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ON THE QUALITIES OF FAITH.

Our instruction to-day will be on the qualities
of Faith. Now, our Faith should be: 1, general; 2, firm; 3 ;
lively; and 4, steadfast.

Our Faith then should be: 1, general:
General is that which extends to everything. Our Faith then is
general when we not only believe some things, but everything which
Christ has taught and the Catholic Church proposes for our belief.

I shall give you a few examples. A person believes in God the
Father, and in God the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost. His Faith
is not general. Another one believes in heaven and hell, but not in
a place of purification. His Faith is not general. Or someone
doubts the institution by Christ of one or other of the Sacraments.
His Faith is not general.

Thomas doubted the Resurrection of our Lord from the dead.
His faith was not general. But as a chain loses its connection, if
even one link is missing, and as a bell loses its tone if there is a single
crack in it, so our Faith is not general if we only doubt one single
article of Faith. Our Faith must be a definite, complete, whole.

Our Faith must, 2, be firm.

Anything is firm which we can
undo or separate only by using force. Thus does the oak stand firm
in the ground. The most violent storm is unable to uproot it. The
rock also stands firm in the sea. The waves and breakers dash upon
it, as if they wanted to crumble it to pieces, but it does not move.
Our Faith is firm when we believe without doubting in the least.
True faith doubts not. It believes that which it cannot see, and
which it cannot fully comprehend and grasp with its mind. A firm
faith not only believes the revelations which are contained in the
Holy Scripture, but those also which have been handed down to us
by tradition. Such was the firm faith of Noe. Without objection
he built the Ark, and feared not that the flood would overwhelm it.
And so it was with Abraham. He was ready to sacrifice his only
son, and he did not doubt the promise that God would make him the
head of a great people. The woman who suffered from an issue of
blood firmly believed that Jesus could cure her. She had not the
slightest doubt about it; and therefore Jesus said to her: "Thy
faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace." The centurion of Capharnaum
likewise had a firm faith. He did not doubt that Christ
could cure his servant, even without seeing him or laying His hands
upon him. Therefore Jesus said: "Verily, I have not found so
great (firm) faith in Israel." Still a doubt which arises within us,
against our wills as a temptation, is not a sin, if we immediately oppose
it with a determined will to believe everything which God has
revealed and that the Catholic Church proposes to our belief. We
are also obliged to avoid persons, places and occasions which might
arouse in us doubt of our Faith.

Our faith should be, 3, lively.

Lively is contrary to lifeless, dead. A man, for instance, in whom
dwells a soul, is living; a man with out a soul is dead. Our Faith is
living when we live according to it ;
that is to say, do good and avoid evil, as the faith prescribes. On
the contrary our faith is dead, when it does not show itself in good
works. The Apostle St. James says: "As a body without the
spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."

If, for instance, a person believes that God is our Father, he must
have a great reverence for God and render Him a childlike obedience,
otherwise his faith is dead.

If a person believes that God is omnipresent, omniscient and just,
he must be afraid to sin and offend God, otherwise his faith is dead.

If a person believes that the authority of God is absolute, he must
then obey it, or his faith is dead. If we believe that the Church is
a house wherein God dwells, our behavior therein must be edifying,
otherwise our faith is dead. If we believe that transitory goods are
valueless in the sight of God, and yet we cannot detach our hearts
from them, our faith is dead. A living faith resembles a fruitful
tree ; it has leaves, blossoms, and fruit. But a dead faith resembles
a withered tree ; it has neither leaves, nor blossoms, nor fruit.

For this reason Holy Scripture relates to us the parable of the unfruitful
tree upon which for many years the Lord looked for fruit,
but never found any. At last He ordered the barren tree to be cut
down and burnt.

Our faith should also be, 4, steadfast.

Those persons are steadfast who cannot be made to change their
views and principles, and whose will cannot be bent. That man is
steadfast in the faith who neither by promises, threats, or even martyrdom
itself is induced to fall away from his faith. We have an
example of this in the holy Martyrs. No pain, torture, or suffering
could be imagined that these Martyrs did not have to undergo to
force them to deny their Faith. But they remained steadfast ; with
cheerful courage they endured everything, and if, instead of once,
they could have died ten times for Christ, they would have done so.

St. Lawrence was roasted on a gridiron, but he did not apostatize.
In the year 1590, in Japan, 20,000 Christians were crucified, or
burnt, but they were all steadfast in the Faith, they all met death
courageously. He who is not steadfast in the faith resembles a
reed, which is driven by the wind hither and thither. The steadfast
faith, however, is like the rock in the sea which is immovable in the
most violent storm.

The catechism asks in continuation : "What leads to falling away
from the faith?" and gives the answer: 1. Pride and an over-curious
reasoning about the mysteries of our holy religion.

As pride exalts itself above all things, and humbles itself at
nothing, it will not subject itself to the light of faith. It speaks as
the Egyptian king Pharaoh once did when he asked : "Who is the
Lord whom I ought to obey ? I know of none."

As water extinguishes a flame, so does pride extinguish the light
of faith. It was pride which caused the fall of our first parents;
they wanted to be like God. It was pride which blinded the here
tics and schismatics of every century and caused them to stray away
from the true doctrine. Pride was also the cause of the fall of the
bad angels, and cast them into hell. Over-curious reasoning about
the mysteries of our holy religion consists in this, that a person
wishes to grasp, comprehend and fathom with his mind the inscrutable
mysteries of our holy religion. But this is impossible here
below.

