Ironically Ending on Faith

By Sean DeWitt

Having done a post on Hope, and on Love, I cannot resist the temptation to finish the trilogy and do a post on Faith. Standing as the first of the three, Faith is the foundation of our relationship with God, without which we are starved of the truth that is the Lord Jesus Christ. While Hope drives us and Love forms our very being, Faith adds meat to our bones, so to speak. Faith is the reason why.

Love is the manifestation of our Faith though it is not a mere product of our Faith, since Faith without Love is hindered in its growth. This is easily seen in the example of a tree. If a tree is healthy, it produces fruit. If our Faith is true, we will perform acts of Charity for others. Likewise, if the tree is sick, it will produce rotten fruit or none at all. And if our faith is not true, our acts of charity will be empty of God’s true Love. It is not that Faith or Love is preceded by the other—the chicken and the egg argument need not apply here—but that they are part of the same action: belief in God. Faith is both fulfilled by Love and increases the capacity for Love. As Pope Benedict XVI says in Deus Caritas Est:

Faith, hope and charity go together…faith tells us that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that is really true: God is Love! It [Faith] transforms our impatience and or doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands…Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to Love. [39]

The Pope is envisioning a melding of the three virtues. Our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is comprised of Faith in Him, Hope in our resurrection through Him, and Love—the Love that God is and truly shares with us.

Using the tree analogy again, Faith is the roots, the trunk, and the branches, which are nourished by God’s love and grace. Our Faith receives this nourishment as assurance or Hope in His endless Love. As the tree, our Faith, feeds on God’s love and mercy, the trees roots grow deeper and the branches stronger, so that we might withstand the greatest drought—a drought that is only self inflicted since God’s grace is always sufficient. In turn, our Faith—fed by Hope—produces boundless amounts of fruit, honoring our Lord by reciprocating His Love through works of Charity. The three virtues are different, yet they are all parts of the same tree—our belief in Christ.

Catholic Charities understands the unity of the three virtues in particular the inclusion of the first: Faith. Being a faith-based non-profit, we serve in light of our faith. Though I will not attest to the individual faith of our employees, Catholic Charities on a whole understands the moral and ethical implication in its service and stands firm in its Faith, the Catholic Faith. In every person we serve, through every service we provide, and in every person who serves, we protect the dignity of the human family. We hope that the Love we share with those we serve will be a testament to our Faith.