A Vatican archbishop believes that the first encyclical issued by Pope Francis provides an “introduction” to the Pontiff’s teaching and pastoral style.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, described “The Light of Faith” as “Pope Francis’ own contribution that he wants to offer to the new evangelization.”
He said that the encyclical – which is titled “Lumen Fidei” in Latin – is “distinctive” to Pope Francis, although much of its initial draft was written by the former Pope, Benedict XVI.
“Lumen Fidei, while recovering some insights and some content of the teaching of Benedict XVI, is totally a text of Pope Francis,” the archbishop said at the Holy See’s press office during the encyclical’s release on July 5.
“Here we find his style, and the peculiarity of the content to which we have become accustomed in the first months of his pontificate, especially with his daily homilies,” he added.
Archbishop Fisichella stressed that “the usage of expressions, the wealth of images to which he makes reference and the peculiarity of some quotations from ancient and modern authors make this text a true introduction to his teaching and allow a better understanding of the pastoral style that makes him unique.”
As an example, he pointed to the Pope’s usage of three verbs in the encyclical – walking, building, confessing – which he used in his first homily to the Cardinals the day after his election as pontiff.
“In some ways, it can be said that the encyclical is structured on these three verbs and specifies the content,” said the president of the Vatican’s New Evangelization department.
“Benedict XVI was asked repeatedly to write an encyclical on faith that would somehow conclude the triad that he had started on love with ‘Deus Caritas Est’ and on hope with ‘Spe Salvi,’” he stated.
Eventually, “insistence prevailed and Pope Benedict decided that he would write it to offer it at the end of the Year of Faith,” he said. However, “(h)istory wanted something else.”
The archbishop believes that the new document offers insight into the Year of Faith currently being celebrated by the Church.
The release of the encyclical on faith, divided into four chapters, an introduction and a conclusion, coincides with the Church’s Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.
Archbishop Fisichella described Pope Francis’ encyclical as “a program on how to continue to live the experience that the whole Church has lived during a whole year with so many highly significant experiences.”
From EWTN News
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THE CONCHO PADRE POST 
Tuesday of the 17th week in ordinary time
Click here to see today’s readings from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
In today’s Gospel passage Jesus offers a point-by-point explanation of the parable that He preached in the passage proclaimed in the cycle of Ordinary Time weekdays two days earlier. The evangelists rarely offer us examples of Jesus explaining one of His parables, so today’s passage is insightful not only in terms of the content of this specific parable, but also in terms of Jesus’ method of using parables.
We might wonder, to start with, what the significance is of the evangelist telling us that it’s after “Jesus dismissed the crowds” that “His disciples approached Him” to ask for an explanation of the parable. This is an important distinction that the evangelist didn’t have to note for Jesus’ explanation to make sense. Perhaps the evangelist is highlighting the importance of petitioning God for deeper insight into His revealed Word.
Jesus explains the meanings of seven persons or things from the parable. This allegorical explanation of the parable is important because it’s in accord with the method of interpreting Jesus’ parables commonly found in the writings of the saints in the patristic and medieval periods of Church history. This method is often rejected today by scholars who offer their own theories about the interpretation of parables. It’s important to note that among those whom modern scholars criticize are not only canonized saints whose holiness is proven, but also—as we hear today—Our Lord Himself!
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