YOUCAT Question n. 21 - Part IV. Faith what is it?
(Youcat answer - repeated) Faith is knowledge and trust.
It has seven characteristics: Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive
when we fervently ask for it. Faith is the supernatural power that is
absolutely necessary if we are to attain salvation. Faith requires the free
will and clear understanding of a person when he accepts the divine invitation.
Faith is absolutely certain, because Jesus guarantees it. Faith is incomplete
unless it leads to active love. Faith grows when we listen more and more
carefully to God’s Word and enter a lively exchange with him in prayer. Faith
gives us even now a foretaste of the joy of heaven.
A deepening through
CCC
(CCC 159) Faith and
science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real
discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries
and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God
cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth" (Dei Filius 4: DS 3017). "Consequently,
methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in
a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict
with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive
from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of
nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it
is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are" (GS 36 §
1). (CCC 163) Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision,
the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to
face", "as he is" (1 Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2). So faith is already
the beginning of eternal life: When we contemplate the blessings of faith even
now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed
the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy (St.
Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, 15, 36: PG
32, 132; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh
II-II, 4, 1).
Reflecting and
meditating
(Youcat comment)
Many people say that to believe is not
enough for them; they want to know. The word “believe”, however, has two
completely different meanings. If a parachutist asks the clerk at the airport,
“Is the parachute packed safely?” and the other man answers casually, “Hmm, I
believe so”, then that will not be enough for him; he would like to know it for
sure. But if he has asked a friend to pack the parachute, then the friend will
answer the same question by saying, “Yes, I did it personally. You can trust
me!” And to that the parachutist will reply, “Yes, I believe you.” This belief
is much more than knowing; it means assurance. And that is the kind of belief
that prompted Abraham to travel to the Promised Land; that is the faith that
caused the martyrs to stand fast till death; that is the faith that still today
upholds Christians in persecution. A faith that encompasses the whole person.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 160) To be human, "man's response to God by faith
must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith
against his will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act" (DH
10; cf. CIC, can. 748 § 2). "God calls men to serve him in spirit and in
truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced… This
fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus" (DH 11). Indeed,
Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them.
"For he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on
those who spoke against it. His kingdom... grows by the love with which Christ,
lifted up on the cross, draws men to himself" (DH 11; cf. Jn 18:37;
12:32).
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