Lumen Fidei - page 47

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no journey of man to God, which cannot be tak-
en up, illumined and purified by this light. The
more Christians immerse themselves in the circle
of Christ’s light, the more capable they become
of understanding and accompanying the path of
every man and woman towards God.
Because faith is a way, it also has to do with
the lives of those men and women who, though
not believers, nonetheless desire to believe and
continue to seek. To the extent that they are sin-
cerely open to love and set out with whatever
light they can find, they are already, even with-
out knowing it, on the path leading to faith. They
strive to act as if God existed, at times because
they realize how important he is for finding a
sure compass for our life in common or because
they experience a desire for light amid darkness,
but also because in perceiving life’s grandeur
and beauty they intuit that the presence of God
would make it all the more beautiful. Saint Ire-
naeus of Lyons tells how Abraham, before hear-
ing God’s voice, had already sought him “in the
ardent desire of his heart” and “went through-
out the whole world, asking himself where God
was to be found”, until “God had pity on him
who, all alone, had sought him in silence”.32 Any-
one who sets off on the path of doing good to
others is already drawing near to God, is already
sustained by his help, for it is characteristic of
the divine light to brighten our eyes whenever we
walk towards the fullness of love.
32 Demonstratio Apostolicae Predicationis, 24: SC 406, 117.