Word of the Week

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Faith: Fides (L.): meaning "trust; belief”, behind it stands a Hebrew term that conveys a firm steadfastness that is built upon a strengthening of relationship through obedience.

Faith is both a gift from God and man’s personal adherence to God. God invites man to freely submit his intellect and will in an ascent of his whole being to God the revealer (CCC 26, 142, 150). It is this revelation of God, which in principle, the Church professes in the Creed and celebrates in the sacraments. Faith calls us out to live a life rooted in prayer and prudence. Essentially, our conduct should be a reflection of our faith in God. In addition, Faith is a theological virtue in which we are obliged to nurture until the end of our earthly life (CCC 1814, 2087).

Faith can be found 175 times in the Old Testament and 305 times in the New Testament. In the many times we see faith in Sacred Scripture, both in the OT and NT, there is one benchmark to its meaning: Faith is a gift that is required to be both lived and shared. This is the essence of what we find in the opening definition and its catechetical meaning. The OT faithfulness is in a constant working relationship with God’s steadfast love (Gen.32:10; Ex.34:6; 2 Sam.2:6; Ps.25:20, 40:10-11, 57:10, 61:7, 85:10, 86:15, 88:11, 89:1-49, 92:2, 100:5, 108:4, 115:1, 117:2), because God’s enduring love is a faithfulness that is not just a onetime deal, but rather a long term commitment! Faithfulness is about relationship and betrothal (Hos.2.20). The NT vision to faith is so synonymous with obedience that Paul emphasizes this in the opening and conclusion of his letter to Rome (Rom.1:5, 16:26). James reinforces this point emphatically: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). Lastly, we see in the NT that it is the gift of faith and its assent to Christ that brings about various healing in biblical figures (Mt:9:2, 9:22, 9:29, 15:28).

Faith and trust is established by being in relationship. A relationship grounded in constant dialogue discovers itself by the very nature of its commitment to communication. Relationships are relationships because they cease to exhaust the fountain of discovery of relating to one another. The joy of discovery takes place because of the willingness to see the potential of dialogue and the revelation of truth that asserts itself in the mind and heart of man. In this manner of speaking, it is by being in relationship with God that we will discover the beauty of our vocation. This will take form and shape when prayer is present. Prayer is dialogue and communication with God. Where prayer increases faith increases, and so does the discovery of our human potential. Moreover, the fruitfulness of this committed relationship with God is our witness of faith that affects persons around us and in turn shapes a culture that breeds hope.

“If you read history you will find that the Christian who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

--C.S.Lewis

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

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