Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 21 – Part V.
YOUCAT Question n. 21 - Part V. 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 164) Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by
sight" (2 Cor 5:7); we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and
only "in part" (l Cor 13:12). Even though enlightened by him in whom
it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The
world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our
experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the
Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it. (CCC 165)
It is then we must turn to the witnesses
of faith: to Abraham, who "in hope... believed against hope" (Rom
4:18); to the Virgin Mary, who, in "her pilgrimage of faith", walked
into the "night of faith" (LG 58; John Paul II, RMat 18) in sharing
the darkness of her son's suffering and death; and to so many others:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let
us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run
with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer
and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12:1-2).
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 162) Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to
man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy:
"Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting
conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith" (1 Tim
1:18-19). To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must
nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith
(Cf. Mk 9:24; Lk 17:5; 22:32); it must be "working through charity,"
abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church (Gal 5:6; Rom 15:13;
cf. Jas 2:14-26). (CCC 179) Faith is a supernatural gift from God. In order to
believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. (End)