In the final days of Lent in the midst of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Monsignor James P. Shea delivered a retreat from an empty campus entitled, "From Shadows into the Light: Gaining the Eyes of Faith." Pairing reflections on the gift of faith with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, these reflections were delivered daily from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday.
The question of faith is not as much about whether we believe God exists as it is whether we are willing to come to him and trust in him. We say we have faith - do we really?
Faith is a matter of vision: it is a way of seeing more truly and more fully, the healing of our minds that allows us to grasp what is real and what is true in its entirety.
In the midst of a great drama of realities visible and invisible, God invades rebel-held territory to redeem the wayward human race, taking on our nature in order to suffer on our behalf.
God established the Church as a colony of heaven on earth, which he inhabits and in which he clothes himself, continuing the rescue mission of Christ.
If it is true, as Christians believe, that Christ is incarnate in a Mystical Body, then that Body is the necessary focus of the world's story.
The Church is at once changeless and remarkably flexible: while the battle is constant, the terrain on which it is fought changes from one generation to the next.
Much of the Christian journey involves gaining a sense of the big picture: actively interpreting our lives according to the Catholic imaginative vision is essential for the Christian life.