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THEOLOGICAL VIRTUE OF FAITH

By Rev. Anselm Shiran
§ Introduction
According to St. Paul, the first of the three theological virtues is Faith (see 1 Cor 13:13). The invisible God
invited man to share in His revelation. “Man’s adequate response to this invitation is faith” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church-CCC-142). Faith is like the door way to God. Without this virtue of faith, man is shut from
knowing God.
When God reveals himself as a free gift to man, God will first move us towards this revelation. In other to do
that he freely gives us a push (grace) to choose or not to choose to be open to this revelation and adequately
respond to it. Take this example. A parent cleaning the house throws away a dusty old cross saying this cross
belongs with all the rest of the garbage. But his son sees something glittering coming from the trash and
picks up the cross as the object from which this glitter came. After cleaning the cross, he finds that the cross
is adorned with precious gems. The son’s response to pick up the cross was helped by the glitter that came
from the dusty old cross. That glitter is equal to God’s initial help which pushes us to give an adequate
response to his word.
We believe in God simply because he guarantees the truth of his word. We then have to submit ourselves in
obedience to God’s word.
§ Heb 10:38-11:40
o Heb 11:1 - “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen.”
This means that ‘faith’ is God’s guarantee (assurance) of the things that we hope for, that is, what he says
through ‘word’ will come true in the future. It can be seen only in ‘faith’. Heb 11:3 explains this further: “By
faith we understand that the world was by the word of God.” The world is what we see and God’s word is
what we don’t see. What is visible came from what is invisible. ‘The conviction of what is not seen’ means
that through faith we are able to see unseeable things. It is only by faith that we could see the fingerprint of
God in the universe.
Hence, faith enables us to see beyond what we see and feel; and through a free response in faith we can see
beyond the veil the workings of God in and around us. It is like John, a husband and a father, asking his wife,
‘who cut the grass?’ Wife responds, ‘Mike cut the grass this afternoon. I saw him cutting it.’ Here, wife’s
response to the inquiry that she saw Mike cutting the grass epitomizes the fact that her seeing the event is her
evidence to believe (to have faith) in the action itself. John can now either believe his wife’s word or not
believe it. All he has are her ‘words’. It is only through ‘faith’ that John would be able to believe in
something that he had not seen himself. In other words, faith is like another set of eyes that we are gifted
with by God to see beyond the here and now. According this example it is through and only through faith
could John see that what he saw in his eyes of flesh (grass being cut) was in fact done by his son Mike.
Applied to faith in God, what we see through our eyes of flesh has a deeper meaning when we see the same
events in the eyes of faith. It is in this sense St. Paul says, “We walk by faith not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)
o Heb 11:6 - “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
This means that if we cannot see beyond the here and now, that is beyond the visible world, the hand of God,
it displeases God. If one sees and interprets the joys and pains of one’s life only through the evidence
available to him visibly then that displeases God. Faith calls us to call God’s assurances as truth. If not when
bad things come our way we even call God a liar. To not to live by faith is to call God a liar.
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§ Faith is acting like God is telling the truth

First of all, faith involves concrete actions. It is not a deposit you come to take whenever you need help. It is
first and foremost a lifestyle. It modifies who you are. It pertains to everything I do and to everything I am. It
permeates all my being. Faith combines being and acting. Secondly, faith is living a life, hence acting, like
God has told us the truth, without worrying about asking ourselves whether what he had told us will come
true or not. In faith we put away our doubts going about our life as if everything God had promised will
come true even when the immediate evidence of experience may be quite contrary to it. In this manner,
‘faith is acting like it is so; even when it is not so; in order that it might be so; simply because God said
so.’
§ Example from three young Jews in Dan 3:8-18 (pl. read the text before you read the following)
Dan 3:17-18: “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of
your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods
and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”
Here, one finds three stages of faith: 1. God is able to save us: That is God in whom we believe, everything
is possible (see Mt 19:26). 2. God does save us: God means well and wants us to lead a happy life.
