The virtue of faith means to possess “the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that He has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because He is truth itself” (CCC 1814). The Faith is supernatural knowledge because it does not come from the natural world or from human intelligence, but comes from God’s supernatural grace. The faith is certain, because it is revealed by God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. When St Peter expressed his faith that Jesus was the Son of God, “Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 16:17).
When we meditate on God’s revealed truth, we should consider that this truth is not a “something”, but rather is a “someone”, Jesus himself. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but through me” (John 14:6). It is through God the Son, that God the Father is revealed and it is through God the Holy Spirit, that God the Son is revealed. It is the same Holy Spirit by whom Jesus was made incarnate in the womb of Mary, the Arc of the New Covenant. It is the same Holy Spirit who on Pentecost descended upon the twelve apostles and who is the soul of the Church. It is this same Holy Spirit without whom no one can “call Jesus Lord” who has revealed Him and his revelation to us who possess the virtue of faith.
Faith is an infused virtue given to us at our baptism. It is a gift given to us so we can give assent to God’s revelation with our intellect and consent to it with our will. With faith our intellect can assent to what we cannot fully understand. With faith our will can consent to what it cannot accomplish without faith. God created us without our willing it, but He will not save us without our willing it. By practicing our faith we are willing ourselves to be saved by cooperating with God’s will in answering His call to a life of grace here on earth and to a life of eternal happiness in heaven. Pope St John Paul II said “The faith is a response not an initiative”. God calls and we respond. Let us pray that we will always respond to God’s call to grow in faith and never lose it, and that those who have lost it, or have never had it, will accept the gift of faith in order to obtain the eternal happiness of heaven.