A Faith Test

A missionary who entered Russia soon after the col-

lapse of the Berlin Wall recalled that before the fall of
the Soviet Union, Christians had to meet in secret to
pray and worship because of the totalitarian, commu-
nist government that forbid the practice of religion. On
one occasion, a group of Christians had gathered in a
small house to study the Bible together. Suddenly, three
Soviet soldiers brandishing rifles broke down the door
and forcefully entered the house. One of the soldiers an-
nounced that anyone who was not a Christian was free
to leave but the others who called themselves Christians

~ should remain in the house.

All the worshippers were terrified. After a few nerve-

wracking moments, most of the people fled the house.
Only a few brave souls remained. Then one of the sol-
diers silently closed the door and locked it. All three of
the soldiers put down their rifles and sat down with the
remaining believers. They explained to those who were
faithful enough to testify to their belief in our Lord that
they, too, were Christians and only wanted to worship
with true believers.’

This story asks us to consider whether we would

have the strength of character to pass a test of faith.
Would you stay true to Jesus in the face of a threat to
your life? How do you profess your faith in much safer
conditions? Do you try to live it? Do you let Jesus our

Savior shine through you? Do you bring him amd his

Gospel to others?

One thing is for sure: our Lord Jesus remains faith-

ful to each of us. He has given us all that we have—life,
health, talents to develop, our friends, the privilege of
living in a time and place where we can worship freely,
and so many other gifts. Moreover, Jesus has given us the
promise of eternal life. He loves us beyond what we can
imagine, revealing the truth of how valuable we are to
him. Consider Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. Picture him
hanging there, looking into your eyes, and proclaiming
with his last breath, “You are precious to me and to my
Father. | am giving my life for you. I love you!” What a
powerful, life-changing message. [he question remains,
however: do you really believe it?

Faith is a great gift that the Holy Spirit bestows on

us at Baptism. ‘This gift enables us to enter into a lov-
ing, personal, and intimate relationship with the Blessed
Trinity. The gift of faith enables us to trust in Jesus
Christ and the Good News of Salvation he has won for
us and communicates to us, The gift of faith allows us to
believe with all our hearts the truth of the Lord’s proc-
lamation that each one of us is precious and wonderful
in his eyes.
‘The compelling, life-affirming Gospel message goes
against what so many elements in our contemporary so-
ciety teach us. Advertisements, pundits, and “the beau-
tiful people” whom the media hold up to us to admire
often preach an anti-Gospel message. It goes something
Introduction

like this: “You are only worthwhile if you

are good-looking, rich, live in a certain
neighborhood, achieve high grades in
school, are athletically superior, have a
great sense of humor, or you fill-in-the-
blank.” All too often, your God-given
worth and value are only acknowledged
if you fulfill certain conditions or live up
to others’ expectations. Rarely will you
hear the message that you are wonder-
ful, precious, and valuable simply because
you are you—a child of God with inner
value and worth.

‘The message Christ proclaims is that

we have value, dignity, and worth simply
because God has made us in his image
and likeness. God has destined us for an
eternal life of happiness with the Blessed
Trinity and our loved ones in Heaven.
In the words of the great St. Augustine
(AD 354-430) in his Confessions, “You
have created us for yourself, Q God,
and our hearts are restless until they rest
in you.”

Life is filled with many deep ques-

tions that humans living before Christ
had trouble answering: Why am I here?
What is my destiny? What is the mean-
ing of life and of death? Does God ex-
ist? If so, what is God like? How should
T act? The Life, Death, and Resurrection
of Christ answer these and other difficult
questions. With Christ, human life has
great and eternal meaning and dignity.

For Reflection

Imagine Jesus talking to you as a

friend. What three things could he say
about you that show you are valuable
to him?

© dence, justice, fortitude, and

The Importance of
Faith

Which vision of life is correct? The

Christian view that holds you are a pre-
cious, unique child of God worth dying
for? Or society’s view that your worth is
tied only to your appearance, what you
can do, or how much you own?

How you answer these questions

will make all the difference in your life.
‘This textbook will make the point that
Christ and his Church make, that you
have great worth. Faith in Jesus Christ
will help you counteract the false mes-
sage that you only have value and worth
if you meet certain conditions. Faith will
help give you a true perspective on life
and human destiny.

