He
told Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, hold out your hand
and put it into my side, and do not be faithless, but believe."
Faith is a supernatural virtue by which we firmly believe
in God and all that God has revealed. We have not ever seen God, we have not
seen Jesus Christ, we do not see the work of grace in the sacraments, we do not
see in the Eucharist anything else but bread and wine; and yet we are certain that God exists, that
Jesus Christ came into the world, that Grace works in the sacraments, and that
beneath the appearances of bread and wine there is Jesus Christ whole and
entire. Here is the essence Faith: to believe, what is not seen.
Saint Thomas believed because he saw with his eyes, but
the Lord said to him: Thomas, do you believe because you have seen; but I tell you: Blessed are those who do not see
and yet believe. With these words our Lord Jesus Christ called blessed not his
apostles who saw him, not Mary Magdalene who heard his voice, not the crowd who
saw his miracles and his works, his Resurrection and his Ascension, but called
blessed all of us and all those who believe in Him, believe his works, they
believe his miracles, his death, his Resurrection without ever having seen
anything!
But is not enough simply to believe: the Faith must be accompanied
by works: that is, we must work and behave according to the teachings of the
faith. Faith without works says S. Paul is dead. When the works agree with the
Faith, that is, when we behave according to what we believe, then our Faith is
alive, grows and strengthens. Faith is like a tree that needs to be nourished
in order to bear fruit. We have to water our faith with prayer, which
enlightens us in the middle of the nights of this world, and makes us see the
eternal truths. Each tree must water themselves: and we have to water our faith
with the water of grace, that is, with the holy sacraments which give us the
grace like the most gentle rain which washes the spots of our spirit.
(Vol 10 ch. 8 file 1786)
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