In the Year of Faith we will be reflecting on how faith is passed on in the period of the Catechumenate. The Rite talks about 4 ways or dynamics: through an understanding of the faith in the teaching of the Church, in the celebration of the liturgy of the Church, in acts of witness and charity and in prayer. All four are expressions of faith and work together to deepen the catechumen’s knowledge and love of Christ who invites them into communion with him.

Pope Benedict has asked for this year to be celebrated as a Year of Faith to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Significantly, the first document of the Council was Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It was a sign of the growing maturity of the Liturgical Movement which had developed over the 20th Century, and the effect of the document were seen across all Churches. The principles, directives for reform, and ideas of Sacrosanctum Concilium continue to shape how we celebrate the liturgy today. They provide the source for differing understandings of the liturgy and how liturgy should be developed. However, the document is about more than the fine details of the Church’s worship: it is about the Church itself and its role in the world. In Sacrosanctum Concilium can be seen the seeds of the New Evangelisation, the proclamation of the gospel to the people of today: a sign lifted up among the nations.