21. Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive when we fervently ask for it.

Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive when we fervently ask for it.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 21

Ave Maria Series

21.  Faith—what is it?

Faith is knowledge and trust.  It has seven characteristics:

v  Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive when we fervently ask for it.

v  Faith is the supernatural power that is absolutely necessary if we are to attain salvation.

v  Faith requires the free will and clear understanding of a person when he accepts the divine invitation.

v  Faith is absolutely certain, because Jesus guarantees it.

v  Faith is incomplete unless it leads to active love.

v  Faith grows when we listen more and more carefully to God’s Word and enter a lively exchange with him in prayer.

v  Faith gives us even now a foretaste of the joy of heaven. 

[153-165, 179-180, 183-184]

Blest is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled,” are words spoken by Elizabeth to the arriving Blessed Virgin Mary.  Painting by Mariotto Albertinelli. ….. 21

Many people say that to believe is not enough for them; they want to know.  The word “believe”, however, has two completely different meanings.  If a parachutist asks the clerk at the airport, “Is the parachute packed safely?” and the other man answers casually, “Hmm, I believe so”, then that will not be enough for him; he would like to know it for sure.  But if he has asked a friend to pack the parachute, then the friend will answer the same question by saying, “Yes, I did it personally.  You can trust me!”  And to that the parachutist will reply, “Yes, I believe you.”  This belief is the kind of belief that prompted Abraham to travel to the Promised Land; that is the faith that caused the martyrs to stand fast till death; that is the faith that still today upholds Christians in persecution.  A faith that encompasses the whole person.

 “Faith means putting up with God’s incomprehensibility for a lifetime.”  Karl Rahner (1904-1984, German theologian)

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1 (new translation by Pope Benedict XVI in the Enclyclical Spe salvi 7)

“Credo, ut intelligam—Faith seeks understanding.”  St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033/34-1109, Doctor of the Church, leading theologian of the Middle Ages)

“I would not believe if I did not realize that it is reasonable to believe.”  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

[153-165, 179-180, 183-184]

III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH

Faith is a grace

153  When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come "from flesh and blood", but from "my Father who is in heaven".²⁴ Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. "Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and 'makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.'"(Dei Verbum 5; compare  Denzinger-Schönmetzer 377; 3010.)²⁵  --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Faith is a human act

154  Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to "yield by faith the full submission of. . . intellect and will to God who reveals",(Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3008.)²⁶ and to share in an interior communion with him. –CCC

155  In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace."(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,2,9; compare Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3010.)²⁷ –CCC

Faith and understanding

156  What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived".(Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3008.)²⁸   So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit."(Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3009.)²⁹   Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind".(Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3008-3010; compare Mark 16 20; Hebrews 2:4.)³⁰ –CCC

157  Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,171,5,obj.3.)³¹   "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."(John Henry Cardinal Newman, Apologia pro vita sua (London: Longman, 1878) 239.)³² –CCC

158  "Faith seeks understanding"(St. Anselm, Prosl. prooem.:Patrologia Latina 153,225A.)³³  it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of faith opens "the eyes of your hearts"(Ephesians 1:18.)³⁴ to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the center of the revealed mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood."(Dei Verbum 5.)³⁵   In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe." (St. Augustine, Sermo 43,7,9:Patrologia Latina 38,257-258.)³⁶ –CCC

159  Faith and science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth."(Dei Filius 4:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3017.)³⁷  "Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are."(Gaudium et Spes 36 § 1.)³⁸ –CCC

The freedom of faith

160  To be human, "man's response to God by faith must be free, and. . . therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act."(Dignitatis Humanae 10; compare Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 748 § 2.)³⁹   "God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced. . . This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus."(Dignitatis Humanae 11.)⁴⁰   Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. "For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke against it. His kingdom. . . grows by the love with which Christ, lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself."(Dignitatis Humanae 11; compare John 18:37; Jn 12:32.)⁴¹ –CCC

The necessity of faith

161  Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.(Compare Mark 16:16; John 3:36; Jn 6:40 et al.)⁴²   "Since "without faith it is impossible to please [God]" and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'But he who endures to the end.'"(Dei Filius 3:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3012; compare Matthew 10:22; Matt 24:13 and Hebrews 11:6; Council of Trent:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1532.)⁴³ –CCC

Perseverance in faith

162  Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith."(1 Timothy 1:18-19.)⁴⁴  To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; (Compare Mark 9:24; Luke 17:5; Lk 22:32.)⁴⁵  it must be "working through charity," abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.(Galatians 5:6; Romans 15:13; compare James 2:14-26.)⁴⁶ –CCC

Faith - the beginning of eternal life

163  Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is".(1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2.)⁴⁷   So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: –CCC

When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.(St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15,36:Patrologia Graeca 32,132; compare St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II,4,1.)⁴⁸ –CCC

164  Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight";(2 Corinthians 5:7.)⁴⁹ we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part".(l Corinthians 13:12.)  Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it. –CCC

165  It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who "in hope. . . believed against hope";(Romans 4:18.)⁵¹  to the Virgin Mary, who, in "her pilgrimage of faith", walked into the "night of faith"(Lumen Gentium 58; John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater 18.)⁵²  in sharing the darkness of her son's suffering and death; and to so many others: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."(Hebrews 12:1-2.)⁵³ –CCC

IN BRIEF

179  Faith is a supernatural gift from God. In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. –CCC

180  "Believing" is a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person. –CCC

183  Faith is necessary for salvation. The Lord himself affirms: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mk 16:16). –CCC

184  "Faith is a foretaste of the knowledge that will make us blessed in the life to come" (St. Thomas Aquinas. Comp. theol. 1, 2). --CCC