Fr. Charles Irvin, Diocese of Lansing at 402-A E. Madison Street, DeWitt, MI 48820 US - Why FAITH Magazine?

In 1999 Mr. Patrick O'Brien along with others and myself, at the request of Bishop Carl F. Mengeling, began a new initiative for the Diocese of Lansing, a magazine called FAITH. Our intention in publishing FAITH Magazine is to present our readers with the personality of Jesus Christ, present to us and for us in His Mystical Body, the Church. He comes to us as a Person to whom we can relate in loving trust. He comes to us in our ordinary humanity. We hope to inspire the dispirited, strengthen the weary and raise up the hearts and souls of those who feel defeated, calling all men and women of good will to Jesus who is not the Risen Christ in glory and who lives within us. Our mission is that of Christ, who first proclaimed that He had come to bring good news to the poor, freedom to those held captive, sight to the blind, release to the oppressed, and proclaim that God’s favor was upon us. God comes to us as Word, seeking us to “know” him with our minds. Catholics have invested enormous resources in schools, in theological works, in journals, newspapers and mass media, believing as we do that the act of faith is a reason-able act, an act of the mind. Faith, for us, is more than simply a “nice” feeling. God also comes to us as the One incarnate, the One who is the image of the Living God made flesh for us. God comes to us as Icon, appealing not only to our intellects but also to our imaginations - making Himself thereby immediately evident to us in his Presence before us. Finally, God comes to us as Spirit – as that inner mysterious Presence who is the result of His Word and His Image to which we have opened our inner selves. The strategy of FAITH magazine is to combine those approaches of God in His pursuit of our souls, so as to enable all who journey in FAITH to encounter the One who seeks us in FAITH. Two great vignettes in which this is all found are presented to us in Sacred Scripture. The first is in Luke 24:13-35 wherein we find the disciples on the road to Emmaus, dejected, defeated and depressed, telling each other their stories of dashed dreams and lost hopes. The second is in John 4:4-30 wherein we we find the Samaritan woman at the well encountering Jesus. In that encounter her entire life is revealed and she comes to a greater discovery of her self. It is in the telling of their stories that we find our own stories in the story of Jesus. Likewise the story of Jesus can be found in our own stories. It is in the telling of their stories that they encountered the Presence of the risen Christ. So, too, for us. God gifts us with the power of faith not that we might simply keep it for our selves, but so that we would share it. Like love, faith has no purpose if it is kept for one’s self. The urge is other-directed. Sharing our faith is the primary purpose of this magazine. But we can’t share what we do not have, or which we only dimly see. We do, however, have faith - a great deal of it - most of which lies hidden in the stories of our individual hearts and souls. FAITH magazine will purposefully share our stories of faith. Why? Because, like love, the urge God has placed deep within us is to live in union with others, a union of heart, mind, body and soul. Being made in the image and likeness of God, we exist in relationships with others, relationships consisting of love, faith, purpose, truth, goodness – and above all, beauty. Faith, then, is to be shared - and in the sharing it is strengthened, and in the strengthening it is renewed. Faith is to be enlivened by moving from what is “mine” into what is “ours”. For that is the way, the truth and the life of Jesus, the One whom we all love and want to follow, the One who in beauty sings His love song to our hearts and souls. We deliberately use the phrase “our” faith because this magazine is the authentic voice of the people of the Church of Lansing. It is authorized and supported by our bishop, Carl F. Mengeling, in order to bring us into a greater sense of belonging, of common-union, to bring us into being more profoundly the Church. God’s Holy Spirit has called us to be the “gathered and assembled” of Jesus Christ, living in a unity of faith and love that binds us to Him so that He can fill us with His Spirit and take us back home to our Father. Finally, and most importantly for this magazine, we firmly believe that Albert Einstein was prophetic when years ago he declared that one day imagination would be more important than knowledge. That day has come. Truth and Goodness come to us through the imagination of Beauty. It is beauty that will redeem this present generation, perhaps more so than in any other era in human history. The souls of the people of our day thirst for Beauty. St. Augustine (354-430A.D.) once confessed: “Too late I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient and ever new! Too late I loved you! And, behold, you were within me, and I out of myself, and there I searched for you.” And now one millennium and fifteen centuries later it is not too late for us to search together for the One whose Beauty will bring us into His Truth, Goodness and Love. The Catholic Church makes known the work of God. In His Christ God brings us redemption (buys us back from Satan's seductive hold on us), thus overcoming our alienations in our fractured existence. Our relationships with our environment, with other human beings, and with God are dysfunctional, dislocated, and fractured. One has only to access news sources to see that is reality. As Catholics we are very human in our worship and spirituality, bringing bodies as well as our souls, our senses and well as our intellects into God's Presence. Ours is an Incarnational religion. Thus FAITH magazine will present images through which our souls can search into Reality. We believe God comes to all humans as Word, seeking us to "know" him with our minds. Catholics have invested enormous resources in schools, in theological works, in journals, newspapers and mass media, believing as we do that the act of faith is a reason-able act, an act of the mind. Faith, for us, is more than simply a "nice" feeling. It is a reasonable act of the mind. God also comes to us as the One incarnate, the One who is the image of the Living God made flesh for us. God comes to us as Icon, appealing not only to our intellects but also to our imaginations - making himself thereby immediately evident to us in his Presence before us. Finally, God comes to us as Spirit, as that inner mysterious Presence who is the result of His Word and His Image to which we have opened our inner selves. The pre-eminent purpose, strategy and mission of FAITH magazine is to combine those approaches of God in His pursuit of our souls, so as to enable all who journey with us in FAITH to encounter the One who seeks us in faith and its spouse, love.

(Back)