A question about Faith

[Dtmccameron]

Last Sunday, Mass was presided over (am I using correct terminology?) by a Priest from another parish. Fine and good, the man seemed nice and his English was refreshingly…clear. Still, I think I might’ve misheard or misinterpreted something he said.

He came to speak about Faith, and he said, to the effect of, “Faith is seeing God in others” or perhaps “Seeing God work through others”.

You see, there was an “ACTS” retreat that previous weekend, where all the dreary, droopy high school children were led away, I suppose brainwashed, and brought back chipper, smiling, and bouncy. Yes, they bounced quite a bit. Arms in the air, flailing about. Stomping the ground, shouting. Oh, and they added an electric guitar to the choir. I wasn’t too fond of that, but I must admit, the fellow was very talented!

Am I rambling? Forgive me, but you see, the Priest, he told the assembled children to turn about, and for us to “Look upon the face of God”.

I thought it a little strange to do after having just witnessed the Most Blessed Sacrament, and now I think, the face of God? Why didn’t I burst into flame?

Indeed, I understand that God is present in all His children, just as (but not equally so) He’s in say, the Holy Scriptures, and even the Eucharist. And so far as something is sacramental, couldn’t it be said that God is there, or at very least, His glory is made manifest there?

Now I’m definately off topic. The point; back to that bit on Faith. He seemed to make faith a reasoned response to seeing good works. Which I don’t think it is. Did Paul recieve his faith through reason? Nay, t’was a gift of God! And save this giving, can anyone recieve faith? I think that the very reason why there are so many atheists, especially scientists, folk who love their reason yet have not been blessed with Faith.

Well, that was alot of rambling to ask a simple question, What is Faith?

Oh. and I suppose, hopping about and electric guitars? To risk sounding like McArthy, that seems downright “un-Catholic” to me. (It’s bad enough our church looks more some hideous piece of modern art than a Church)

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

My dear friend

Hope this helps

**FAITH. **The acceptance of the word of another, trusting that one knows what the other is saying and is honest in telling the truth. The basic motive of all faith is the authority (or right to be believed) of someone who is speaking. This authority is an adequate knowledge of what he or she is talking about, and integrity in not wanting to deceive. It is called divine faith when the one believed is God, and human faith when the persons believed are human beings. (Etym. Latin fides, belief; habit of faith; object of faith.)

BELIEF. The acceptance of something at true on a trustworthy person’s word. It differs from faith only in the stress on confidence in the one who is believed. Moreover, belief emphasizes the act of the will, which disposes one to believe, where faith is rather the act of the mind, which assents to what is believed.

**FAITH, ACT OF. **The assent of the mind to what God has revealed. An act of supernatural faith requires divine grace, either actual or sanctifying or both. It is performed under the influence of the will, which requires its own assistance of grace to render a person ready to believe. And if the act of faith is made in the state of grace, it is meritorious before God. Explicit acts of faith are necessary, notably when the virtue of faith is being tested by temptation or one’s faith is challenged, or one’s belief would be weakened unless strengthened by acts of faith. A simple and widely used act of faith says: “My God, I believe in you and all that your Church teaches, because you have said it, and your word is true. Amen.”

**FAITH AND REASON. **The relationship between human response to God’s revelation and use of human native intelligence. This relationship is mainly of three kinds, where the role of reason is to assist divine faith: 1. reason can establish the rational grounds for belief by proving God’s existence, his authority or credibility as all-wise and trustworthy, and by proving that God actually made a revelation since he confirmed the fact by working (even now) miracles that testify to God’s having spoken to human beings, especially in the person of Jesus Christ; 2. reason can further reflect on what God has revealed and thus come to an even deeper and clearer understanding of the divine mysteries; and 3. reason can both show that the mysteries of faith are in harmony with naturally known truths and can defend their validity against the charge of being contrary to reason.

**FAITH, VIRTUE OF. **The infused theological virtue whereby a person is enabled to “believe that what God has revealed is true – not because its intrinsic truth is seen with the rational light of reason – but because of the authority of God who reveals it, of God who can neither deceive nor be deceived” (First Vatican Council, Denzinger 3008).

Our Lord says that the more true faith we have the more powerful our prayer will be. We can measure how much faith we have by the deeds we do as an expression of our faith and how well we do them. If you go to mass everyday you should have more faith than one who goes on sunday only. We see the effect of true faith in good works.

Hope this has helped you

God bless you friend:thumbsup:
John