He in fact saves us from peril and harm. He most of all saves us from sin so that we may enjoy eternal
happiness. 3. I believe in God irrespective of what befalls me: This is the strongest
idea of faith. The three young men said to the king that even when they believe that God in whom they
believe was able to deliver them from harm, and in fact God ‘will’ deliver them from harm, they said, “But if
not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue
that you have set up.” They believed irrespective of whether God delivered them or not. This means that our
faith does not depend on what we see here and now. It sees God’s face even in the face of harsh adversities.
Our faith does not want to test God.
§ Example from the cursed fig tree in Mk 11:12-14, 20-24 (pl. read the text by yourself)
Here we have one of the most bizarre events in Jesus’ life. Jesus on his way to Jerusalem from Bethany, his
usual resting place, wanted to eat from a fig tree and after finding that it had no figs he cursed the tree saying,
“May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” (Mk 11:14). The evangelist Mark adds a curious remark at that
point: “and his disciples heard it.” (Mk 11:14). That means they heard the ‘words’ of Jesus at that point. On
the following day the disciples saw that the fig tree has “withered away to its roots”. At this Peter remarked,
“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” (Mk 11:21). Then Jesus starts a long sermon on
faith. Why? This is because Peter, representing all disciples of Jesus, believed only after seeing the fig tree
withered away to its roots. They did not believe it when Jesus he uttered the words, which they ‘heard’, on
the previous day. They did not believe in the ‘words of Jesus’ until they saw ‘evidence’ by seeing the
withered fig tree. Jesus addresses this specific aspect of faith (or lack thereof) which they – and we – missed.
They wanted to see evidence in order to believe. That is not faith. Faith is to believe in the Word of God
without any evidence or proofs to hang on to. All we have is God’s word. We are called to act like he’s
telling the truth. We believe in God irrespective of what is happening around us, whether they are painful or
joyful.
§ Structure of faith
The following structure is observable in the two main events of the Bible: The Exodus and the Paschal
Mystery (suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus).
1. God’s promise is given through word.
2. God helps initially to believe in him.
3. He tests our faith
4. We learn faith through obedience
5. God fulfills his promise
Let’s apply this structure to the Exodus event. (1) God promises them a land for themselves (2) God saves
them from slavery and brings them over the Red Sea (3) They are tested for 40 years in the dessert. This is an
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experience completely opposite of the promise. (4) They learn through trial of faith. They grumble against
God. But only they learn faith by obedience to God’s word that God will take them to the promised land (5)
God takes them to the promised land fulfilling his promise.
Let’s apply this structure to the Paschal Mystery of Jesus: (1) God sends us Jesus Christ as our savior as
promised through prophets (2) Jesus performs miracles and preaches with authority, which enables people to
believe in him (3) Jesus is put through the test of the cross. The struggle is exemplified in Jesus’ agony in the
garden (4) Jesus carries the cross by being obedient to his Father (5) Jesus rises from the dead defeating sin
and death for good.
§ Beware of a ‘mercantile faith’
By ‘mercantile faith’ I mean a faith governed by ‘transactions’. In a mercantile context one pays and receives
goods or services according to the payment made. It is a transaction. But faith is not a transaction. Faith
cannot mean that we pray our prayers, do good works and obey God’s commandments so that God would
keep his end of the bargain by giving us protection, heal us when we are sick, fulfil our needs, find me a
good job, etc. That is not faith, but a transaction with God. God detests such attitudes of faith. What we need
to have is not a ‘mercantile faith’ but a ‘trusting faith’. In this type of faith we offer everything to God’s will
and firmly believe that God’s will is always good. (that is why we do not want to add adjectives to our
petitions, such as good (job), speedy (recovery), healthy (baby) etc.). It is enough to offer everything to
God’s will and be content with the results. God knows better and his will is always good for us. Even if
something unpleasant happen to us we are called to see beyond what we see here and now and see the face of
God in them. Faith enables us the interpret events in God’s favor.