307 FAITH

YOUCAT Lesson 307

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

307  What is faith?

Faith is the power by which we assent to God, acknowledge his truth, and commit ourselves personally to him.  [1814-1816, 1842]

Photo: …..Christ carrying the cross as portrayed by El Greco, 1580. …..“Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls and immerse them in the ocean of My Mercy.  These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross.  They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.”  -- Third day, Novena to the Divine Mercy, Diary 1209, St. Faustina. …..307

Faith is the path created by God leading to the truth that is God himself.  Because Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), this faith cannot be merely an attitude or “confidence” about something or other.  On the one hand, the faith has definite contents, which the Church professes in the Creed (=profession of faith), and it is her duty to safeguard them.  Anyone who wants to accept the gift of faith, in other words, anyone who wants to believe, acknowledges this faith, which has been preserved constantly through the ages and in many different cultures.  On the other hand, part of faith is a trusting relationship to God with heart and mind, with all one’s emotional strength, for faith becomes effective only through charity, practical love (see Galatians 5:6).  Whether someone really believes in the God of love is shown, not in his solemn affirmations, but rather in charitable deeds.

“He who says ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”  1 John 2:4

“Every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 10:32

1814-1816, 1842

II. THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

Faith

1814 Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God."( Dei Verbum 5.)⁷⁸ For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s] through charity."( Romans 1:17; Galatians 5:6.)⁷⁹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.( Compare Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schonmetzer 1545)⁸⁰ But "faith apart from works is dead"( James 2:26)⁸¹ when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body. --CCC

1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks."( Lumen Gentium 42; compare Dignitatis Humanae 14.)⁸² Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."( Matthew 10:32-33.)⁸³ --CCC

IN BRIEF

1842 By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief. --CCC