ON THE NECESSITY OF FAITH.


From - "The teachers handbook to the catechism" by Rev. A. Urban.


We come to-day to the second paragraph of
the Catechism which treats of the Necessity of Faith.

Now in general those things are necessary for man which he absolutely
must have, without which he could not possibly exist. For
instance, air is absolutely indispensable to life. Without air man
would suffocate.

Furthermore, food is necessary for mans existence. Without food
he would starve.

Further examples may be found in the existence of other created
things.

That a tree may grow and thrive, good soil, light, sun, air and
moisture are indispensably necessary. Without these it would fade
and wither away.

The catechism now speaks of the necessity of Faith for salvation,
and puts the question: "Is Faith necessary for salvation?"

The answer is: Faith is indispensably necessary for salvation.
Holy Scripture says: "Without faith it is impossible to please
God." Faith is, as we have already heard, the foundation stone
upon which our holy religion is built; it is, as St. Augustine says,
the soul of Christian virtue. It is the ladder by which, as it were,
we climb up to salvation, the key with which we can open heaven.
Without faith we can do nothing to merit eternal life. Without
faith it is impossible to please God. The proof of this we draw from
Holy Scripture. The Apostle St. John says: "He who believeth
not is already judged." That means in other words: "Those who
do not believe bear already within them the sentence of condemnation."

And the Evangelist St. Mark says: "He who believeth not will
be condemned." Those therefore who do not believe will be
shut out from communion with God, from the Vision of God, and
eternal bliss; their lot will be eternal damnation.

It is decidedly not a matter of indifference as to which Faith we
have; for it is not every faith that gives salvation; but only the
true faith, which Christ the Lord has taught us, will save us. We
draw the proofs of this also from Holy Scripture. Christ says:
"He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting ; but he that be
lieveth not in the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him." Jesus therefore promises eternal life to those who believe
in Him, and says of those who do not believe in Him that the
wrath of God will remain upon them.

In another part of Holy Scripture Christ says : "I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life." Christ here calls Himself the Way, be
cause it is only through Him, and through belief in Him, that we can
attain to our supreme aim, which is heaven.

Christ calls Himself the Truth, because His teaching is the only
divine, and the only true teaching. Jesus calls Himself the Life,
because we can obtain eternal life only through His teaching.

In another place Christ says : "No one cometh to the Father but
through me ;" that is to say, by faith in Jesus Christ and by obeying
His teaching.

The true Faith which Christ the Lord and His Apostles taught,
is opposed to false faith, to heresy.

Whatever is contrary to truth is false. Those doctrines therefore
are false which not only Jesus and His apostles did not teach, but
which are opposed to the doctrines of Jesus and proceed from men
who have fallen away from His doctrines. But as a bough which is
broken off no longer belongs to its tree, so excepting the doctrine
taught by Jesus there is none which can assert itself to be His true
doctrine. False doctrines do not proceed from Jesus and His Apostles,
but from men who have fallen away from the true Faith.

"But why does that faith alone save us which Christ the Lord has
taught ?"

"Because without this Faith we can have no part in Christ ; with
out Christ there is no hope of salvation."

As no one can reach the goal by the wrong path, so is it impossible
to obtain salvation by any other but the right path; that is,
by the true faith taught by Christ.

Here, too, Holy Scripture affords us the proof: St. John says:
"There is no other name given to man under heaven, whereby he
may be saved."

Jesus says: "He who is not with me, is against me. He who
gathereth not with me, scattereth." And the Apostle St. Peter
spoke: "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life."

It would therefore be a sin to maintain that every faith could save
us ; for then God need not have given any revelation, and our fore
fathers might have remained heathens. God would not have needed
to send His only Begotten Son into the world, if it mattered so little
which faith we had. There are various remedies at the physician s
command which he can use to cure disease. But it is not immaterial
which remedy he employs ; he must know by his science which
is the right one, which is the best. There are many stars in the
firmament, but only one sun is the king, to illumine the day. In tho
same way, there is only one true Faith, and this true Faith is possessed
by the Catholic Church alone. She has always preserved it
without error, as a heavenly treasure confided to her. There are
certainly besides the Catholic Church numerous religious bodies,
but they have received their doctrine, not from Jesus and the Apostles,
but from men who had fallen away from Christ and from the
true Faith.

In the fourth century Arius separated himself from the Catholic
Church by denying the Divinity of Jesus. His followers are called
Arians. In the fifth century Nestorius left the Catholic Church
because he denied that Mary was the Mother of God. His follow
ers were called Nestorians. Thus in the fifth century Pelagius
apostatized from the Catholic Church by asserting that man is born
without sin, that he could of his own strength (without Divine
grace) keep the commandments, and that Baptism was not necessary
for infants. His followers were called Pelagians. Thus in
the sixteenth century did Luther fall away from the Catholic Church,
by rejecting the doctrine of Indulgences, of Purgatory, and of the
holy sacrifice of the Mass, and teaching that faith alone was necessary
for salvation. His followers are called Lutherans.

When a false doctrine finds adherents, then sects arise, that is,
separated parts or cuttings.

The holy doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, says of the sects :
"All sects fell away from the Catholic Church like useless twigs
which fall off the vine."

Everyone therefore who is a member of the Catholic Church can
not thank God enough for this great grace of being born in the
Catholic Church.

Through the Catholic Church we are members of that Body,
of which Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour and Redeemer, is Him
self the Head. We are thereby members of a Church which is conducted
and ruled by the Holy Ghost Himself.

As members of the Catholic Church we have the right at all times
to satisfy our longings at the seven Divine streams of grace, the holy
Sacraments.

Through the Catholic Church we participate in the blessings and
graces of that Sacrifice which is renewed daily upon our altars in
an unbloody manner, the holy sacrifice of the Mass.

Through the Catholic Church we stand as members of the Church
militant, in communication with the Church triumphant, the Saints
in heaven, who constantly pray for us at the throne of God.

We are thereby children of a loving Mother, who will never for
sake us during our -whole life, who welcomes us at our birth through
holy Baptism, and accompanies us to the grave ; who comforts us in
crosses and sufferings and even in the greatest conflicts; who does
not abandon us in the hour of death, when she bestows on us the last
Sacraments and Holy Viaticum. Is it not a great grace to be a
member of the Catholic Church ?

Melanchthon himself gives us a striking example of this, although
he had fallen away from the Catholic Church.
When his mother asked him upon his dying bed whether she
should embrace the new faith, or remain in the old, he answered her :
That although the new doctrine was good to live in, still the old
faith was best to die in.

An ancient church hymn says :

"It is good to live a Catholic, it is good to die a Catholic."

The moral lesson to be drawn from this is: Rejoice and thank
God frequently that you are a child of the Church, for as St.
Augustine says, there is no greater treasure, and no greater riches
than the Catholic Faith, because it alone can save us.

The Catholic Faith resembles a precious treasure, a priceless pearl.
He who possesses a precious treasure, a priceless pearl, guards it
with anxious solicitude that this treasure may not be stolen from him.
We should rejoice that we are children of the Catholic Church. But
we should not be so in name only, but in the fullest sense of the
word.

How should we behave towards those who are not of our Faith?
We should be tolerant towards them.