FAITH TO BELIEVE

 

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”                                                                                                                                                       Hebrews 11:1

 

Of all the topics indexed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Faith has the most references to provide the clearest picture of all aspects of our theology.  For purposes of this blog, I will refer to Paragraphs 26 (Profession of Faith) and 150 (Belief in God).

Paragraph 26: “…Faith is man’s response to God, who reveals Himself and gives Himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life.”

Paragraph 150: Faith is the first of all a personal adherence of man to God.  At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.  As personal adherence to God and assent to His truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person.  It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what He says.  It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature. *                                    *Jeremiah 17:5 – 6 and Psalm 40:5; 146:3 – 4

For those subscribers who have followed my blog over the years, you know that my main theme is that God has created us for a purpose.  We are to find what that purpose is and enact upon it with the gifts God has given us.  It seems to me that the two paragraphs above support my premise and what I believe all of us in search of a love relationship with God want to have.

All of us are called by God to be the disciples.  In Genesis, Abraham was called to offer his son, Isaac, as a testament of his faith in God.  Though he was stopped in doing so, God told him: “that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing – all this because you obeyed my command.”               Gen. 22:17-18

In The Gospel According to Saint Luke (Lk. 1:26-38), Mary, was visited by the Angel Gabriel to be told that God had selected her to be the mother of Jesus because God had found favor with her.  After Gabriel explained what this meant, Mary’s response was: “I am the servant of the Lord.  Let it be done to me as you say.”  What great faith from a teen age girl who realized that though she was betrothed to Joseph and could face death by having a child out of wedlock, she trusted God’s promise. 

God calls all of us to have faith in Him in numerous ways and has proven to us throughout the entire bible in dreams, words and deeds that if we believe we will have an eternal life of love with Him and all He created.  He wouldn’t do so if He didn’t see something in each of us that would fulfill the purpose for which He created us.  He knows and wants us to know that we can make a difference in our life and in others we touch.  He has given us all the gifts and talents we need to accomplish incredible things.  We need to have the faith to trust His call.  He doesn’t create bad things, only good which make it possible for us to enter eternal life.