By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
For most of us who are cradle Catholics, it is not difficult to believe, since we received the theological virtue of faith in Baptism and grew up with it. Our parents and/or teachers taught us all about the Bible stories, the catechism, the sacraments. We learned to pray the Creed from an early age, and affirmed that we believe in those articles of faith. Of course today’s “cradle Catholics” do not know as much as we “oldies” know, but that is another issue. Fine.
But for those who are converts, the process is different: Converts are called to make a specific act of faith in the truths taught by the Church of Jesus Christ, scienter et volenter, that is, knowingly and willingly.
St. Paul teaches that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Here he speaks of a faith accompanied by hope and charity — not that fake “faith alone” of Martin Luther, a “faith” without the good works of charity toward God and neighbors. A dead faith, as St. James teaches in his epistle (James 2:14-26). This is so because without the love of God, salvation is impossible: “If I have all faith,” says St. Paul, “so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (Romans 5:6).
Here Luther found his own judgment: He wanted a “faith alone” without the good works of love, and forgot to realize that the whole “faith alone” of the world without love is dead. Please note that this love or charity is always accompanied by repentance and contrition for sin: Our Lord warns, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
Imagine Joe Bloggs, a man who has never been in contact with a true, well-informed Catholic. He never had the opportunity to be evangelized, he is not baptized and does not practice any religion — a very commonplace reality these days — but he is a logical man — a natural ability also in short supply these days.
He knows that there is a God somewhere out there who created the universe, but, in his view, God does not interfere with his life or anybody else’s. That God minds His own business up there wherever He may be, and Joe minds his own down here, and that’s the end of it.
Joe also admits that if that God wanted to, He could talk to people — Revelation — but He has never talked to Joe or to anyone he knows. So he goes on in life without too much concern about it. Very well. Now, can Joe Bloggs be saved? There are two ways to consider the answer.
If Joe makes an act of natural faith in God as the Supreme Judge, accompanied by an act of charity or perfect contrition for his sins, God’s mercy is available to him, simply because he never even heard the name of Christ. Since God gives His grace to everyone, and, if Joe corresponded to it, following the natural law, as expressed in the Ten Commandments, then it is easy to understand how people outside the visible membership of the Church may be saved.
However, because Joe is an adult, he cannot be baptized without having received previous instruction in the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation — except in cases of extreme necessity, such as if he is dying.
Here we must ask ourselves this fundamental question: What is faith, then? What must Joe Bloggs believe in, in order to be saved? A clear definition is called for. Faith is a supernatural virtue infused into our souls by God. This virtue makes us able and willing to give an unhesitating “Yes, I believe!” to all the revealed truths which He has commanded the Church to propose to us for belief. If Joe had been told the truths of the faith by a good Catholic, he would have believed.
Let us make it clearer that it is not the “faith” one concocts for oneself by reading this or that chapter of the Bible. Joe Bloggs must learn the truths from the Church of Jesus Christ, not from any street corner preacher who mixes Bible teachings with his own opinions to gain followers for his little denomination.
Here comes the other question: Can the virtue of faith be lost? Proponents of “faith alone” believe that once you believe in Jesus Christ, and accept Him in your heart as your personal savior, Bingo! you are locked into salvation, and cannot lose it — you are saved!
It sounds very nice, of course, comforting, beautiful. But it has only one problem: It is not true. First of all, faith — the supernatural virtue of faith — is a very precious gift indeed, a God-given gift, but it can be lost. No one is ever “locked up” in faith unto salvation without works of charity.
Every day of our lives we should thank God our Lord for our faith, for having made us His children in the Church founded by His divine Son. We must thank Him for being able to partake in His sacraments, for having set us on the true path that leads to Him. But this precious gift may become clouded or be lost, if we do not nurture it. It will stay with us, as long as it is our sincere will that it should stay. It is a lighted lamp which God places in our hands to guide our footsteps through the night of the world. We can make it burn clear or dim. We can extinguish it by our carelessness — but we cannot relight it on our own: It is only God who can do that.
So many Catholics today have lost the faith — including priests and possibly bishops, when they dissent from the teachings of the Church, as we have seen in some aspects of the recent Synod of Bishops. And how do most people lose the precious gift of faith, without which it is impossible to please God and attain eternal salvation?
First of all, we must clearly establish that God our Lord never suffers any soul to lose the gift of faith. He never takes the faith away from anyone. Once the gift is given, it is given — but — and this “but” is of paramount importance — the gift can be lost by our own fault. Faith is the key to so many other precious gifts; it is the foundation of the whole spiritual life, and we cannot lose it except through our own fault.
How To Lose Faith
The basic principle is that faith is lost only by the mortal sin of unbelief. You may ask: But how does this unbelief happen in a person’s mind? In fact, it is quite simple: The loss of faith is usually preceded by one or a number of things:
Laziness to acquire a sound knowledge of Catholic doctrine;
Reading irreligious books and journals without the sound knowledge to be able to analyze and refute them;
Engaging in religious controversy with trained opponents when not qualified by a rigorous scientific training; many times an imprudent Catholic debates with a Protestant and makes true the story of the thief who went out to steal wool and came out sheared;
Forming a marriage or close social ties with the irreligious, with anti-Catholics or atheists;
Adopting an attitude of criticism or unfriendliness to the Church;
Pride, manifesting itself in a reluctance to accept what cannot be proved from reason;
A dissipated or sinful life, neglect of prayer and the sacraments.
Pretty common these days, don’t you think so?
Next article: How to protect the gift of faith.
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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