, trust, and obey the wisdom of God: they will get the Lord’s embrace, glory, blessings, and love.  Their possession of Wisdom will be passed on to their offspring as well.  But all this comes only after testing and trial (see above).  Those who persevere, though, find happiness, insight, knowledge, and understanding.  Any who fail Wisdom will be abandoned and given over to their enemies.

The testing to which the author refers is not very difficult for us to understand.  In a time when far too often our society has “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (Rom 1:25), standing resolutely with the wisdom given from on high through the example of our lives and the force of our words will not only cause ridicule or even rejection by the dominant culture, but sadly we can become outcasts among our friends and acquaintances or even within our families.  Are we willing to go through this testing?  Do we embrace all of God’s wisdom or only that which is easy, convenient, or non-controversial?  Although we hopefully have experienced some of the benefits listed in the passage are we willing and able to see their full flowering through steadfastness in the face of the enemies of truth/Truth?  Do we think that hedging our bets in such matters will not lead to us falling “into the hands of despoilers” either in this life or the next?  What “little” compromise doesn’t lead to more if we let it?  Let us overcome the “fear and dread” sure to come as we are “[tried]…with her discipline” by showing that we “love[] life” with God here and in eternity.

Moving to the beginning of chapter two (Sir 2:1-11), we first read of what we can expect in this life for serving God: trials, adversity, sorrow, misfortune, humiliation.   How are we to handle these things as they come?  “Stand in justice and fear,” “be sincere of heart and steadfast,” listen for “and receive the word of understanding,” be undisturbed, exhibit patience, clinging to God and not forsaking Him, but always trusting.  Finally, fear the Lord; in this, “wait for his mercy,” “trust him,” “hope for good things” that are lasting, like joy and mercy, “love him” so as to be enlightened. Hope and you will not be disappointed, persevere in the law and you will not be forsaken.  The compassionate and merciful Lord forgives, saves, and protects “all who seek him in truth.”

The second verse of this chapter (see the headline) quickly provides the reader the place where answers can be found for life’s difficulties: the Word.  How difficult it is to remain “undisturbed in time of adversity.”  But God understands in His Word, Jesus, the God-Man who was like us in all things but sin (Heb 4:15).  The Son, who in His perfection suffered in His body and soul the depths of the effects of sin in a tangible way in a manner we cannot even imagine, makes Himself available to persons of every age through His presence in Scripture and Sacrament.  Have recourse to both often, daily if at all possible.  Of course, cultivating a relationship with Jesus through prayer and mediation, invoking the Holy Spirit, provides guidance and strength as well.  May we develop a bond with the Lord so strong that no earthly trial will ever shake this connection, but rather that such events will only strengthen our resolve to deepen our faith, hope, and love.

The next two weeks of first readings come from the book of Sirach.  Sirach, written in Hebrew by Jesus, son of Sirach, and translated into Greek by his grandson in the late second century B.C., is a Wisdom book not found in the Hebrew Bible.  Being a Wisdom book, it is no surprise that we will be hearing proclaimed much about Lady Wisdom in the coming days as we do today (Sir 1:1-10).  In a beautiful hint at the Trinity, we read of the creator seated on His throne who made Wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit before any of the great wonders of nature came into existence.  The eternal fount of wisdom?  The Word of God who, we know from John, is Jesus (Jn 1:1-5).  This wisdom has been poured forth upon all created things, including us.

How do we tap into it?  The answer is at top.  Tap into Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word.  His revealed wisdom is made available to us through the written word, the Bible, and the oral Tradition passed down through the ages, both safeguarded by the Church He established (Mt 16:18 and 1 Tim 3;15).  We must constantly turn to the Lord’s wisdom to achieve “prudent understanding” in what is often a complex, baffling, and troubling world.  Received wisdom of a worldly kind, when not aligned with Eternal Truth, is foolishness (1 Cor 1:20 and 1 Cor 3:19)).  Such a happy occasion that we are presented this passage the day after Pentecost!  Let us often invoke the Holy Spirit to pour forth His gifts (Is 11:2-3), especially before reading Scripture or studying about God, but also when called upon to explain, defend (cf. Lk 12:12 and Lk 21:14-15), or share our Faith.  The Father and Son are happy to send the Holy Spirit in abundance to those who invoke the assistance the Triune God in faith.  Come Holy Spirit!

Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse continues (Jn 6:35-40) actually overlapping yesterday’s last verse.  So we hear again Jesus telling the people that those who believe in Him will never hunger or thirst.  Yet, He tells them they still do not believe.  He goes on to say that He comes to do the will of the Father, which is to give eternal life to all believers and to raise these on the last day.  The words at top, said during the course of this proclamation, must have been very comforting to His hearers (they will become very uncomfortable soon).  For all generations this offer is available from Jesus.  No one need fear come to Jesus in sincerity.  His merciful heart forgives anyone who, regardless of the severity or number of his sins, with true remorse, contrition, and firm purpose of amendment, approaches Him.  He has already taken on all iniquity, conquering sin and its end, death.  He did all this just so we could enjoy eternal beatitude.  Even if the whole world rejects us, the Lord never will.  He awaits us longingly like the father of the prodigal son.  Dive into the ocean of mercy that pours from His heart.  Ask for the strength to “come clean” and stay clean.  God puts every person on earth for a reason.  We all have our work to accomplish for Him.  We are not to waste it wallowing in sin, self-pity, or despair.  Rather, we are to unburden ourselves in Confession and then devote the rest of our lives to loving and serving God, seeking, like Jesus, to set our wills aside and embrace the Father’s will.

Continuing the dialogue after the crowd finds Jesus in Capernaum, the people ask Jesus the question above, asking for a sign, like the manna in the desert, so they can believe in Jesus (Jn 6:30-35).  Jesus declares that the manna came from God then and now: Jesus declares Himself the Bread of Life and the only thing that will eternally satisfy their hunger and thirst if only they believe in Him.  It is quite something that the crowd had the temerity to ask Jesus for more signs after hearing of His reputation and having just had their fill of the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish the day before.  We have no excuse to ask this question today.  Having the fullness of divine revelation available through, and safeguarded by, the Church, we know exactly what Jesus can do — namely, any good thing (cf. Mt 7:7, 21:22; Jn 14:13-14, 15:7).  Hopefully our personal past experiences have brought this home to us in a real and intimate way.  If not, and in any case, we should cultivate a close relationship with Jesus daily through prayer, studying Him in His Word, and seeing Him in the faces of all persons with whom we come in contact.  Hopefully this will lead us to ask with all our hearts: What can I do to glorify You?

The day after Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying the loaves, the crowd sought after Him and went looking for Him by boat across the sea in Capernaum (Jn 6:22-29).  When they found Jesus, they asked Him the question above.  Jesus does not answer their question but speaks of their reason for seeking Him out: they want another free meal as they had the day before.  Jesus tells them to work for food that gives eternal life that Jesus (the “Son of Man”) gives.  To accomplish the works of God they are told to believe in Jesus, the one sent from God.  The crowd’s initial query to Jesus is an opportunity for reflection for us today.  Ideally, it is a question we should never ask because the Lord is always here with us.  Now sometimes it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.  Maybe we are experiencing a particular challenge that seems too much to overcome.  Or it could be an illness or chronic condition that only gets worse.  A particularly difficult time with family, friends, or c0-workers may not make apparent Jesus in our midst.  Yet He is there in all of those situations and in every situation.  Just recall the challenges Jesus faced as the God-Man.  He “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped” (Phil 2:6) so He lived life in humility taking on all the trials and tribulations that others faced; let us go to Him prayerfully, with an open heart, and ask for guidance and strength.  We are not told of any illnesses that Jesus may have suffered, but the constant persecution of Him from very early on in His public ministry was chronic and certainly must have broken His heart (see, for example, Lk 19:41-44).  To top it off, Jesus final suffering during the Passion was short in chronological time but the depth of pain of bearing all sins of all times of those He loves infinitely — even those who during those very moments were torturing and blaspheming Him — is something we could never come close to understanding or experiencing.  Let us go to Him prayerfully, with our suffering, and ask for patience and perseverance.  And for those causing us pain through unpleasant interactions, know that Jesus struggled with persecution from without and doubt and misunderstanding from within.  Even one very close to Him, hand chosen to be among His closest collaborators, gave Him up to arrest for a few coins.  And the man He had chosen to head up His Church not only fell asleep and later abandoned Him in His time of greatest trial and need, but even topped those horrendous acts by denying that he even knew Him.  So, considering that we are not God, maybe such difficulties in interpersonal relations don’t seem so bad after all.  In fact, maybe we can see the disfigured face of Christ in those who are behaving unjustly toward us.  Let us go to Him prayerfully, with our frustrations, and ask for gentleness and humility.