What is faith? Faith is a virtue. The

Catechism of the Catholic Church defines

virtue as:

An habitual and firm disposition

to do the good... . Human
virtues are firm attitudes,

virtues

“Firm attitudes, stable disposi-

tions, habitual perfections of i
tellect and will that govern ou
actions, order our passions, an
guide our conduct according
to reason and faith" (CCC, 1804

theological virtues

Three important virtues be-

stowed on us at Baptism that
relate us to God: faith (belief
in and personal knowledge of
God); hope (trust in God's Salv.
tion and his bestowal of the
graces needed to attain it); an:
charity (love of God and love c
neighbor).

stable dispositions,
habitual perfections of
intellect and will that
govern our actions, order
our passions, and guide
our conduct according
to reason and faith.
‘They make possible ease,
self-mastery, and joy in
leading a morally good
life. (CCC, 1803-1804)

Traditionally, there are

two categories of virtues:
the cardinal virtues and the -
theological virtues. The car-
dinal virtues include pru-

temperance. They get their

name from the Latin word
cardo, which means “hinge.”
Our Catholic Faith

Revelation

. The way God communicates

knowledge of himself
to humankind, a self-
communication realized by his
actions and words over time,
most fully by his sending us his
divine Son, Jesus Christ.

Many other virtues derive from these

four, which we will discuss later in this
book.

Faith belongs to the set of virtues

known as the theological virtues (CCC,
1812-1828). The theological virtues are
gifts from God infused into our souls.
They enable us to live in relationship to
the Blessed Trinity. Their origin, motive,
and object is the one Triune God. ‘The
theological virtues are:

1. Faith. Faith enables us to believe in

God and all that he has said and re-
vealed to us. It also helps us to ac-
cept what the Church proposes for
our belief, because God is truth him-
self. Catholics are called not only to
cultivate their faith, but also to pro-
claim, bear witness to, and spread it
to others.

2. Hope. The virtue of hope leads to a

desire for Heaven and eternal life.
Tt helps us trust in Christ’s prom-
ises and rely on the help of the Holy
Spirit and his graces, not our own
strength and abilities. Hope keeps
us from getting discouraged as we
live the Christian life. Hope makes
it possible for us to strive for true
happiness and live in imitation of
Christ.

3. Charity (love). Charity, or r love, is the

greatest of the virtues. Charity em-
powers us to love God above all things
for his own sake and our neighbor as
ourselves for the love of God (CCC,

Reach Out

Be a model of Catholic faith and hospitality. Introduce yourself to a classmate you

don't
know or don’t know well. Find out one thing about this person that makes him or her
special.
a

1822). This key virtue helps us prac-

tice all the other virtues. It uplifts our
human ability to love, raising it to the
perfection of divine love.

More about Faith (ccc, 26;

1-100; 142-165; 176-197)

Let’s explore the virtue of faith more

closely. As noted, faith is a God-given
virtue that helps a person firmly embrace
the truly Good News of our essential
goodness and wonderfulness. Faith, in
fact, can be thought of as our “lifeline”
to God.

Faith is the human response to God’s

Revelation, that is, God's free gift of
self-communication. Faith, a gift of the
Holy Spirit, enables us to commit our-
selves to God totally, both our intellects
and our wills. In addition,

1. Faith makes it possible for us to ac-

cept Jesus as Lord. It endows us with
the ability to imitate his life of loving
service. Because of faith we can be-
lieve God’s revealed truths because
he is the one who has revealed them
to us.

2. Faith in Jesus makes it possible for

us to partake of the life of the Holy
Spirit, who testifies to us who Jesus is.
Thus Christian faith proclaims belief
in one God who is a Trinity of Per-
sons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Faith is a gift, but our response must

be free. No one can be forced to
embrace faith against his or her will.

Then promise yourself that during the coming school year, you will be friendly to
this person
and other people you may have ignored in the past.
Thus, faith is also a free human act
in which our hearts and minds co-
operate with God’s free gift of grace.

4. Abraham and Mary are two mod-

els of faith. Abraham, the Father of
Faith, obeyed God by leaving his
homeland to become a pilgrim to
the Promised Land. Because of his
faith, God created a people through
Abraham and prepared the way for
the Messiah. Mary, the Mother of
Christ, approached her entire life
as a resounding yes to God’s work.
Her fidelity helped fulfill God’s plan
of Salvation through her Son, Jesus
Christ.

Faith is an act of the Church. Faith

results in religion (Latin for “binding
into a relationship”). Religion binds us

into a relationship with God. Our Cath-

olic religion extends God’s invitation to

believe in, accept, and dedicate our lives

to Christ. Because of God’s love for us,
at Baptism Catholics become members
of the Church, which is a family of faith
who believes that Jesus is Lord.

