Faith is a gift.

It cannot be imposed or forced upon you because it is a free gift from Almighty God. The Lord, however, offers you the means of growing in this gift. He gives you the Scriptures to know His Holy Will, and the Holy Spirit to understand what you read in the Scriptures. Thus, for the person of faith, Scripture is the text, and the Holy Spirit is the guide. There is no better way to grow in faith than to ponder the words of scripture in your heart, and to put them into practice. “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven,” declares Jesus, “only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.”

St. Paul states in his letter to Hebrews, “faith is clear knowledge of things unseen” (Hebrews 11:1–2). This knowledge of things unseen is knowledge of spiritual realities contained in the scriptures, such as God, the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, Divine Providence and the Incarnation. These spiritual realities cannot be grasped by the senses, but they can be experienced by the inner light of faith. The gift of faith is not opposed to reason, but it does go beyond it when reason cannot provide help, healing and confidence in dealing with some of life’s trials and problems. Neither does man live on reason alone but “on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” ( Matthew 4 : 4 ). How often I’ve heard people say after some great trial in their lives: ” I could not have gone through this if it wasn’t for my faith!”

Jesus always responded to those who approached Him with faith. He still does.

Faith is often described as a light, a divine light to guide you through the troubled waters of life. This light shines brightest in the life and example of Jesus Christ for all to see. He is faith incarnate.

Faith that is based on the gospel of Christ, involves standards, values, attitudes, beliefs and ways of acting that lift the culture higher. Sometimes this can mean challenging the popular opinions and ethics of our contemporaries. It means deciding that our spiritual support in life is the good news of the gospel which must be acted upon. For many, making such a decision may appear too demanding. Throughout history, however, many committed men and women of faith have raised awareness and remedied social abuses, such as slavery in the days of the Roman Empire, and, more recently in our day, the scandal of racism.

This gift of faith is not given to us by God to be deposited in the misty recesses of the mind. It is something to be exercised and enjoyed, otherwise it will die.

Spiritual reading and meditation on the scriptures are necessary to develop the right kind of thoughts in the minds of believers. Faith as a gift has many aspects for it has God as its object and His range of blessings is limitless. If you want to grow in faith, as Jesus urges, you need to turn to Him, the source, and learn from His teachings.

There are good books that can help you grow in faith. I would like to suggest one book I wrote, entitled, ‘What is this thing called faith?’ It is available for purchase online through Amazon. This book is pastoral; that is, it is practical in nature. It does not indulge in complicated exegesis but deals with faith from the aspect of personal experiences in the gospels. It offers fifty meditations on different aspects of faith with reflections for the benefit of the reader. The method adopted is the same as the old ‘Lectio Divina’ or Scripture Study method that was highly successful.

This book opens with scripture. Next follows a meditation on the particular scripture. This is followed by reflections in the form of questions for the benefit of the reader. Finally, it concludes with a prayer.

Faith is a spiritual light that must shine through what we say and do. This light cannot be left hidden, it must appear for all to see (Matthew 5:15). Only then can we truly delight in it. The person who meditates on the words of scripture “and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock,” says the Lord (Matthew 7:24).

This is the gift of faith that truly saves.

Fr. Hugh Duffy