We are now two weeks into Lent. Hopefully, by this point, we have begun to realize that this blessed season is about much more than not eating meat on Fridays or excising sweets from our diets. Lent is the season that the Church provides to us as a spiritual boot camp, specifically so we develop the spiritual strength to grow in heroic virtue.
While none of the virtues are unimportant, the virtue of faith warrants some specific attention. Faith enlightens the minds of Christian disciples so that we are better able to recognize and know truth. Faith galvanizes our wills so that we are quicker to pursue goodness valiantly. Faith points us toward our eternal destination and prepares us to make the journey in that direction. It is an antecedent virtue that will change our whole life if we let it, and it will incite other virtues in its wake. Thus, it is a pivotal virtue for these penitential weeks.
While pondering the connection between faith & Lent, several truths come into stark relief. The first of these truths is that faith is not a bastion against suffering. In fact, faith is tested by suffering. The letter of St. James reminds us that followers of Jesus will “meet trials of various kinds.” Still, we ought to rejoice that such trials will produce steadfastness (Jas. 1:2-3 ESV), a necessary quality for walking the pilgrimage journey of life. The first letter of St. Peter teaches us similarly. The first leader of the Church assures us that the “genuineness of your faith” will be tested by various trials, which will later “result in praise and glory and honor” for the Lord. That is why he teaches that faith is “more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire” (1 Pt. 1:6-7).
As we navigate life’s trials and tribulations, we learn to pray more faithfully and authentically. A person who desires to grow in faith knows that he cannot do so on his own. He knows that he needs assistance from the Divine, and he knows that God “gives generously to all without reproach” (Jas. 1:5-6). So, the man or woman of faith prays and asks in humble faith.
In spite of suffering, faith impels a person to action. Out of the relationship with God in prayer, a person’s life also takes on an outward focus. When faith takes root and begins to grow in us, we realize that it must have a concrete and active expression. This is why St. James queries: “What does it profit…if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?” He answers his own question: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead” (Jas. 2:14-26). People of faith are constantly working to cultivate their relationship with God. They pray, read the Sacred Scriptures, receive the Sacraments, and perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy (see CCC 2447). Faith is to works what a person’s soul is to his body. The soul is the animating principle, but the person needs both to be alive. So, we know that our life of faith without works is dead; and that our works are given real life and verve by our faith.
While we feel God’s Spirit moving within us and inciting us to good works, we must always recall that the admonition of St. Peter: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith….” Too often we do not resist; we fall prey to temptation. And so, we sin. Still, St. Peter exhorts that our effort to resist will lead God to “restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pt. 5:8-10). Thus, faith also provides a shield against Satan. This is exactly why St. Paul writes, “above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16).
If we want to be more effective in quenching those flaming darts, we have to work to sustain and grow our faith. We know that faith increases (and decreases) according to the effort that we put in (or lack thereof). St. Paul told the Church at Philippi to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you…” (Phil. 2:12-13). He told St. Timothy, the man he mentored and ordained as a bishop: “Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Tim. 6:12). Once we become complacent in faith; once we think that we have won the fight, we begin to backslide. Then, we fall prey more easily to the flaming darts discussed above.
Finally, it is important to note that faith and works both are integral to our salvation. Jesus, Himself, taught that salvation was directly connected to administering the works of mercy to “the least of these my brothers” (Mt. 25:31-40). St. Paul taught the same, and he wrote it specifically in his letter to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith…. For we are…created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). Without faith, the good works that God wants us to do will leave our spirits unfulfilled. Without the good works that the Lord intends, a dead faith will leave us outside the fullness of God’s kingdom.
This all connects very well to Lent. We see each of the truths and trends above fully during this season that is both penitent and joyful, all at the same time.
We suffer during Lent (point #1). We are asked to fast and to give up certain worldly pleasures. Mortification helps us to rely more fully on God, as we usually pray to get through the hunger of absence of noise from the television (point #2). The Church also suggests almsgiving as the third part of the “Lenten penance plan.” Almsgiving, whether saying prayers or donating money or making meals, is always directed toward other people (point #3). As we begin to grow closer to God during Lent, as we begin to do what He asks, the Enemy begins to tempt us in more cunning ways. We need a shield in order to thwart is tireless efforts (point #4). If we forget even for one moment what God wants, or if we forget what our plan is, Satan can catch us and bind us. We can never become lazy because Satan and his minions are never lazy, especially during Lent (point #5). Should we falter, we can rest assured that our a one-time failure (or a string of failures) determine the outcome. Jesus is continually renewing His victory through the virtue of faith! It is our faith in Him that brings us back to His side, allows us get back up, keep working, and finish the race. He is strong, even when we are weak (point #6).
Let’s pray for each other that God will continue to pour out His graces as we journey sacrificially, and joyfully, through the remainder of this blessed season.
Photo by Dolina Modlitwy on Unsplash
