Sunday, March 30, 2008

Rm 10, 13-17 Faith comes from what is heard

(Rm 10, 13-17) Faith comes from what is heard
[13] For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [14] But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? [15] And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (the) good news!" [16] But not everyone has heeded the good news; for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?" [17] Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
(CCC 2738) The revelation of prayer in the economy of salvation teaches us that faith rests on God's action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by his supreme act: the Passion and Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer is cooperation with his providence, his plan of love for men. (CCC 2739) For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit in us and on the faithful love of the Father who has given us his only Son (Cf. Rom 10:12-13; 8:26-39). Transformation of the praying heart is the first response to our petition. (CCC 1122) Christ sent his apostles so that "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations" (Lk 24:47). "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19). The mission to baptize, and so the sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the faith which is assent to this word: The People of God is formed into one in the first place by the Word of the living God.... The preaching of the Word is required for the sacramental ministry itself, since the sacraments are sacraments of faith, drawing their origin and nourishment from the Word (PO 4 §§ 1, 2).

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