This year, we are commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, and the term “faith” is being used in its diverse meanings across numerous scholarly articles. Sunday sermons delve into these various interpretations, and we engage in discussions about the nuances between these meanings during our conversations.
What does faith mean to each of us personally? How can we gather and organize our thoughts about this reality?
The Creed encapsulates the fundamental principles of Christian faith. Serving as the canon, it is the basis for identifying our neighbors as members of the Body of Christ, the Church. However, the faith of an individual Christian lies in the personal grace received through the sacrament of Baptism. This divine power equips each Christian to obey and enter into the covenant with God, ultimately obtaining the righteousness of salvation (Romans 6.16).
This obedience of faith is absolutely free, supernatural, and meritorious because it is the individual Christian’s personal response to the truth revealed by God’s authority and witness. This powerful virtue of faith that is given to us is alive and can grow. However, it can also diminish and grow cold if we neglect to give it the necessary care and nourishment.
Intellectual arrogance stands as the most formidable and insidious obstacle to the normal growth of our faith, as the Apostles James and Peter rightly point out: “God opposes the proud but accords his favor to the humble” (James 4.6 and 1 Peter 5.5).
Therefore, we must humbly repeat the prayer of the father of the epileptic demoniac boy, “I have faith. Help my lack of faith!” (Mark 9.3), during our daily routines. At the same time, we must be faithful disciples of the Creed, which presents the core tenets of our faith. We must align all our actions with these tenets of truth. To nurture our faith, we should participate in spiritual retreats and attend faithfully every Sunday the sacrament of the Holy Mass, the sacrament of Confession, and partake of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Heeding the invitation of John the Apostle, we must understand the rationale behind the supernatural virtue of faith, as stated in 1 John 5.4: “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Paul the Apostle emphasizes that we possess the mind of Christ, which we received during our Baptism, as evident in 1 Corinthians 2.16: “We are those who have the mind of Christ.”
The Christian thinks and acts with this mind.