The essence of God is inscrutable, the mysteries of our holy religion
are incomprehensible. For this reason the legend tells us how
St. Augustine, the great Doctor of the Church, was reproved, be
cause he tried to search into the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.
He was walking on the seashore, when he beheld a little boy who was
busily pouring the water of the sea into a little hole. "What are
you doing there ?" St. Augustine asked the child.

The child replied: "I am trying to put the sea into this little
hole."
"My dear child!" said St. Augustine, "you are surely not so
foolish as to imagine that possible?" The child replied, however:
"As impossible as it is for me to pour the sea into this little hole,
so is it just as impossible for you to investigate the mystery of the
Most Blessed Trinity." With these words the child vanished. It
was an angel, who at Gods command was to teach St. Augustine
that mans reason, with all its penetration, is not capable of sounding
a mystery of our holy religion. We may, however, reflect upon the
mysteries of our holy religion so as to render them plainer and
clearer.

But to solve the doubts which arise in us about the truths of our
faith, we should hold by the decision of the Church which is inspired
by the Holy Ghost.

The second cause which leads to falling away from faith is : Neglect
of religious duties. Under this head belong: the frequent reception
of the Sacraments, diligent hearing of the word of God,
attending the services of the Church, and especially prayer. Now
the more lukewarm a Christian is in fulfilling his religious duties,
the more he strays away from God, until finally he falls away from
God entirely. This sort of person is like a stone that rolls down a
mountain. It rolls quicker and quicker, until at last no one can stop
it in its descent. Just as this disturbs everything in its way, and
draws other stones in its path with it into the abyss, so is it not
sufficient for a fallen away Catholic to go to ruin himself, but he
seeks to draw others with him to perdition.

A lukewarm Christian resembles the flame of a lamp in which there
is no oil. It burns feebler and feebler the less oil there is, until at last
it goes out altogether when the last drop of oil is consumed. Faith
decreases thus in a lukewarm Christian ; he becomes more and more
indifferent about God and everything pertaining to his salvation, until
at last there is nothing left of his faith.

Worldly-mindedness, and a vicious life lead also to a falling away
from Catholic belief. Worldly-mindedness is chiefly directed to
wards the satisfying of sensual desires, according to the words of the
Apostle : "Everything that is in the world is concupiscence of the
eyes, concupiscence of the flesh, and the pride of life." As, however,
money is necessary for the satisfying of desires and passions, avarice
is as a rule connected wtih it, that vice, which seeks only after the
possession of transitory goods. Thereby the human heart clings
more and more to Mammon, which ensnares the whole soul, and disturbs,
or at last stifles, every divine emotion. For this reason the
Holy Scripture says : "We cannot serve God and Mammon." And
in another part of the Scriptures it says: "Those who wish to
become rich fall into temptation, and into the snares of Satan."

That worldly-mindedness does not agree with a religious mode of
living is to be gathered from the words which Christ addressed to
the young man : "If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell what thou
hast, and give it to the poor, and come, follow Me." A vicious life
also leads to a falling away from God. A person who is addicted to
sin and vice will have nothing to do with the faith, for it tells him :
"There is a just God who will punish vice in eternity." Very many
persons fall away from the faith sooner than determine to abandon
their vicious lives. In the same way the idol of the miser is money,
of the glutton, food and drink, of the unchaste the satisfying of his
sensual desires. Such men give up their faith in God, and set up
their passion as their idol, to which they sacrifice their time and
strength, substance and honor, health and life, peace and quiet, and
even their eternal salvation. Another cause of falling away from
God is the reading of bad books.

As natural poison kills the body, and as a poisonous snake by his
bite causes death and destruction, so is it with bad books. They
make youth acquainted with vice, represent it as a virtue, they excuse
vice, and make virtue ridiculous. They tear away by force the
root of all good from the human heart, disturb therein faith, hope and
charity, and the desire for everything more exalted, and lead finally
to an entire apostasy from God.

Bad books should be exterminated like weeds. Thus the Emperor
Constantine and the Church authorities of Nice, had the books of the
heretic Arius burnt, so that no one else should be induced to apostatize
on account of them.

Finally, associating with bad persons leads to a falling away from
God. The wise Sirach says: "He who touches pitch defiles him
self." Solomon, the wise and great king, fell into sin and idolatry,
because he was careless in associating with heathen women, who led
him into sin. "Evil communications corrupt good morals," says the
proverb. It is not enough for the unbelievers to throw themselves
into the abyss, they drag others with them.

The catechism further asks : In what way should we show particularly
that our faith is firm and steadfast?

The answer says : By never denying it, not even in appearance.
To deny ones faith means either from fear of man or love of gain
or other reasons, to deny being a Catholic. We deny our faith in appearance
when we behave exteriorly as if we were not Christians, but
at the same time remain a Christian at heart.

It is also a denial of the faith when we are ashamed to make the
sign of the cross in the presence of others, to kneel down at the
elevation or in presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament, or to say our
grace before and after meals, or to observe the days of fasting and
abstinence, and so on. A good Catholic confesses his faith upon
every occasion, in words and deeds, and does not allow himself,
through the fear of man or other causes, to deny his faith. He is
mindful of Christ s words: "Everyone that confesses me before
men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.
But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my
Father who is in heaven." He, then, who is ashamed of his Saviour,
who has suffered so much on account of his sins, He will also be
ashamed of him when He comes again at the end of the world in
His glory.