God rejoices when a person firmly believes him without the need of seeing. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20, 29).
Faith is a theological virtue. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in number 1814 teaches that through faith “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.’ 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”.
Faith grows. It is the by-product of failure and success. The secret of faith is to persevere. All christians are given the means to grow and mature in their faith.
The sacraments are powerful channels whereby faith is consolidated. Faith is the basis for the productive exercise of God’s gifts, which he gives us to reach out other people.
One of the early Pentecostal Christians, Smith Wigglesworth, held that there were three degrees of faith. The first degree is saving faith.
Those who receive Jesus as their personal Saviour have been saved by faith. Thus the seed of faith is nourished and strengthened by hearing to God’s Word. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2, 8). The second degree is the faith of the Lord Jesus. The Christian is called to embrace Christ’s own faith. Galatians 2, 20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”.
The third degree of faith is that faith is a gift given by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12, 7.9 state: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good ... to another faith by the same Spirit”.
Faith that achieves is a faith that acts (see Jas 2, 18-20). Faith is shown in works, which in return, are the result of a faith that one has in God as a Person. Faith is obtained when every word which God speaks is embraced and acted upon in order that one may have life to the full (see Jn 10, 10).
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4, 4).
In order for us to grow in faith we need to “look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12, 2). Our gaze on Jesus creates an unbroken communion with him. It makes us enter and dwell deeply in his presence.
By gazing on Jesus our faith grows in such a measure that we shall be changed “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3, 18).
In many ways God is giving us splendid opportunities to gaze on him, and by his grace entering into his abiding presence. Let us open our hearts to him!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap