De Profúndis: On the mystery of faith

Initium sancti EvangélII secúndum Joánnem...

In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum 2 hoc erat in principio apud Deum 3 omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est 4 in ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum 5 et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt

6 fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Iohannes 7 hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per illum 8 non erat ille lux sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine 9 erat lux vera quae inluminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum 10 in mundo erat et mundus per ipsum factus est et mundus eum non cognovit

11 in propria venit et sui eum non receperunt 12 quotquot autem receperunt eum dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri his qui credunt in nomine eius 13 qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri sed ex Deo nati sunt 14 ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis

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-For our Holy Father, H.H. Pope Benedict XVI
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-For all the faithful departed, especially Ramon and Willie, my grandfathers. Requiescant in pace.

28 September 2008

On the mystery of faith

The Spirit moved vigorously tonight as a group of my friends and I travelled down to Ocala once again to assist at the traditional Latin Mass. Today it was a sung Mass so we had the schola, of which I form part, perform the chants; it was mesmerizingly beautiful. Singing the Mass is a marvellous medium for prayer. But I would say that today's sermon was particularly exceptional.

The main theme of our priest's, Fr. Fryar's, sermon was actually a central epistemological question of our age: what is it know? Is faith knowledge? In today's Gospel, taken from St John, 4: 4-53, Our Lord states, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not." What is the meaning of faith? Faith is pure trust in the Lord, and hope is the fervent desire to be with God. The last remaining theological virtue is charity. Trust necessarily demands an a priori condition of ignorance, or of surrendering oneself to someone or something about which we are uncertain. To have faith in God is to trust in Him without prior conditions, such as having seen signs, or needing proof, or having understanding. It thus, in a way, demands that we relinquish our reason, our deduction,and our knowledge. To believe does not require that we understand. Indeed, to understand, or to seek to understand, eliminates the need for faith. If we have our science and our reason, we give up our faith, but it is by faith that we are bound to God. In today's Gospel, when Jesus tells the ruler whose son is sick in Capharnaum that his son is healed, and before even seeing that this is true, by faith the man believes it to be true, and it is so. Had he seen proof before the Lord had said so, he would not have needed faith because his understanding would have satisfied him. And yet right there he would have severed the necessary link between his son's welfare and the grace and divine charity of our Lord.

The question made me contemplate significantly. I often try to understand everything, to try to encapsulate everything in my mind, even sometimes when it comes to my faith. And yet Fr Fryar spoke verily in saying that if we seek to understand we satisfy ourselves with that understanding, which can only ever be faulty and incomplete, rather than submitting ourselves to the knowledge that can be had only by faith, which is that bond with the divine. The temptation to want to understand, to proof, to be able to argue is tempting, particularly in our day and age. And yet we can not enter the Kingdom unless we rid ourselves of this vice, which is what it really is in the end.

There are no easy answers and no complete explanations. It is only by the blind eye of faith that we can truly see and know. What a winding and mysterious path towards God!