By Bob Sullivan
Faith comes in all shapes and sizes. While all Catholics profess the same faith—the content of revealed truths— every individual Catholic has a different depth or degree to their faith in those truths—the virtue of faith.
As I write this series, I’ll refer to the content of revealed truths—what the Church teaches, as well as the virtue of faith—an individual’s level of trust and belief in those teachings.
The content of revealed truths reaches its fulfillment and completion in the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. The fullness of truths which He revealed is summed up in the Creed, the Profession of Faith. This is known as public revelation. As Catholics, we hold to public revelation as given in Christ and entrusted to His Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when we profess the faith (the content of revealed truths), we believe (the virtue of faith) that they are true because God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, has revealed them to us. Professing to hold as truth what is revealed by God and taught by His Church does not mean one fully understands the entire content of faith, but that one chooses to trust it as true on the authority of the one revealing it. We often trust when we are not certain of things in life, right? So it is with the Catholic faith. Some things we know and trust, other things we do not understand, but still trust.
Unfortunately, many people identify themselves as Catholics, yet state or do things which are contrary to the teachings of the Church (content of revealed truths). In such cases, a person is showing a lack of trust or a lack of faith.
Of late, we have been told there are many Catholics who do not accept that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, for example. We also see many Catholics who speak and act in favor of abortion. I regularly find myself in the confessional because to one degree or another I have not observed the Church’s moral teachings in one way or another. Even Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Romans stated: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want…” (Romans 7:19).
Clearly, we see that no matter where we find ourselves on the road of faith, living according to what we hold as true is difficult. Where does that leave us in terms of being faithful? Are we all faithless?
Does it really matter, so long as we say that we have faith? Do I have to believe everything the Church teaches to be Catholic? Can I disagree with the Church and still be Catholic? Putting the answers in layman’s terms is one way to do it, but on such a matter, I thought I’d ask Father Matthew Rolling — academic dean and teacher at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward — to answer a few questions on this topic. Here’s my first:
Q. Father Rolling, as a priest, what do you see as causes of differences in people’s (virtue of) faith or acceptance of Church teaching?
First, let us remember that the virtue of faith is a gift from God, but we have to cooperate with that gift. As you said in your Jan. 10 column, there are lots of reasons people may or may not cooperate with that gift and thereby reject some or all of the Church’s teachings. Behind the “arguments” given as to why they do not believe stand many other factors.
For example, a person may have grown up with Catholic parents who constantly spoke against the parish priest or the Church’s teaching on one point or another. Having this mistrust and anger against the Church instilled in one from an early age will make it very difficult for that person, once grown, to act against that pattern of thought.
Another individual—as you noted—may have had a painful encounter with a priest or in a Catholic Church. While it is one memory among many, that memory which particularly impacts this person makes it difficult for them to overcome their hurt and return to “the Church which hurt them.”
We see many young people who grow up surrounded by voices stating it’s acceptable to live together before marriage, or use contraception, for example, and this, too, is a difficult pattern of thought to break after years of thinking it true.
Finally, a child who is raised in a home with parents who speak openly about the Faith, model the practice of the Faith to their children, and foster a home environment that is peaceful, loving, and joyful will very readily accept that same faith in its entirety because of that powerful experience. In short, the most important relationships and the most impactful memories often influence our choices and behaviors, especially those relationships and memories formed when we are young.
As you might see, we are just getting started with this series. Over the course of the next few columns, I’ll pose follow-up questions to Father Rolling, and we will see how he responds. For purposes of this first segment, it is important to remember that the content of revealed truths is what the Church teaches, and the virtue of faith is an individual’s level of trust and belief in those teachings. As you know, these two things are not the same.
We can use this to understand others who say they are Catholic, but seem to say and do things which are inconsistent with the faith. However, we can also use this series for some personal introspection. Do I trust the content of revealed truths as taught by the Church?
This is one of the reasons we pray for the virtue of faith, whenever we pray the introductory prayers of the rosary. This is also what we see in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
