CFE Notes
The sacred Scripture as Stories of faith
August 23, 2022(Tuesday)
Living in Faith Everyday
God may answer your prayers not in the way you expect, but in so many other ways. It might be
unconventional or extraordinary. He is so much more knowledgeable than us, so we might not
know what he intends for us. Thus, faith needs an undeniable hope and trust in Him.
Faith is not supposed to be blind. Faith is not supposed to be “belief without true
understanding, perception, or discrimination.”, rather, its supposed to be something we do with
reason, wisdom, and knowledge based on the things we know about God, and act with God’s
promises.
Only if we develop a sense of knowledge about faith, can we share the insights to other people.
It must be able to seek understanding the knowledge of God.
Christian faith has the following characteristics according to the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines (PCP II).
1. Total and Absolute
With total and absolute faith in God, you can sacrifice your life to Him, holy and pleasing
to Him. You are to live with full commitment to His teachings and be in line with the
sacrifices of Jesus Christ sacrificing himself for the salvation of all and His full trust in
Him.
2. Trinitarian
It is our connection with God, The Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.
Our Faith as Catholics, then, consists in our personal conviction and belief in God our
Father, revealed by Jesus Christ, His own divine Son-made-man, and their presence to us
through the Holy Spirit, in the Church (PCP II 64;124).
When you pray, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”,
you are expressing the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, that God reveals himself in
Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is a “family” of three Persons who love each other so much as to form a single
whole. This “divine family” is not closed in on itself but is open. It communicates itself
in creation and in history and has entered the world of men to call everyone to
form part of it. The trinitarian horizon of communion surrounds all of us and
stimulates us to live in love and fraternal sharing, certain that where there is love, there
is God. (2016)
Without trinity, there is no Christian faith, Trinity cannot be separated with one another
because all of them are of the same essence, they show us the truth of His faith and
teachings. If any of these are not God, then the truths we know about Him relayed to us
by the Scriptures shared to us by them would not truly be credible.
3. Loving, Maturing and Missionary:
Christian faith is dynamic. Its dynamism is manifested in growing knowledge and love of
Christ and in imitation of his example of selfless service to others. So, as a Christian, you
reveal this nature of your faith by loving God, others, and self. It is the very depth of
God’s character to love, and as a believer, you must reflect God’s character.
To have faith, is to have the ability to love, Love connects us to people, making it easier
for us to share His words and teachings. Through love we are able to extend our Faith,
growing as a person and as a humanitarian.
4. Informed and Communitarian
The dynamic nature of faith requires you to increase your knowledge and love for Jesus.
According to St. Anselm, “faith seeks understanding.” What is meant by this phrase is
for you not to replace faith with understanding but “an active love of God seeking a
deeper knowledge of God”. But having a deeper knowledge of God takes place within
the Christian community, the Church.
5. Inculturated
The practice of your faith is manifested in your daily life and relationships. It takes into
consideration the community where you belong.
Faith is not only confined to one community but rather is open to all who believes in
Him, regarding of race, skin color, culture, and practices, as long as you believe in Him,
and act according to His teachings.
The Three Essential Dimensions of Faith
1. Believing
Believing is an important aspect of faith, though the latter cannot be equated with the
former as it is popularly understood. Faith is expressed in one way in the act of
believing. Because of faith, you believe in God’s revelation that reached its climax in the
person and mission of Jesus. Faith in God is interpreted and articulated more clearly by
your beliefs.
That Christianity makes certain historical, moral, and cognitive claims and proposes
them to people as a way of making meaning in their lives is certain. The activity of
Christian faith therefore requires a firm conviction about the truths proposed as
essential beliefs of the Christian faith (Groome, 1991).
2. Doing
Another significant expression of faith is “doing”. It means that you must work and
cooperate with God’s liberative work. You just have to look at the life of Jesus and see
his teaching about how you should live in accordance with the values of the kingdom of
God. To be active in your faith, therefore, means to actively love one another
manifested in our work to help establish the Kingdom of God as a kingdom of justice,
peace, and love.
3. Entrusting/Worshipping:
Beyond believing and doing, faith is also entrusting oneself into God’s hands. Abraham,
our father in faith, at God’s command left everything to set out for a foreign land.
Against all human odds Moses trusted Yahweh to free the Hebrews from their slavery in
Egypt. In the New Testament, Jesus worked signs and cures only with those who trusted
in him. He promised the possessed boy’s father: “Everything is possible to a man who
trusts” (Mk 9:23) (PCP II 132).
Faith is derived from the Latin “fidere”, meaning “to trust.” Trust is the basis of all
faith. Trusting is an intrinsic part of believing. You believe God, for you trust that God
will not deceive you; He loves you, is faithful to you, and will look after you. It is your
trusting faith that leads you to pray from the heart, seeking to cement your relationship
with God. Furthermore, you must begin to look at any experience of human trust as an
experience of trusting God. You must learn to see God as an integral part of every facet
of your life. To trust is an essential aspect of love; loving and trusting must go together.
It needs to be emphasized, however, that ultimately faith is a grace of God. As such, it is
God himself who enables you to believe in Him and all that He revealed (CCC 184). With
His grace, you come into contact with the ever-present God and enter into a personal
relationship with Him. Because of your faith in God, you have the courage to commit
into action the values Jesus has taught. Finally, because of your faith in Him, you trust
God wholeheartedly because He is good. So, you believe and trust in God, and do His
will not because you are capable because of your natural ability but because of His
grace.
