"To All the Lay Faithful"

by Fr. Roger J. Landry - December 7, 2007

On November 30, Pope Benedict published his second encyclical letter, Spe Salvi, which means "Saved in Hope."

He addressed the letter not just to a select few Catholics across the globe, but rather "to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful." He sent it, in other words, to every Catholic in the world who knows how to read.

Most of us, when we receive a letter, normally open and read it. When the letter is from a close family member, we generally open it right away. And most of us do not seem to mind when, during the Christmas season for example, the letter we receive is identical to those that other family and friends receive. The only mail we generally do not read is what we classify as junk mail.

Well, last Friday, each of us received a letter from the man God has chosen to be our holy father in the faith. For sure, it was a form letter, sent not uniquely to one of us, but to all the members of our family. It was his second such letter to us, and for reasons of that rarity, is an even more important missive. In it, he describes for us the reasons for the hope Christians are called to have, and how we grow and radiate hope within a world in which so many so often lack it.

We print that letter in its entirety in this edition.

The question for each of us is whether we will treat that letter as we do one from a loving father or as we do junk mail from strangers, which we ignore and discard. Without a doubt our holy father is brilliant and he can't hide it in his letter. And even though he tries to simplify complex topics, some things he says will still be over the heads of many of us. But he writes nevertheless to all the members of his family — bishops, priests, deacons, religious and "all the lay faithful" — in the hope that all will do the best they can with it, knowing that they do not have to master every detail in order to profit from it.

In future editorials this month, we will consider some of the letter's most important important insights. But like movie critics who do not want to give away the plot before others have had a chance to view the film, we will wait so that you can form your own opinions on the letter before you read ours.

As with movies, however, we do want to provide a "trailer," advertising why you should be attracted to it. Pope Benedict did it for us in his Angelus address on Sunday, when he said that the theme of Spe Salvi is the nucleus of the Advent season. He released it on the cusp of Advent precisely so that it might help Catholics live advent well.

"Advent," he said, "is the propitious time to reawaken in our hearts the expectation of him 'who is, who was and who is coming' (Rev 1:8). The Son of God already came to Bethlehem 20 centuries ago, he is coming in every moment into the soul and the community that is disposed to receive him, and he will come again at the end of time, 'to judge the living and the dead.' Thus, the believer is always vigilant, animated by the intimate hope of meeting the Lord.

"This [first Sunday of Advent], therefore, is a most appropriate day to offer to the whole Church and all men of good will my second encyclical, which I wanted to dedicate to the theme of Christian hope."

Hope, he said, "is a gift that changes the life of those who receive it, as the experience of so many saints demonstrates. … It consists in the knowledge of God, in the discovery of His heart as a good and merciful Father. Jesus, with his death on the cross and his resurrection, has revealed to us the Father's countenance, the countenance of a God so great in love as to communicate to us an indestructible hope, a hope that not even death can crack, because the life of those who entrust themselves to this Father always opens up to the perspective of eternal beatitude.

"Because of this, the great, full and definitive hope is guaranteed by God who is love, who has visited us in Jesus and given his life to us, and in Jesus he will return at the end of time. It is in Christ that we hope and it is him that we await! With Mary, his Mother, the Church goes out to meet the Bridegroom: She does this with works of charity, because hope, like faith, is demonstrated in love. A good Advent to all!"

Advent is the season when we, as we pray at Mass, "wait with joyful hope for the [three-fold] coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ." Hope is the means by which we go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming for us. Pope Benedict's encyclical letter is a great pre-Christmas present to nourish our Advent hope and prepare us spiritually for a profoundly joyous Christmas.

The holy father's greatest teacher was St. Augustine of Hippo, whose conversion happened when he overheard a voice, which he later determined was an angel's, chanting repeatedly concerning the Bible, "tolle et legge," Latin for "take and read." He picked up the Bible, began to read it, and his life was forever changed.

Those angels are now close by, announcing good news of great joy and gently prodding us — tolle et legge — to take up and read our holy father's letter on how that good news fills us is meant to fill us with new hope.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.