This academic year, the Metanoia Day retreats for the faculties of our Catholic schools have reflected on the theological virtues — Faith, Hope, and Love — as they shape the lives of missionary disciples.

Upcoming issues of the Catholic Herald will include meditations on each virtue, beginning with Faith.

Jesus consistently tells those whom he heals: “Your Faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19, cf. 7:50, 18:42, and so many others).

Our salvation is not given simply by learning about the things of God and believing He will grant me access to Heaven.

Rather, the gift of Faith initiates the adventure of a lifetime to seek the living God and do His will.

Every human exercises some form of faith in his or her daily life.

How often do we zoom past vehicles on the Beltline in Madison with full trust that others will not suddenly change lanes and wreck our day?

Or, grab a bundle of carrots at the farmers’ market without wondering whether it has some contamination?

Our faith in other humans to care for our ordinary needs is an enormous part of the social contract — we rely on others’ hard work, attentiveness, and decency to protect and sustain us every day.

We exercise the disciplines of trust in their good intentions, belief in their aptitude to accomplish mutual goals, and rely on their commitment to the common good.

Faith as a virtue

Faith as a theological virtue builds on those same human disciplines (trust, belief, and reliance) to develop our supernatural relationship with God and His Church.

By Faith, “we believe in God and believe all He has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because He is truth itself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1814).

We are incapable of understanding anything beyond the empirical, material universe, unless God 1) reveals these invisible realities to us and 2) places the gift of Faith in our hearts to accept them.

Therefore, Faith is primarily a gift from God, a life-changing encounter with Him.

As a virtue, Faith is also a human act and requires disciplined exercise, building trust in God’s providence and the promises of Christ.

How do we respond?

How are we to respond to God’s gift of Faith?

1) Give assent.

When the faithful stand and profess their Faith during the Mass, they give assent to the truth of God’s mysteries at the core of Catholic dogma.

The heart of our Faith, vital for our salvation, is in our contemplating the divine mysteries and devoutly participating in Christ’s sacraments.

When we say, “I believe,” and trust in the grace and mercy pouring from the heart of Christ, Jesus gives us “power to become children of God” (John 1:12).

2) Seek understanding.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Activating our Faith is not a blind leap. Rather, God’s grace gives certainty to our understanding of the consistency and harmony of the visible and invisible order (cf. CCC 156-158).

Certainty gives us the conviction the apostle invokes in the Letter to the Hebrews, not to wallow in speculation, but to discover and embrace the Gospel of our redemption revealed in Scriptures and the teachings of the Church with enthusiasm — the sure rock of our salvation.

3) Share with others.

These discoveries (powerful and personal as they may be) are not just meant to be glimmers of the divine for our own secret contemplation. Rather, they are gifts to be shared with others.

The Catechism offers two examples of Faith from Scripture: Abraham and Mary.

Their assent to divine revelation immediately sends them on mission.

Help and trust

As a virtue, Faith is meant to help us “to do the good” (CCC 1803).

Faith fully realized means activating the other theological virtues to fix our eyes on the Kingdom of Heaven in hope and step into the world moved by His love.

Trusting in God, believing Christ reconciles us to the Father, and relying on His Providence are not just mental and spiritual exercises; these orient us to the vital truths of living the good life and receiving perfect joy.

You are likely aware that the supernatural faith of our fellow humans around us has collapsed quickly and dramatically towards pragmatic self-reliance, fragmented social order, and harsh distrust of institutions, especially the Church.

While no singular variable could account for our historical moment, the privatization of Faith — the expectation that the divine realities remain between the individual and God — has propelled our society into a dark place of excessive materialism and nihilism.

Pretending God does not exist has led to catastrophic psychological problems: Staggering rates of depression, anxiety, addictions, and tragically historic rates of deaths of despair (Congressional Joint Economic Committee, 2019).

For the People of God, the antidote is obvious. The world actually needs Jesus!

We are on a high-speed collision course with total ruin unless we turn back to Jesus Christ and seek the course correction only He can give us.

Trust in Him, believe that He will do what He has said, and rely on His grace.

Then go and share that Good News with everyone you know!