Have the Courage to Think, Judge and Act
According to the Logic of Faith

Homily given at Mass in the Seminary of Taipei (Taiwan), 3.12. 2011
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier

Before the readings, we prayed: "God our Father […] give [the] zeal [of Saint Francis Xavier] for the faith to all who believe in you […]".

It is precisely in a spirit of faith that we have gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist, which is the most important reality in the life of a seminary. Our understanding of the Eucharist depends largely on our faith. Moreover, the fruitfulness of our participation in, or our celebration of, the Eucharist depends to a great extent on our faith. The fruitfulness of our priestly apostolate, too, will depend on our faith.

The problem of faith is fundamental and always topical, also for us who are seminarians or priests. Today, people speak a lot about the crisis of faith. We are all called to make our faith alive and active, and to help others to develop their faith.

1. Faith is like a night

a. Faith is like a night, a dark night, sprinkled with stars. In fact, Saint John of the Cross - that great mystic of Christianity - spoke precisely about the dark night of faith in the spiritual life. But it is not true that at night-time one sees less: on the contrary, at night-time one sees much more! During the day, yes, we see more clearly, more precisely (we can even touch and measure things), but we see little; we see only that which surrounds us; our field of vision is very limited. At night-time, it is true, we see less clearly, less precisely; however, we see more fully; we see much further; we see the stars that are thousands of light-years from us; we see our little lives in the context of the immense universe, in the context of the whole of creation.

I have always been fascinated by a starry night. During my years at high school, I often used to go out late at evening with a teacher and some friends to look at the stars. We bought ourselves star-maps, which we could change for each day, so as to be able to pick out the different star constellations. Looking at the stars, I felt big. Then, it seemed to me that I was truly seeing, seeing the truth about my existence - seeing, that is, that my life is not limited to this town, to this nation, or to the earth; rather, it is located within by an enormous, fascinating, stupendous, enchanting and immense universe.
Faith is like a night sprinkled with stars. We see in our faith less clearly, less precisely (there are so many mysteries, so many things that we are unable to understand); however, we see much further, much more fully; we see our little lives in the perspective of eternity, of the whole of our existence.

b. Having before our eyes this great perspective of eternity, the whole of our existence, necessarily changes something in our lives:

- Our judgement becomes more mature, more full, and - I would say - also more realistic, inasmuch as we take into consideration not only the little circumstances of our lives, but the whole of our existence.

- Our scale or gradation of values changes. Many things to which people are so attached (for example, riches, power, prestige) lose their value in the light of eternity; whereas other things, which are seemingly small (such as forgiveness, prayer, sacrifice, an act of charity or of humility, etc.) take on great importance, because these things will determine our lives in the eternal perspective. Jesus constantly introduced his disciples to this new scale or logic of values - for example, by saying "whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20:26-28; cf. Mk 10:4345; Lk 22:26-27). Or again: "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life" (Jn 12:25).

- We become more free, because we do not allow ourselves to be influenced by the little things of earthly life.

- Thus, faith also becomes a source of strength, making us able a) to renounce many things of earthly life, knowing that their value is very relative; b) to face with serenity and with tranquillity suffering, obstacles and even death, as we realize that our lives are indestructible; c) to exert ourselves to gain the values that are eternal, perennial, indestructible - that is, those values that are not lost, that "neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal" (Mt 6:19-20; Lk 12:33) - and not just concerning ourselves with values that sooner or later disappear.

- Such a faith also inevitably turns into a source of Christian dynamism and makes us credible and effective in the work of evangelization.

2. Let faith mature

a. Faith - if someone truly has it and lives it - is a great thing, a great treasure. Faith, in itself, is an impelling force of spiritual life and of the dynamism of our pastoral endeavours, precisely because it opens before us this immense perspective on life, the whole of life. Consequently, it transforms us - that is, it inevitably changes our way of seeing things, of judging and of acting.

If we are so weak in our spiritual lives, so little transformed by faith, so little disposed to follow Christ in a radical way, it is also because in our way of seeing things, of judging, we limit ourselves to this earthly life, and we lose sight of the global dimension of our lives, offered to us by faith.

I have the impression that we Christians, even priest and bishops, often behave as the pagans, who support the faith on the outside, who speak up in favour of the faith, who even defend it, but who do not have the courage to throw themselves in the current of faith, to think and act according to the categories of faith. And yet, the true adventure of faith begins precisely at that point, when we throw ourselves in the current of faith, when we begin to think and act courageously according to the logic of faith.

This was precisely the adventure of faith of Saint Francis Xavier and of all the saints. This was the key to their fruitfulness in the life of the Church.

b. We know well that faith can grow in us, and that it can, however, also diminish. It can even disappear because of our negligence. We see that clearly in the Gospels. After the miracle at Cana in Galilee, for example, Saint John notes that "and his disciples believed in him" (Jn 2:11). But they had already believed, in fact, they followed Jesus. The evangelist evidently wanted to say that their faith was reinforced. Many times, Jesus praised the faith of some person (e.g. "in no one in Israel have I found such faith" Mt 8:10 "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish" Mt 15,28; cf. Mt 9:2, 9:22, 9:29; Mk 2:5, 5:34, 10:52; Lk 5:20, 7:9, 7:50, 8:45, 17:19, 18:42); on other occasions, he rebuked even his disciples because they were "of little faith" cf., e.g., Mt 6:30, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8, 17:20, 21:21; Mk 4:40; Lk 8:25, 12:28). The apostles asked him "increase our faith" (Lk 17:5). Jesus prayed for Peter so that his faith might not fail (Lk 22:32), etc. Yes, our faith can increase or dwindle. Each of us is responsible for the growth or diminishing of his faith.

It is necessary to nurture faith so that it grows in us. Faith is reinforced with prayer, with the sacraments, with the Word of God, with study, but perhaps above all with a life led in accordance with the demands of faith. In fact, Saint James notes in his letter: "faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (Jas 2:17). Yes, faith can live and grow only by working, and by sharing the faith with others.

Without doubt, it is complicated to educate people to an authentic and living faith, and to help them to acquire a mature faith. Perhaps it would be less complicated if we ourselves truly lived according to the logic of the faith.

Conclusion

Dear seminarians and brothers in the priesthood, do not spare any effort to grow constantly in the faith. Have the courage to think, to judge and to act entirely within the logic of the faith. Only thus will your apostolate be credible and efficacious. In fact, as Saint John the Apostle wrote: "the victory that conquers the world is our faith" (1 Jn 5:4).

Let us never forget that the faith is both a great treasure, as well as a delicate plant, which every day must be nurtured with care.