The Testing

Gideon, sifting his men, by James Tissot (1806-1932)

 

As we prepare for the release of a new encyclical this week, my thoughts have been drifting back to the Synod and the series of writings I did then, particularly The Five Corrections and this one below. What I find most notable in this pontificate of Pope Francis, is how it is drawing, in one way or another, fears, loyalties, and the depth of one’s faith into the light. That is, we are in a time of testing, or as St. Paul says in today’s first reading, this is a time “to test the genuineness of your love.”

The following was published October 22nd, 2014 shortly after the Synod…

 

 

FEW fully grasp what took place over the past couple weeks through the Synod on Family Life in Rome. It was not just a gathering of bishops; not only a discussion on pastoral issues: it was a test. It was a sifting. It was the New Gideon, Our Blessed Mother, further defining her army…

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