Believing in something that is not perceived with sight may seem illogical to a 21st century society, accustomed to seeking and proving everything through logic, where rational evidence seems to eclipse any belief that cannot be proven. Faith, understood as the ability to believe without having seen, seems to contradict a rationalistic society, where evidence trumps personal convictions. However, these differences do not imply a conflict leading to the destruction of one or the other, but can give rise to a relationship of complementarity.
"I Believe"
Certainly, believing is not simply a passing act. To have the certainty of faith configures the human being, orients him or her toward an ultimate goal, penetrates into the depths of his or her being and it is in this interior that he or she matures. It is not an external act, but something that becomes an essential part of the person. All this must take place in freedom; if the human being is not recognized as having an active role and participation, this freedom would be denied. As far as faith is concerned, without freedom, what is professed loses meaning: it would no longer be faith, but a mere imposed norm.
In relation to freedom, it is often thought that the call to faith implies a total loss of freedom and attacks human dignity, reducing it to a set of norms. However, this vision is a fallacy, since true freedom reaches its fullness precisely through faith.
We see today a struggle for a "freedom" that exalts only the self, and in that individualistic path, authentic freedom is misunderstood or rejected. In contrast to this vision, Christian freedom does not turn people into mere rule-followers, but offers them a goal, a purpose that is a path toward an encounter with the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life Himself, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
What happens if we do not believe in a supreme good? In fact, if there is no orientation towards God, we are poor men who live without order. The order present in nature is already an evident sign of an omnipotent Creator. We cannot stubbornly deny the action of God in history; to do so implies putting man at the center, displacing God.
However, the relationship between faith and freedom still demands that the person fully assumes his or her own identity. If he does not assume himself, freedom runs the risk of becoming a simple imposition. Leonardo Polo points out: "man has to construct the voluntary act, but he cannot do so without accepting himself in accordance with the understanding of that act" ("Person and freedom", p. 153). The voluntary act requires intelligence: first, to understand who one is; then, to recognize oneself in what one does. In the realm of faith, if we understand ourselves as loved by God and redeemed by Christ, then, with a voluntary act, we can experience that love and freely orient ourselves toward God.
We understand that freedom is something proper to the human being. On the other hand, we recognize the relationship between God and our faith, a relationship that is fully united in the person of Christ. Having freedom does not mean simply having a multitude of paths at one's disposal, where often there is no perceived end, but only means that seek to momentarily satisfy the desire for pleasure. This search, however, is an illusion, since the path to true freedom lies in finding the One who gave it to us.
To completely dissociate the person of Christ as the source of freedom implies denying the action of God in history and the salvation accomplished through the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29). It is not a matter of accepting an abstract idea of something unseen, but of living a personal encounter with God, as Christ has revealed him: he has shown the Father so that we may have life in abundance. As Benedict XVI expresses it: "At the beginning of being a Christian there is not an ethical decision or a great idea, but an encounter with an event, with a Person, which gives a new horizon to life and, with it, a decisive orientation" ("Deus Caritas Est", 1).
Without freedom there is no faith. And if freedom is given by Christ, then that faith is one that trusts fully that everything is in the hands of the Father.
The works of God
Secondly, faith is the recognition of God's work in the world. If we have already affirmed that faith implies a personal encounter, this shows that God also acts in human reality. He does so through the Church, the sacraments, the magisterium, as well as through the conversion and sanctification of its members. This reveals a plurality of actions which, nevertheless, respond to a single divine plan: "But while each of these decisions is unique, they all constitute a whole, a divine plan" (Jean Daniélou, "God and Us", p. 113).
The continuous communication of God and mankind is a sign of Love, the Covenant that is Christ assures us of salvation. St. Paul points out the need for both our understanding and our body to be oriented together toward faith in Jesus: "For if you profess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom 10:9).
It is certainly not an easy task to find a meeting point between what I believe and what I profess, especially in an era as rationalistic as the present one. In this context, Benedict XVI's warning during the Mass "pro eligendo Pontifice" in 2005, when he spoke of the existence of a "dictatorship of relativism", resonates strongly. This struggle for coherence of life is not easy, but it is precisely this concordance that authentically manifests the action of the Holy Spirit and assures the path to salvation.
In particular, we find a significant scene of lack of faith in the account of Jesus' appearance to the disciples after the Resurrection (cf. Jn 20:24-25). Thomas did not believe, because the natural human tendency is to trust only what can be demonstrated. To abandon this idea is difficult. This is how the then Professor Joseph Ratzinger in "Introduction to Christianity": "Man tends, by natural inertia, to what is possible, to what he can touch with his hand, to what he can understand as his own" (p. 49). Changing this is a prerequisite for finding faith.
Ultimately, faith is an act that requires grace. It requires a personal - though not visible - encounter with the Creator. The leap into the unknown has always frightened man; that great abyss that is unknown frightens him and makes him recoil. Therefore, this step is not possible without the help of grace. However, this grace does not annul the human being; on the contrary, it elevates and perfects him, directing him fully towards the supreme good, which is God himself. This is reflected in St. Thomas: "Grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it" ("Summa Theologica," I, 1, 8 ad 2).
Much more could be said about faith; it is an inexhaustible subject, because the divinity is inexhaustible. Its grace is perpetual and, therefore, we will never fully understand it. Only in the world can we glimpse what we believe in, but we will know it fully when we contemplate it face to face. That is why "I believe" is not simply an external affirmation, but a profound acceptance, an expression of the longing for eternal life. As Joseph Ratzinger affirms: "Faith is a change that must be made every day; only in a conversation that lasts a lifetime can we grasp what the phrase 'I BELIEVE' means" ("Introduction to Christianity," p. 49).
What a great gift it is to have faith! Often we do not realize it. In a single word is enclosed the passage to salvation. How beautiful it is to share a belief in a new heaven and a new earth; in a faith that changes lives; in a common faith that leads to a shared happiness that is to seek Christ and to be continually a praise to his majesty.
Mary, Mother of faith
One cannot speak of faith without mentioning St. Mary. Let us think for a moment of the scene of the Annunciation, that precious image of a humble woman whose only desire was to please God and fulfill the law, as a good Jewess. But, indeed, the Lord becomes incarnate by means of a "yes"; thus begins the new humanity redeemed in Christ. Mary did not know what would happen to her from now on, but this act of faith in God makes her the purest example: "Blessed is she who has believed, for what the Lord has said to her will be fulfilled" (Lk 1:45). To her, Mater Ecclesiae, we direct our prayers, so that one day, through her intercession, we may attain what we have received by faith.
