Faith is the Foundation of Living

The foundation of Catholicism is Faith. Catholics believe in the Faith, live the Faith and celebrate the faith. We believe in the Faith because we believe in the teachings of Christ. We live the faith because we obey the commandants of God, the same commands summarised in the two commandments of Jesus, to love God and love our neighbour. We celebrate the faith through the sacraments which summit in the Mass, the real presence of Christ. So we can now say the Faith is in Jesus Christ. Faith is two things.  Faith is both a personal act and an object. Faith is a personal act because it is a personal response to the reaching out of God. Faith is an object because it is data revealed by God. Data that reveals the true nature of reality. This data proves to us that the sum of reality is God. Belief is a process of the thinking mind whereas faith is a process of the Will. The thinking mind reasons the data to be true and reflective of reality, therefore a belief in an idea. The will chooses to accept, trust and believe the data as true. The thinking mind reasons Jesus Christ to be true; the thinking mind believes an idea. The will chooses to trust the person of Christ; that is faith. Belief in an idea does not produce an effect, faith is active and it produces an effect, a result, an output which is a spiritual life in the believer’s soul. That spiritual life is the life of the one true living God. The action of Faith comes to us by the Holy Spirit, God alone. It is a free gift and free offer from God that must be freely chosen. It is given freely and it is chosen freely.