United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

Chapter 4. Bring About the Obedience of Faith • 37

God makes himself known to us through Revelation in order both to give us something and to draw a response from us. Both this gift of God and our response to his Revelation are called faith . By faith, we are able to give our minds and hearts to God, to trust in his will, and to follow the direction he gives us. St. Paul describes this response as the “obedience of faith” (Rom 16:26). We have many examples of faith. For instance, in Scripture we read of Abraham, who trusted in God’s promise to make of him a great nation, and of Moses who, in faith, responded to God’s call to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The Virgin Mary is the perfect model of faith. From her “yes” to God at the Annunciation to her silent assent at the Cross, Mary’s faith remained firm. No wonder we hear Mary’s faith acclaimed in the Gospels, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45). Our response to God in faith is an act so rich in meaning that the Catechism explores its complexity in a number of ways. BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS (ACTS 16:31) Our faith life is a grace or a gift that brings us into a personal, loving union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This grace enables us both to hear the Word of God and to keep it. The qualities of faith listed here remind us of the basic ways in which we express our belief in God and that challenge us to apply our faith in our daily lives: 1. Faith is a personal and communal relationship . “Faith is first of all a personal adherence . . . to God. At the same time, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed” (CCC, no. 150). A per sonal faith says, “ I believe in God.” This is an act of belief in the one, true, and living God. It is as though we gather all that we are, and gratefully give our hearts and minds to God. We have a personal relationship with the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But faith is also communal. It is not just a private act. In the assembly of believers at Mass, we profess our faith together and join our hearts as we experience ourselves as the Body of Christ. Our personal faith