Last Sunday the Lord Jesus reminded us about the virtue of humility and in order to understand all this is for us to turn our eyes to the Lord himself. Today let us turn on the theological virtues, the virtues of faith, hope, and charity have God as their direct object. By faith we know God, by Hope we trust His promises and goodness, and by Charity, we love Him. Many times, in our prayer, we ask for many things, both for ourselves and others. This week we begin reflecting on the theological virtue of faith and how the Catechism of Catholic Church defines it. Faith is foundational in our Christian life, because it helps us believe, hope, and love God. As I was reflecting on the theological virtue of faith. I remembered my early years attending Catechetical classes and the teaching was based on Baltimore Catechism; I do recall answering this question why God created us? God created us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and at the end we return back to Him. God is our ultimate end. The definition of faith does matter. What matters is the place that faith hold in our daily life. Faith is a gift to see the presence of God in everything; it a new way of looking at myself, others, the event of life. Therefore, the Catechism of Catholic Church state: “The theological virtue of faith is a 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 us 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” (CCC, 1814). The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes further to defines Faith as the supernatural virtue, which is necessary for salvation. The Catechism adds that Faith is a divine gift and human act; God moves this act to the contemplation of his very truth (CCC, #. 153-184).
Furthermore, the Second Vatican Council describes Faith as a personal response to God’s revelation of love. God comes toward humanity and condescends to open up to human beings the secrets of his intimate life, looking for a reciprocal love. Human beings, for their part, turn to God through Faith and open up to him in friendship. The council says explicitly that by faith “man entrusts his whole self freely to God, offering ‘the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals,’ and freely assenting to the truth revealed by him” (Dei Verbum, 5).
Our Faith comes true through the visible God in Christ. The whole Trinity has been revealed in the Person of Christ. We cannot claim, as Christians, that we have Faith in God when we reject whom he has sent to us. Whoever sees me (Christ) sees the one who sent me (God the Father) (Jn 12:45). This is one of the foundational acts of the Christian faith. So as Christians faithful we need to: “turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who in hope …believed against hope; to the virgin Mary, who, in her pilgrimage of faith, walked into the night of faith in sharing the darkness of hers 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”(CCC, Paragraph 165 on profession of faith). As we reflected on theological virtue of faith. Are we ready, like the Apostles, to ask for the gift of faith? “Lord increase our faith” (Lk 17:5).