Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Romans, Chapter 10,
Verse 17
Thus faith comes from what is
heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
142 By
his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love,
addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and
receive them into his own company." The adequate response to this
invitation is faith.
143 By faith, man
completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man
gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human
response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith".
144 To obey
(from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is
to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is
guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience
offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.
145 The Letter to the
Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel's ancestors, lays
special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was
called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he
went out, not knowing where he was to go." By faith, he lived as a
stranger and pilgrim in the Promised Land. By faith, Sarah was given to
conceive the son of the promise. And by faith Abraham offered his only son in
sacrifice.
146 Abraham
thus fulfills the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen":
"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Because he was "strong in his faith", Abraham became the
"father of all who believe".
147 The Old
Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. The Letter to the Hebrews
proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who "received
divine approval". Yet "God had foreseen something better for
us": the grace of believing in his Son Jesus, "the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith".
148 The Virgin Mary most
perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings
and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing
will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the
handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word. "Elizabeth
greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." It is for this faith
that all generations have called Mary blessed.
149
Throughout her life and until her last ordeal when Jesus her son died on the
cross, Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfillment
of God's word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of
faith.
The Church never ceases
to proclaim her faith in one only God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
154 Believing is possible
only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true
that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to
the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human
reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe
what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust
their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion
of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our
dignity to "yield by faith the full submission of. . . intellect
and will to God who reveals", and to share in an interior communion with
him.
155 In
faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace:
"Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by
command of the will moved by God through grace."
156 What moves us to believe
is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the
light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God
himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived". So
"that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with
reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to
the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." Thus the miracles of Christ and
the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness
and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to
the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva
credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a
blind impulse of the mind".
157 Faith is
certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is
founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can
seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the
divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason
gives." "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."
158
"Faith seeks understanding": it is intrinsic to faith that a
believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to
understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in
turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of
faith opens "the eyes of your hearts" to a lively understanding of
the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's plan and the
mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the
center of the revealed mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects
faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly
understood." In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to
understand; and I understand, the better to believe."
159 Faith
and science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any
real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals
mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind,
God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth."
"Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided
it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral
laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and
the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering
investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of
God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made
them what they are."
163 Faith makes us taste in
advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below.
Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is". So faith
is already the beginning of eternal life:
When we contemplate the
blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as
if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we
shall one day enjoy.
164 Now,
however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; we perceive God as
"in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even though
enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and
can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one
promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and
death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a
temptation against it.
165 It is
then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who "in
hope. . . believed against hope"; to the Virgin Mary, who, in
"her pilgrimage of faith", walked into the "night of faith"
in sharing the darkness of her son's suffering and death; and to so many
others: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to
Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."
Feast of Saint Andrew[1]
ANDREW, a
brother of St. Peter, born at Bethsaida, was first a disciple of John the
Baptist. Afterwards both the brothers were called by Christ, on the Sea of
Galilee, before all the other apostles, with the words: Come after Me, and I
will make you to become fishers of men (Mark i. 17). Immediately they left all,
and became faithful disciples of Jesus, arid witnesses of His deeds and
sufferings, of His resurrection and ascension. After the descent of the Holy
Ghost, Andrew travelled through Scythia (Ukraine/Russia), Epirus
(Greece/Albania), and Thrace (Greece/Turkey), and by his teachings and miracles
converted vast numbers to Christ. As he was preaching at Patras, a city of
Acliaia (Greece), he was violently pressed by the proconsul, Aegeas, to offer
sacrifice to the idols; but he nobly answered him, “I daily offer sacrifice to God;
not the flesh of oxen, nor the blood of rams, but an unspotted Lamb; and
although all the faithful may have partaken of His flesh, yet the Lamb remains
as before He was offered, alive and undivided.” Aegeas, enraged, committed him
to prison, and on the following day caused him to be scourged; and as he
persevered in his declaration, condemned him to be put to death by crucifixion.
When he saw the cross, the instrument of his death, he greeted it with joy,
embraced it, and said, O good cross, that was adorned with the limbs of Christ,
thee have I long desired; thee have I fervently loved; thee have I continually
sought. Now thou art made ready for me, according to the wish of my heart. Take
me away from men, and restore me again to my Master, that through thee I may
come to Him Who through thee has redeemed me. After this he was nailed to the
cross. Two days he remained hanging thereon, preaching faith in Jesus, until
his soul was taken up to Him Whom he had so ardently desired to resemble in the
manner of His death.
COURAGE FOR THE MODERN WORLD 2017 #2017CALENDAR
Authored by Mr. Richard H. Havermale Jr.This book is the continuation of my first book based on more than 365 references in the Bible to fear, dread, and that in fact our God encourages us to "BE NOT AFRAID". To do this we must be in the presence of our Lord and talk to Him. I recommend you develop the habit of spending 10-15 minutes a day with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel or if that is not available some other quiet place where you can be in the presence of our Lord. Read the daily entry and reflect on it asking our Lord and His mother to talk to your heart and reveal to you the will of the Father and then Do it. The layout of this book is to list and reflect on the books of the bible Sirach through Revelations. In the early part of September my search of the verses dealing with fear and being afraid was completed; so I asked the Lord what do I, do now. After some reflection I realize that the fruit of fear in the Lord is the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love which ultimately results in Peace of the Lord. As a consequence the month of September will deal with Peace, October with Love and the month of November will be reflections on Faith and Hope. After Thanksgiving for the season of Advent and Christmas this work uses a multitude of references that reflect the Christmas season. There are many theologians who state that the eighth deadly sin is fear itself. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. Saint John Paul II in his writings and talks also tells us to BE NOT AFRAID. In fear or anger we walk away from God. Our Lord, Jesus Christ taught us how to walk back toward God in His sermon on the mount through the Beatitudes. Each of the beatitudes is the antidote for the opposite deadly sins.
[1]Goffine’s
Devout Instructions, 1896
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