Novenas - Totus2us

Day 3, Novena to Mary, Mother of our faith. Quote from Papa Francisco's encyclical on faith, Lumen Fidei: "Now, the death of Christ reveals the total reliability of God's love in the light of his Resurrection. As the risen one, Christ is the reliable witness, worthy of faith (cf Ap 1, 5; Heb 2, 17), the solid support for our faith. "If Christ is not risen, your faith is in vain", affirms St Paul (1 Cor 15, 17). If the Father's love had not made Jesus rise from the dead, if it had not been able to restore life to his body, then it would not be a fully reliable love, capable of illuminating even the darkness of death. When St Paul speaks of his new life in Christ, he refers to "faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). This "faith in the Son of God" is certainly the faith of the Apostle of the gentiles in Jesus, but also presupposes the reliability of Jesus, which is based, yes, on his love even unto death, but also in his being the Son of God. Precisely because Jesus is the Son