The faith of the Church comes be-

fore the faith of the individual. The faith
of the Church gives life to and supports
and nourishes the individual Christian.
If we cooperate with faith, we are on the
path to eternal life. If we ignore faith, we
are subject to God’s disapproval:

Whoever believes in the Son has

eternal life, but whoever disobeys
the Son will not see life, but the
wrath of God remains upon him.
(Jn 3:36)

religion

The relationship between Goc

and humans that results ina
body of beliefs and a set of
practices: creed, cult, and cod
Religion expresses itself in
worship of and service to God
and by extension service to all
people and all creation.

ecumenical council

A worldwide, official assem

bly of the bishops under
the direction of the Pope.
There have been twenty-
one ecumenical councils,
the most recent being the
Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965).

ce ee eee ee ee een eee SSSSSSSSsa

From the Documents

© "The obedience of faith .. . is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by

which man
commits his whole self freely to God, offering “the full submission of intellect
and will to
God who reveals,”and freely assenting to the truth revealed by Him. To make this
act of faith,

the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist.
(The Dogmatic

Constitution on Divine Revelation, No. 5)

This passage on faith comes from the Second Vatican Council, the twenty-first
ecumenical council c
the Church, held from 1962 to1965. This council reformed the Church's liturgy. It
also taught on importar
topics like the Church in today’s world, the Church's relationship to other
religions, and the role of the laity.

The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation is one of four constitutions

produced at the Secon
Vatican Council. The document emphasizes how the Holy Spirit guides the Church by
means of Sacre
Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church. The document
teaches Revelatio
primarily as God's self-disclosure and secondarily as God's will and intentions.
The document als
encourages Catholics to read the scriptural Word of God.

Type in The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation in an |nternet

searchengine.Locate the documer

online at the Vatican website. Read chapter one of the document, and then answer
these questions:
1. How does God speak to us through Jesus Christ?
2. Whois the fullness of Revelation?

3. Why did God choose to reveal himself?

Vn

KNOWING CHRIST THROUGH SCRIPTURE

Old Testament patriarch Abraham as the great

model of faith, mentioning him seventy times.

-_ Jesus himself referred to Abraham in his teach-

~ ings and even made Abraham a central figure in

one of his parables—the Rich Man and Lazarus

(Lk 16:19-31). What was it about this Old Testa-

ment patriarch that evoked such comment and

admiration? —

Abram is first mentioned in Genesis 12. There

we learn that God called him to leave his home
in‘Haran in northern Mesopotamia with his wife
Sarai. God made a covenant with them, prom-
ising that they would be the parents of “a host
of nations” (Gn 17:5). God also changed their
names to Abraham and Sarah and pledged
that he would give to Abraham and his descen-
dants the land of Canaan and that he would be
their God, watching over and protecting them
forever.

Abraham's faith was tested when God asked

Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.
Despite the personal sacrifice this request re-
quired, Abraham gave himself totally to God
and was willing to give up his beloved son. God,
however, stopped Abraham from committing
the deed.

Abraham's total devotion to God became for all

the Israelites and later Christians a sign of un-
swerving faith. Just as the Virgin Mary did not

What Catholics Believe ,

The following are short summaries of Catholic be-

liefs. These are some of the main beliefs that make us

Catholic:

* Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Savior, and the Lord.

* God is a Blessed Trinity, a communion of love, a
God worthy of worship and praise.

fully understand what the angel meant when

she was to conceive the Son of God, so Abra-

ham did not fully understand what God was
promising to him. Yet he believed God's Word
and obeyed him.
Read the following references to Abraham. Write
your answers to the corresponding questions.

Genesis 12
+ What land did Abraham leave at God's
command?

+ What land did God promise to

Abraham and his descendants?

Genesis 17
- How old was Abraham when God"
made the covenant with him?
+ What promise did God make with
Abraham?
+ What was the sign of the covenant?
+ Why did Abraham laugh?

Genesis 21-22

+ Who was Ishmael? Through whom

would God bless the descendants of
Abraham?

» Name evidence that Abraham was

willing to sacrifice his son.

+ What did God praise about Abraham's

willingness to sacrifice his son?

The Church is the Body of Christ. Catholics belong

to the Communion of Saints and look to saints for

inspiration and help. After Jesus himself, Mary, the
Mother of God, is the exemplary model of faith.
‘The Bible is God’s inspired Word.

Faith is conveyed by a living Tradition, which is

guided by the Holy Spirit and authentically inter-
preted by the Magisterium.
Introduction

* God can be found in everything.

We experience him in a unique and
powerful way through the Seven
Sacraments, for example, by expe-
riencing Christ’s forgiveness in the
Sacrament of Penance and by receiv-
ing the Risen Lord himself in the
Sacrament of the Eucharist.

° We are open to truth wherever it is

found. We invite all people to grow
with the Church in holiness.

_-* Love and service are hallmarks of

our Christian faith. We are fiercely
committed to working for peace and
justice.

