Is faith an "illusory" light, id est, unreal, misleading and useless, a feeling merely subjective and dark, that has no value of knowledge nor does it provide certainties? Is the Christian faith something that snatches novelty and adventure to life? Is it a mirage that prevents us from advancing with freedom towards the future? These are some of the questions responded to, since its introduction, by the encyclical "Lumen fidei" (29-VI-2013), the first of Pope Francis.
It lifts up the faith as a gift that enlightens all human reality, giving full meaning to every situation, even through the shadows of death. “ It is this light of faith –says the Pope– that I would now like to consider, so that it can grow and enlighten the present, becoming a star to brighten the horizon of our journey at a time when mankind is particularly in need of light” (n. 4).
It lifts up the faith as a gift that enlightens all human reality, giving full meaning to every situation, even through the shadows of death. “ It is this light of faith –says the Pope– that I would now like to consider, so that it can grow and enlighten the present, becoming a star to brighten the horizon of our journey at a time when mankind is particularly in need of light” (n. 4).
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