As I was listening to today's episode of Catechism in a Year
(which is available at
https://ascensionpress.com/ciy; I highly recommend it and, since the year has just begun, there's still time to sign up and follow it), I was struck by Fr. Mike's entry for paragraphs 142-149 regarding faith.
I invite you to listen to today's episode at
https://catechisminayear.fireside.fm/day-20-2023. In this time where so many people are "spiritual but not religious" this provides a wealth of information to respond to this claim and some of its inherent dangers. Although it is certainly true, as Hebrews 11:1 says, that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen", that doesn't mean that "seeing is believing"; as James put it: "Even the demons believe and tremble" (James 2:19).
As we stand together on this time which has special significance to the cause of respecting life - the very first one in a post-Roe v. Wade world - we can certainly see how important it is not only to have faith but to have an informed faith. Although abortion-on-demand has been struck down on the national level, we can still see how attacks on the dignity of human life in states like New Jersey and elsewhere have become more virulent. This in turn has provided further advancement by evil in other insults to human dignity: the sanctity of marriage and family, respecting the lives of those who are unable to defend themselves or who have been told that they have no hope. While no person or group of persons can ever be called "evil" - for God could not make such a thing - many have become so allured by the enticements of evil that it enters and poisons a deep part of them. As such, we are also called to pray for their conversion of heart. After all, as the Catechism teaches (paragraphs 153-155):
Faith is a grace - it originates from God alone
Faith is a human act - but it requires our cooperation to be effective
Faith and understanding - "blind" faith is a contradiction in terms; while there are certain mysteries that we can never fully understand, we are called and required to use our gift of intellect to comprehend what we can to understand its practicality to our lives
So, in this new year of grace, let's resolve to "pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on us!"