The light of faith is unique, because it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. A light this powerful cannot come from us but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love that precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfillment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time. It is a light coming from the past, the light of the foundational memory of the life of Jesus, which revealed his perfectly trustworthy love, a love capable of triumphing over death.

—Excerpted from The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis