Monthly Spiritual Message, October 2008
By Br. Carmel Flora OFM Cap.
When we talk about Faith, we are talking about the foundation of our whole spiritual life. The New Catechism, number 1814-1816, gives a very good description of this virtue when it says: “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 we commit our entire selves to God. For this reason, the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. The righteous shall live by faith. Living faith works through charity.”
The Vatican Council expressed Catholic Faith in this way: ” Faith is a supernatural virtue by which, under the inspiration and with the help of the grace of God, we accept as true what he revealed; not that we grasp the intrinsic truth of the supernatural verities by the natural light of reason, but that we accept them on account of the authority of God Himself who reveals them, and who cannot deceive or be deceived.” Our mind bows before the infinite intelligence of God’s infinite knowledge and wisdom. We surrender to the infallible Truth, we share in the knowledge of God Himself, knowledge that we could never know by human reason alone.
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen said a long time ago: “Faith is like a telescope that extends our vision far beyond what the human eye is able to see.” It enables us to share in the fuller knowledge of God Himself. God’s grace enables us to accept what is revealed by God who is Truth itself, who cannot deceive or be deceived. He presents himself as the object of our faith, especially in Christ. When Jesus asked Peter: “Who do you say I am?” He replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus replied: “It was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, Peter, but my Father in heaven!” The help of God is always necessary to acknowledge the truth revealed by God.
The Catholic Catechism gives us a very practical approach to Faith: “Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being, has enormous consequences for our whole life. It means (l) coming to know God’s greatness and majesty: “Behold God is Great and we know him not. Therefore we must serve him first.” (2) It means living in Thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him. “What have you that you did not receive?” “What shall I render to the Lord for all his Goodness to me?” (3) It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men. Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God.” (4) It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not of God, only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him.”
“My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you . My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself and give my all to you.” (Nicholas of Flue). It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity.
A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this:
Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you
Everything passes, God never changes.
Patience obtains all.
Whoever has God, wants for nothing.
God alone is enough.
God is Truth
The Catholic Catechism continues: “O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word in all things. The beginning of sin and of man’s fall was due to a lie of the tempter, who induced doubt of God’s word, kindness and faithfulness. God’s truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world. God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself. God is also truthful when he reveals himself; the teaching that comes from God is true instruction. (No. 215)
God is Love
“Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession – his sheer gratuitous love. And thanks to the prophets, Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins. God’s love for Israel is compared to a father’s love for his son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother’s for her children. God loves his people more than a bridegroom his beloved. His love will be victorious over even the worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious gift: “God so love the world, that he gave his only Son.” (218)
The Church
Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith, is able to grow in the life of the Church. What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory. Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplated God the source of all her riches. The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation, all that she herself is, all that she believes.” (96) The task of interpreting the word of God authentically, has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him. (100)
Carmel Flora OFM Cap.
National Assistant SFO – Oceania.
