CHRISTIAN faith is first of all a
divine, supernatural
gift that comes to us with God’s grace. But since it is meant for us,
then it is adapted to our human condition. In fact, it also has to be
humanized, to be freely taken up by us to be our own, and cared for,
developed and cultivated just like anything else in our life.
And so as a divine and human affair, it is at once
spiritual and moral, eternal and historical, complete and yet needing
to grow, mystical and down-to-earth. We need to learn how to cruise in
this kind of fluidity that characterizes our faith. We need to take up
the challenge, and develop the appropriate attitudes and skills.
This is not an easy thing to do. But neither is it
impossible. It’s good that precisely because of our faith, we know
that the Church itself guides us on how to take care of our faith. We
are not just on our own, left to our own devices. As our Catechism
says, “No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone.” (166)
And within the Church, we can find not only the Pope, the
bishops and priests, who preach the faith to us, but also an array of
experts in the different fields that can help us understand and live
our faith better. Let´s be more aware of this reality and take
advantage of it.
Part of that human and historical aspect of our faith is
that it has to be apostolic. That simply means that our Christian
faith has to abide by the faith of the apostles, who were the direct
witnesses and first recipients of Christ’s teaching.
More than that, the apostles proved to have the right
understanding of faith, as can be gleaned in that gospel episode when
our Lord asked his apostles who do people think the Son of Man was.
Let’s reprise the dialogue. From Matthew 16, we have this
dramatic scene, “And you,” Jesus asked the apostles, “who do you say
that I am?” “You are the Messiah,” Simon Peter answered, “the Son of
the living God!”
Jesus replied, “Blest are you, Simon son of John! No mere
man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. I for my part
declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my
church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.
“I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever
you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
It’s good that we bring to the secular press some words of
the gospel, because the secular world which focuses more on our
mundane, earthly and temporal affairs is always in need of God and his
word.
We have to distinguish between the secular and the
secularized. The latter thinks God has no place in the secular world
of business, politics, etc. It considers the world as totally on its
own, to be governed entirely by men with no reference to God at all.
This is dangerous to us.
If we look closely at the words of the gospel quoted
above, we can see that Peter’s affirmation of who Christ was, was a
fruit of grace. “No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father.” The faith of Peter is the faith given by God and correctly
received and affirmed by Peter.
This is the faith that is shared with the apostles and
transmitted to the successors of Peter and the apostles, namely, the
Popes and the bishops. This is the faith of the Church. Our personal
faith has to embody the faith of the Church. Again we need to be aware
of this, and the practical consequences that flow from it.
We have to study the doctrine now taught by the Church,
making it flesh of our flesh so that our faith does not remain ideas
and words alone but turned into life itself. We have to understand
that the doctrine of our faith has the capacity to infuse in us the
life of God. Let´s allow it to effect its real purpose in life.
So, we should not remain hearers only of the doctrine, but
doers also, always looking first at the example of the apostles who,
being very simple people, became great men and saints precisely
because of their faith!
gift that comes to us with God’s grace. But since it is meant for us,
then it is adapted to our human condition. In fact, it also has to be
humanized, to be freely taken up by us to be our own, and cared for,
developed and cultivated just like anything else in our life.
And so as a divine and human affair, it is at once
spiritual and moral, eternal and historical, complete and yet needing
to grow, mystical and down-to-earth. We need to learn how to cruise in
this kind of fluidity that characterizes our faith. We need to take up
the challenge, and develop the appropriate attitudes and skills.
This is not an easy thing to do. But neither is it
impossible. It’s good that precisely because of our faith, we know
that the Church itself guides us on how to take care of our faith. We
are not just on our own, left to our own devices. As our Catechism
says, “No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone.” (166)
And within the Church, we can find not only the Pope, the
bishops and priests, who preach the faith to us, but also an array of
experts in the different fields that can help us understand and live
our faith better. Let´s be more aware of this reality and take
advantage of it.
Part of that human and historical aspect of our faith is
that it has to be apostolic. That simply means that our Christian
faith has to abide by the faith of the apostles, who were the direct
witnesses and first recipients of Christ’s teaching.
More than that, the apostles proved to have the right
understanding of faith, as can be gleaned in that gospel episode when
our Lord asked his apostles who do people think the Son of Man was.
Let’s reprise the dialogue. From Matthew 16, we have this
dramatic scene, “And you,” Jesus asked the apostles, “who do you say
that I am?” “You are the Messiah,” Simon Peter answered, “the Son of
the living God!”
Jesus replied, “Blest are you, Simon son of John! No mere
man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. I for my part
declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my
church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.
“I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever
you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
It’s good that we bring to the secular press some words of
the gospel, because the secular world which focuses more on our
mundane, earthly and temporal affairs is always in need of God and his
word.
We have to distinguish between the secular and the
secularized. The latter thinks God has no place in the secular world
of business, politics, etc. It considers the world as totally on its
own, to be governed entirely by men with no reference to God at all.
This is dangerous to us.
If we look closely at the words of the gospel quoted
above, we can see that Peter’s affirmation of who Christ was, was a
fruit of grace. “No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father.” The faith of Peter is the faith given by God and correctly
received and affirmed by Peter.
This is the faith that is shared with the apostles and
transmitted to the successors of Peter and the apostles, namely, the
Popes and the bishops. This is the faith of the Church. Our personal
faith has to embody the faith of the Church. Again we need to be aware
of this, and the practical consequences that flow from it.
We have to study the doctrine now taught by the Church,
making it flesh of our flesh so that our faith does not remain ideas
and words alone but turned into life itself. We have to understand
that the doctrine of our faith has the capacity to infuse in us the
life of God. Let´s allow it to effect its real purpose in life.
So, we should not remain hearers only of the doctrine, but
doers also, always looking first at the example of the apostles who,
being very simple people, became great men and saints precisely
because of their faith!
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