Faith

Cardinal M. Dolan begins his reflection on faith by remembering Bishop Gottwald, who became bishop after the Second Vatican Council, when it was glowing in the church. He was a very hardworking, but at the same time simple parish priest, who received the bishop’s office only by obedience. He had to deal with the difficult situation of the seminar right from the beginning. A quarter of the professors left, theologians remained puzzled, and theology taught there was all possible, but not the Church’s teaching. Representatives of the theological faculty came to him, accompanied by cameras and microphones, and asked him to close the seminar, because the way of education and teaching there was after the council already “pasé”. The Bishop replied that even though the Council had asked legitimate questions and sought answers, there were still clear and firm truths to be taught to all future priests.

                The spokesman replied, “I ask you to say what else we can teach them, what has not changed or will not change.” responds to the challenge. And he said,

               “I believe in God, the Father of the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, conceived from the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered during the reign of Ponce Pilate . He ascended to the dead, rose on the third day, ascended to heaven, sitting on the right hand of God the Almighty, from where he comes to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Catholic Church, in the communion of the saints, in the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection of the flesh, and in eternal life. Amen. “

                How important it is to realize the individual truths of our faith! God is the Father, the Creator, the Redeemer … In all the chaos and uncertainty of our lives, there is a solid and certain point on which we can always rely, for it is based on God, not man. The Hebrews say that “faith is the foundation of what we hope, proof of what we do not see” (Heb 11: 1). Therefore, despite aimlessness, nonsense, skepticism, the surrounding chaos, it allows us to hold on to certainty. God exists! Faith assures us that all these statements are true, based not on cold scientific evidence, but on child’s humble trust in the Father who will never mislead us. For the object of our faith is not the statements and teachings, but the person of Jesus Christ. Everything he did, teaching how he approached us, is the image of God the Father who loves us.

                But faith is not a matter of course. When a priest leaves the priesthood, it is not a loss of vocation, but a loss of faith. Do we believe in God? I hope so. But do we believe in a God who internally touches our life, who revealed himself, the truth about himself and how we should live? Who took the flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was really born, lived, suffered, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit?

                Do we believe in God who created us in His own image and form? Who predestined us to eternity, to eternity with or without him? Do we believe in God who has given us an immortal soul that gives us identity, personality and is able to preserve God’s life?

                Do we truly believe that God is alive, mighty, that He answers our prayers, and that in the Church which was born from His Son, He continues to work through the seven sacraments that truly achieve what they imply? We believe that in baptism we become God’s children and the temple of the Holy Spirit; that the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, with body and blood, soul and deity; that in our sacrament of Atonement we are truly forgiven of sins?

Do I believe that God personally loves me and has chosen me from the moment of conception, that he has a plan with me to call me to follow his Son, my Lord and Savior? Do I believe that God knows me better than myself and still loves me and calls me to serve him?

Do I also believe in doubts, tests? Either we are people of faith or we are nothing. When we have faith, we long for prayer, fellowship, spiritual growth. We faithfully respond to offers of grace, we live a virtuous and moral life. With faith, we are keen and generous towards people. With faith everything makes sense, we have peace and joy.

In previous catechesis, we have said that virtues are a gift. They are the result of mysterious cooperation between God and man. By his efforts, man opens the gift that the Lord wants to give him. So how can we open ourselves to receiving the gift of faith?
Prayer deepens our faith, which is essentially a gift God will give us if we ask for it. “Sir, I believe, help my unbelief; Lord, give us more faith! ”We cannot treat faith as a discipline, knowledge to be spent. Faith is a gift.
Contemplating, contemplating the truths of faith. It is not enough to say that I believe it is necessary to consider the specific truths of our faith.
Through the study of theology, intensive study, listening, critical and reflective research comes a belief that we can express simply, poetically, confidently and personally.
Be cautious on different acquaintances.