Faith by Benedict XVl

Faith by Benedict XVl, edited by Lucio Coco, Published by CTS

This short booklet (40 pages) is a collection of brief points taken from the teaching of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVl when he was Pope.  They are collected from Porta Fidei (which announced the Year of Faith), Homilies, Speeches, Allocutions, Catechesis and so on.

They are arranged thematically in nine chapters, and there is a useful Analytical Index at the back. There is a brief introduction by the editor (or compiler might be more accurate) Lucio Coco.


The chapters are:

1  The Gift of Faith
2  Faith in Jesus
3  Entrusting Ourselves Completely to God
4  Believing With the Church
5  Education in the Faith
6  Faith and Theological Virtues
7  Faith and Reason
8  Witnessing the Faith
9  The History of Our Faith

Regular readers will know that I am a big Fan of Benedict XVl's writing.  I find it lucid, clear, simple and profound.  So I was slightly taken aback on opening this booklet to find that it was such short extracts: following Benedict's reasoning had been so rewarding in previous encounters.

However, I quickly realised that this was a different type of book. In fact, it is more reminiscent of St Josemaria's The Way: a book of short points for meditation.

And that, I think, is the way to use this book: set aside a few minutes every day, during this Year of Faith, and read one point, slowly, and ponder it, pray about it, internalise it, and make a resolution about it.

Some of the points are very short, such as 30 The way: Faith can always bring us back to God, even when our sin leads us astray. (Speech, 26.5.06)

Others are longer: 4 Now and not yet: Faith is not merely a personal reaching out towards things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something. It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for, and this present reality constitutes for us a "proof" of the things that are still unseen.  Faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a "not yet." The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future. (Spe Salvi, 7)

But short or long, they all merit meditation.

So I heartily recommend this book for the remainder of the Year of Faith, and hope that each timeit is read, our Holy Father Emeritus is remembered in prayer, as well.