The Church made an unexpected statement about the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Second Vatican Council. At this meeting of bishops, Church leaders referred to Mary’s life as a pilgrimage of faith, a theme Blessed John Paul II explored and further developed in his encyclical letter Mother of the Redeemer, as he spoke of the Church’s faith pilgrimage.

This reference to Mary’s faith journey was unexpected because pilgrimage implies movement toward a goal, and prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Church rarely thought of the Virgin Mary as progressing in her faith. This point is important because even the deepest faith does not bring clear knowledge of the ways in which God sustains and accompanies our lives and our world. Blessed John Paul II tells us that faith at times involves a perplexity, a heaviness of heart, such as that described by Saint John of the Cross as a dark night of faith in which our understanding is clouded or tested.

God’s Grace at Work in Us

When it comes to living a Christian life, we often hear the phrase, “Making a life around virtues and values.” And though we hear it, we still tend to ask, What does it mean to “make a life”? Doesn’t life just happen?

In reality, with each and every conscious decision, we make ourselves to be certain kinds of people. Every honest word spoken and every resisted temptation to lie make us honest people. Every unkindness—in word or in act—makes us unkind people. In that sense, we are the architects, the builders, of who we are and what we will become. We make ourselves to be one kind of people as opposed to other kinds: honest rather than dishonest, kind rather than unkind, generous rather than selfish, caring rather than cold.

Of course, as Christians, we expect and we hope more and more that these individual decisions and this work of constructing ourselves will be guided by that divine Architect, according to his plan and with the help of his gracious presence. But even according to his plan and with his divine help, we ourselves must decide and act—thus making a life for ourselves, making a life of ourselves.

Bible Basics

Redirecting the Christian Outlook

Two letters of Peter appear at the end of the table of contents in most Bibles. While the Second Letter of Peter follows the First, scholars have determined the two letters could not have been written by the same author since the language, style, and message of 2 Peter are all quite different from 1 Peter. Although these contrasts have much that is fascinating to consider, here I am going to focus only on the First Letter of Peter.

It is a common perception that the newly founded Christian religion was a growing threat to the Roman Empire because Rome responded with an empire-wide policy of persecution. However, the relationship between Christianity and the Roman Empire was not as violent as one might think. Historical records do not show any such policy of extermination until the middle of the third century. This means that first-century Christianity had not yet made that big of an impact on the Roman Empire, although definite tensions existed between the two.