Faith is a relationship, not a set of rules

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Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

yes Faith is also a virtue which can be strengthened by personal relationship with Jesus

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm

II. THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

[1812] The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man’s faculties for participation in the divine nature:76 for the theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.

**[1813] The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.77

Faith

[1814] 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 "man freely commits his entire self to God."78 For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living faith "work through charity."79

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.80 But “faith apart from works is dead”:81 when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

[1816 ] The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks."82 Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."83
 
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The idea is that: if we know God and love Him, we will want to please Him.

And the more we understand Him (through prayer and study and good example), we will naturally want to follow His commands.
 
From the article/angelus
The people thought that if they performed certain specific acts, God would respond with miracles like the feeding of the crowd with only five loaves and two fish, the pope said…“This is a common temptation: to reduce religion to just following the laws, projecting onto our relationship with God the image of the relationship between slaves and their master,” he said
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Do I treat any actions in my life this way, maybe prayer or confession? I definitely try to avoid prayer at times, because it is hard. But maybe it is my inner attitude that make it seem so. Hmmm.
 
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