Basics of Faith

If my father were still living, he would now be 102 years old. Throughout his life he had such beautiful handwriting. When he was in school, they didn’t just teach cursive writing, they taught penmanship. My father was very proud of his penmanship, and it always impressed me as being about the best handwriting I ever saw from a man. By the time I attended school, penmanship was no longer taught but cursive writing was the norm. Thus, I was surprised and saddened to learn that within the past 10 years or so, most school students are no longer taught cursive writing. With the advent of personal computers now 30+ years ago, with printers, and now smartphones, young people today rarely engage in any handwritten communication. My dad thought education stepped backward when penmanship was abandoned. I felt the same way when I learned that cursive writing is no longer taught. It seems that civility has been sacrificed for utility. I still enjoy receiving a handwritten letter and when I want to write something personal, I always pick up a pen and put it in “writing.” Handwriting is a life skill, a basic part of being human in this world. Now even printing a sentence can be awkward for people who have never learned the basics.

Faith has its basics, as well.  Yet, how well could you explain the basics of what we believe as Catholics? Now don’t panic, because it is easier than you think. The basics of what we believe are summed up in the Nicene Creed which we profess every Sunday. If you can remember the creed, you can teach the faith, or at least the basics. Certainly, there are many nuances to what we believe, as when we profess that Jesus Christ is “the only begotten Son of God…God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.” But rather than punt on understanding those words, we ought to take the time to check out what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about those very words.

We have just celebrated the Octave of Easter, the prolonged celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate over the course of 8 days, concluding with Divine Mercy Sunday yesterday. In the opening prayer for Mass, we prayed this: “God of everlasting mercies…increase, we pray the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washing, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed.” This is a prayer that asks the Lord to help us “grasp and rightly understand” three basic things: our baptism, our life in the Holy Spirit and the role of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Redeemer.

My concern as a pastor and bishop is that many people do not want to go deeper in their understanding of the faith or in their relationship with Jesus.  So many seem to believe that “getting to Church on Sunday” is all that is needed to secure some real estate in heaven. But the Lord wants so much more for us.  He wants us to know him, love him and serve him by means of a dynamic personal relationship with him. Hence the opening prayer that we might grasp and rightly understand our baptism, our life in the Holy Spirit and the gift of redemption that is ours in Christ, alludes to so much more.

The basics of our faith ground us in having a Catholic world view.  We understand who we truly are, what life is about and what our destiny is meant to be only in relationship to Jesus Christ. Without a friendship with our Lord, however, we get caught up in other things. Our hobbies, seasonal recreation and other pastimes can cause us to set aside the practice of our faith for other things. It always saddens me when people confess that they have been “too busy to pray” or “too busy to go to Mass.” Somewhere along the line they missed the basics. “I am the Lord your God; you shall not have other gods besides me.”

The basics of faith put order in our lives and as we know, well-ordered lives are more tranquil. The basics of faith are a foundation upon which we can then establish the other aspects of our lives: our love of God and neighbor, our participation in building up society, how we practice the stewardship of our gifts and how we set priorities with regard to the material things the world has to offer. What is sinful goes against a well-ordered Christian life. The world causes us to prioritize life differently, usually in a self-serving way. The gospel of the world is that of entitlement – propagated by advertising that says, “you deserve a comfortable life.” The Gospel of Jesus says, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

If you are living a comfortable Christianity, you might want to review the basics of our faith. In doing so, notice where the rub is, or perhaps where it pinches a bit, or maybe even delivers a punch in the gut! Going back to the basics might best be done by a prayerful reading of the New Testament. Notice what rubs, pinches or punches you in your current approach to faith and religion. But do this with absolute confidence that the Lord Jesus wants to bless you, not beat you up! Let God’s inspired word move your heart and mind to review the basics and let the Holy Spirit lead you to a more dynamic life in Christ.

During the Lenten season we embraced greater penance, so that where sin abounds, grace would abound all the more. Easter is not a time to fall back into old habits.  Rather, it is a time to make still greater progress. It is a time to let Jesus have the wheel as you slide over to the passenger seat and invite the Lord to take you where HE wants your spiritual life to flourish. So simply talk to our Lord and ask him to lead you to a more faithful response to his saving love. Ask him to show you what is getting in the way of your spiritual growth and pray for the courage to change what needs to be changed for you to be an ever more faithful disciple of Jesus.

In some ways, like penmanship, if we lose the basics, we end up settling for less. But so much more important than our handwriting is the proper order that faith and faithfulness bring to our lives, because the consequences are eternal!

Let me leave you with this...

Teach me your ways, O Lord,

that I may live according to your truth!

Grant me purity of heart, 

so that I may honor you.

With all my heart I will praise you,

O Lord my God. 

I will give glory to your name forever,  

for your love for me is very great. 

You have rescued me from the depths of death.

~ Psalm 86:11-13

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