Be Our Guest / Michael O’Connell

Do we have the courage of faith?

Faith is defined as belief with a strong conviction with no real proof. It is a complete trust without any evidence.

Faith is being assured of what we believe without being able to see with our own eyes.

The Bible speaks often about faith and Scripture which is full of examples of saints who doubted and lacked in their faith.

A good example of this is St. Thomas the Apostle, who spent years with Jesus and witnessed him healing the sick, raising the dead and performing many other miracles.

But when it came to Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas wouldn’t believe, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25).

How do we live by faith today in this world, especially with all the sadness, sorrows, grief and the many setbacks in life? I especially like how St. Anselm wrote that “faith seeks understanding” and how faith, which is a gift from God, makes it possible to gain some understanding of all that he has revealed to us, including the totality of his plan as well as the many mysteries of faith.

We put faith in a pilot who is flying a plane, faith in the doctor who is operating on us, faith in our military and government that they will protect us, and we put faith in our parents and trust they will do the right things for us.

We must also put faith in our supreme Lord, who will always be there for us and who loves us unconditionally, who watches over us and wants our salvation.

Faith is not something that we can obtain on our own; it is a gift from our Lord. The closer we get to our Lord, the more grace we are given.

Pray often, obey the commandments, read and study the Scriptures, be charitable, loving, forgiving and develop a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As your faith grows and becomes stronger—and when you are challenged and suffer in difficult situations—trust and have faith that your Savior will get you through these times.

Seeing is believing? Or is it believing is seeing?
 

(Michael O’Connell is a member of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bloomington.) †