A third encounter between Jesus and some disciples is the scene of today’s gospel passage (Jn 21:1-19).  Simon Peter says he is going fishing and six other disciples decide to join him.  After a futile night of fishing, Jesus (at this point unrecognized by them) asks them from the shore if they caught anything.  They respond in the negative, thus prompting Jesus to tell them to cast their nets once more.  The nets are filled to breaking when they do so.  Peter then recognizes Jesus and swims to Him.  By the time the rest come with the catch, Peter and Jesus are already cooking by a fire and Jesus serves them all breakfast.  When finished eating, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him.  Peter answers in the affirmative each time.  Jesus then tells Peter that when he is old he will be taken away against his will (John notes that this is a prediction of the way Peter is to die a martyr).  Jesus finally tells Peter to follow Him.  It is commonly held that Jesus threefold asking of Peter “Do you love me?” in front of a charcoal fire is meant to counter Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus (as the latter predicted — Mt 26:34) in front of a charcoal fire just days earlier (Mt 26:69-75).  At least at the time, this appears to be lost on Peter who becomes “distressed” at the questioning as we see above.  Nonetheless, Peter becomes a stalwart evangelizer for Christ as we see beginning in Acts (see chapter two beginning at verse fourteen).  Jesus wants to know from us if we love Him.  This is not a mere matter of lip service on our part.  Do our actions reflect that love?  Would we be distressed if Jesus came to us today and asked us if we love Him?  We would be wise to recall those times we deny or betray Him by our words and deeds.  When we profess Christianity but do not act accordingly we diminish Christ and ourselves to others.  Is this the way we show our love?  Yet He is always waiting for our return to Him in Confession, where He not only accepts a sincere apology but is ever ready to pour out graces to the heart disposed to receive them.  What was the change that happened between the episode related today and Acts 2?  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).  We should ask for that same Spirit to fill us and provide the strength to eliminate sin from our lives and the courage to stand by our Christian convictions.  Come Holy Spirit!  Fill our hearts and the world with love.

Related today is the disciples’ adventure as they were crossing the sea to Capernaum after dark (Jn 6:16-21).  Rowing against a strong wind and choppy sea, they see Jesus walking on the water toward them.  They are fearful until Jesus lets them know that it is He.  Then they wish to take Him in but, instead, they find themselves at the shore at once (see above).  The disciples were physically and mentally adrift (not knowing what to make of the miracle of loaves and fish they experienced earlier that day).  How did they find “solid ground”?  By eliminating fear and inviting Jesus in they immediately are on firm footing.  A fine prescription for persons of all times, places, and circumstances.  We stand with Jesus when we are squarely on the unmovable foundation of the Rock (Peter and the Church — see Mt 16:18).  Other paths leave us adrift and unsure.  But our Savior promised never to abandon us or leave us in the dark.  Love the Bride of Christ, stay close to her, remain faithful to her, turn to her when fear, doubt, or anxiety arise.  We ought to frequently recall the Lord’s words: “Fear is useless.  What is needed is trust” (Mk 5:36).  We must place complete faith in God, then we can say with the Psalmist: “I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps 23:4).