Faith
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Jesus brings his Sermon on the Mount to a close by teaching:
'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the judgment day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!' 'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!'
Jesus concludes his teaching by explaining the true nature of faith. Faith in Jesus means to believe all that he teaches and to do what he teaches. Faith is not real, it is not solid until we live it, until we put it into practice.
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What is belief?
Belief is when you hold something to be true based on the testimony of another. Belief happens when someone tells you something you couldn’t know on your own, and you choose to accept it as true. In such cases, the information at your disposal does not necessitate your belief. Therefore, you must make a choice to regard the other as trustworthy. It requires a decision to trust the other person – to trust the witness – the one giving testimony.
We operate on the principle of belief in testimony all the time. Most of what you know of science, medicine, even history does not come from direct first-hand experience or because you figured it out. History is a good example: We can’t prove through science or reason any historical event. How do you know that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue? Because someone else told you and you made a decision that that testimony was trustworthy. If we didn’t do that, then all we would have to go on would be our own personal experience and we should doubt everything else. That would be an impossible way to live.
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What is faith?
Faith is a special kind of belief. Faith is when you hold something to be true based on the testimony of God. God tells us something we couldn’t have known on our own and we make the decision to accept what God says as true.
God began to reveal himself and what he wanted us to know through Moses and all the prophets.
Jesus is the full revelation of God, for he is the Son of God and the Word of God.
Jesus has revealed to us everything we need to know about the most important questions of life: who is God; and what is our relationship to God; where did we come from, what is the purpose of life, why is there evil and what is the meaning of suffering, how should we live to find true happiness and what happens to us after death?
Where do we find all that Jesus revealed? In the Word of God which consists of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium, the teaching of the Catholic Church. The best synthesis of the Word of God is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
We put our faith in Jesus, because He is God and only He could reveal the things of God.
Faith is to believe all that Jesus teaches that is handed down to us in the word of God. Faith is the virtue that enables us to add heavenly information to our knowledge so that we can know things that God knows because He has Revealed it to us. This knowledge is the most reliable, the most certain because God himself revealed it and this knowledge should radically change our lives.
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Belief and Practice
To reach union with God we must not only believe what Jesus said, we must also do it. We must put it into practice and live it. To conclude his greatest teaching Jesus said: 'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
It is not enough to simply accept the content of faith as true. I could know everything in the Catechism but if I did not live it, then I do not have faith. James 2:19 You believe in the one God - that is good, but the demons have the same belief, and they are in hell.
Faith must transform your whole life. When someone claims to be a Christian, to believe in Jesus, but not change their life, they are living in denial. Many Christians are in denial. If I don’t do what Jesus taught, like developing a real friendship with him in prayer, admitting my sin and seeking forgiveness, changing the way I live, forgiving my enemies, doing to others what I want them to do to me, accepting the will of God in all things…
If we accept what Jesus said, but don’t actively incorporate it into everything we do – well, that is a sign we live in denial, that our faith is dead. Faith only lives insofar as it changes our life.
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Only Jesus can give us Faith; but you have a job here as well.
No matter how much I want another person to have faith, I cannot give it to them. We cannot generate faith in someone else. Only Jesus can. Only the encounter with Jesus, has the power to give someone faith.
Still, we have a necessary role to play. It is our job to help people encounter Jesus. How do we prepare the way? By being Missionaries of Friendship with our family and with our friends.
We help to prepare the way by praying and offering sacrifice for them. By sharing life with them. By learning the art being genuinely interested in them, of asking good questions and follow-up questions to get people thinking about the most important things in life. And when we see a hunger for God arise in their heart, invite them to what they want. Invite them to pray the Rosary with you or learn more or help them to the Church and the Sacraments.
You cannot make another person have faith. But through friendship there is much that we must do. St Francis of Assis said, “Through Friendship learn faith.”