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The Gift of Faith and Believing: A Response to Divine Revelation

Explore the importance of faith in Christianity and the act of believing in God's truths. Discover the supernatural gift of faith, the role of the Church in teaching and transmitting faith, and the necessity of faith for salvation. This article also highlights the significance of the Creed as a summary of fundamental truths and encourages frequent acts of faith.

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The Gift of Faith and Believing: A Response to Divine Revelation

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  1. 03 An answer to Christ: believing CARAVAGGIO The Incredulity of Saint Thomas 1601-02 Oil on canvas, 107 x 146 cm Sanssouci, Potsdam

  2. Compendium of the Catechism • 25. How does man respond to God who reveals himself? • 142-143 • Sustained by divine grace, we respond to God with the obedience of faith, which means the full surrender of ourselves to God and the acceptance of his truth insofar as it is guaranteed by the One who is Truth itself.

  3. Introduction • Faith is the great gift from God, necessary for our salvation. • Man’s answer to the divine Revelation is to believe what He has told us. • Faith is also necessary to understand God’s teachings. LE BRUN, Charles The Triumph of Faith 1658-60 Oil on canvas Château, Vaux-le-Vicomte

  4. Main ideas

  5. 1. Faith enables us to know many things about God • We know for sure that God exists because His existence may be proven by the things He has created. • Yet there are fundamental questions that cannot be answered if God had not revealed them : • What is God like Himself? • Who is Jesus Christ? • Is there an afterlife? MORETTO da Brescia Allegory of Faith 1530s Oil on wood, 102 x 78 The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

  6. 2. What is faith? • Faith is a supernatural virtue by means of which – supported by God’s authority, we believe the truths He has revealed in the knowledge that He can neither be fooled nor fool us. UCCELLO, Paolo Faith c. 1435 Fresco Duomo, Prato

  7. 3. Faith is a gift from God • Faith is a supernatural gift, a gift which God makes to us. • It is only possible to believe as a consequence of the grace granted us by the Holy Spirit. VERMEER VAN DELFT, Jan The Allegory of Faith (detail) 1671-74 Oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  8. 4. Believing is something reasonable • Believing is reasonable because it is God who reveals, and God can neither be fooled nor fool us. • “Believing” is a human act, aware and free, which not only does not contradict but also dignifies the human being.

  9. 5. I believe – We believe • I believe in God, in the singular, because faith is an act of the individual person who freely accepts God’s authority. • We believe in God, in the plural,to mean that we are receiving faith and experiencing it in the community of the Church. • The Church is the Mother of all the faithful : • No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother. (St. Cyprian) MEMLING, Hans Young Man at Prayer c. 1475 Oak wood, 38,7 x 25,4 cm National Gallery, London

  10. 6. Believing what the Church teaches us • Jesus Christ founded the Church so that it might continue His mission in the world; to do so the Church is assisted by the Holy Spirit. • The certainty of these truths is not based on human authority, but rather on the authority of God who has revealed them. • The Church, assisted by the Holy Spirit, passes them on by virtue of the infallibility with which God provides in matters of faith and morals. GOZZOLI, Benozzo St Augustine Teaching in Rome (detail) 1464-65 Fresco Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano

  11. 7. Faith is necessary to be saved • " He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16). • " Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who believed without seeing" (John 20:29). • We must pray for those who do not believe, asking God to grant them the grace of faith, helping them through our example and words, thus practising the apostolate of doctrine. CHRISTUS, Petrus The Last Judgement 1452 Oil on wood Staatliche Museen, Berlin

  12. 8. The Creed, a summary of the truths we must believe in • Since the beginning, Symbols or formulas which summarize the teaching of the divine Revelation. • Symbol of the Apostles • Symbol of Nicea-Constantinople • When we recite the Creed, we are performing an act of faith in the fundamental truths that God has revealed. GRECO, El St Luke 1605-10 Oil on canvas, 98 x 72 cm Cathedral, Toledo

  13. 9. Performing acts of faith very often • God has given us the great gift of faith, and we must thank Him by performing frequent acts of faith: • I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, I believe in God the Holy Spirit. • I believe in the Holy Trinity. • I believe in Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. • I believe that Mary is the Mother of God and our Mother. • I believe, Lord, but increase my faith.

  14. Resolutions for Christian life

  15. Resolutions to move forward • To learn the Creed. • To recite the Creed with devotion, not only in the Holy Mass. • To pray for those who don’t have faith.

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