* We are people of hope who see that

we have an eternal destiny of union
with our God of love.

* We are open to, and strongly defend,

the gift of life in all its richness.

Our Catholic Faith: Living What We

Believe is a survey of the Catholic reli-
gion. It is divided into three sections:

what we believe (the Apostles’ Creed);

what we hope (celebrating the liturgy
and sacraments); and how we live and
pray according to Christ’s law of love.

Catholic beliefs and teachings are

rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sa-
cred Tradition, which together give us
God’s Revelation. The Magisterium, the
Church's official teaching authority com-
prised of the Pope and bishops teaching
with him, is responsible for authentically
interpreting and passing on Divine Rev-
elation to us.

In 1992, an official compendium

of Catholic Church teaching was pub-
lished, the Catechism of the Catholic
Church (referenced in this text as CCC
with the appropriate paragraph cited by
number). It is an authoritative, system-
atic, and comprehensive source of essen-
tial beliefs and teachings of the Catholic
faith. It is the primary source of refer-
ence for this text.

rer Raniate eee

1. Discuss three qualities of the virtue of faith.
. Identify The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.
3. Why do both the Old and New Testaments regard Abraham as a model of

faith?

4. Fillin the missing word: Abraham's example teaches us that faith in God

requires that we ___? God.

Define Magisterium.

oN Ah

Define saint.

Read John 2:1-12.

Identify the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

How is Mary a model of faith, service, and prayer?

| The Wedding at Cana

Magisterium

The official teaching author-

ity of the Church. The Lord
bestowed the right and powe!
to teach in his name on Peter
and the Apostles and their
successors, The Magisterium

is the bishops in communion

with the successor of Peter, the
Bishop of Rome (Pope).

Catechism of the Catholic

Church

A compendium of Catholic
doctrine on faith and morals
published in 1992 that serves
Catholics as “a sure norm for
teaching the faith’ and “an au-
thentic reference text”

Think quietly about the scene. How do you imagine Mary’s demeanor as a wedding

guest? What lesson does this incident teach about prayer? About service?
Mary, the Mother of God, is the Queen of the Saints. A saint is a holy person “ie
lives
in union with God through the grace of Jesus Christ. Mary is the model of faith.

The biblical account of Mary’s life begins in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee of
Pales-
tine. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, a carpenter. While at prayer, the angel
Gabriel ap-
peared to her and announced that she would have a child, even though she had not
had
sexual relations. The angel explained:

The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. Therefore the child to be
born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has
also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be
impossible for God. (Lk 1:35-37)

Mary listened carefully to what the angel revealed to her. What the angel said
seemed truly impossible—to
have a child without having sexual relations with a man. Mary must have been
afraid. Still, she trusted and loved
God and believed in his power to do anything. Without hesitating, Mary responded,
“Behold, | am the handmaid of
the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). Then the angel
left her.

Mary's “may it be done to me according to your word" is a powerful symbol of

Christian faith. Though she cer-
tainly did not fully understand what God had in store for her, Mary said yes to
God. Many times we don't fully know
every detail of how God is working in our lives. But what God wants from us is not
our full understanding, He wants
our faith. He leads the way once we surrender to him and allow him into our life.

Luke's Gospel reports that the angel left Mary. But God never left her. She
instantly conceived God's Son, physi-
cally bearing within her womb the Lord who calls each of us his friend. Mary lived
the rest of her life in the very pres-
ence of God—raising Jesus, teaching him, looking out for his needs, being a good
mother.

Mary's original yes to God was a demonstration of her faith. She was faithful
throughout the rest of her life. She
didn't give up when things got tough. She stayed with Jesus to the end, standing
beneath the Cross at his horrible
death. She cried the same tears any loving mother would cry at the death of a son.

Mary was faithful to Jesus in many ways. An incident described in the Gospel of
Luke reveals one of these ways.
When Jesus was twelve years old, he became lost from his parents while returning
home from a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He had remained in the Temple, asking and
answering questions of the eminent
teachers of the day.

Read Luke 2:41-52

Imagine Mary’s fear and apprehension when she thought she had lost her son. Mary
and Joseph did find Jesus.
He then returned'with them to Nazareth, where he lived under their authority, Note
Mary's reaction to this incident
in Luke 2:51: "His mother kept all these things in her heart” This is the Gospel’s
way of telling us that Mary prayed.
She did not fully comprehend everything about her son. But she meditated on the
events in his life and the words
that he spoke.

Mary teaches us how to be faithful to Jesus Christ, simply to pray and serve.
Meditate on how God speaks to
you in your life. Keep his words close to your heart. And then, like Mary, take the
Lord who has been given to you
and serve others in his name.