“Faith
makes all things possible,” but we must place our trust completely in
God. This was the central focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the
readings of the day at Mass on Friday morning in the chapel of the Casa
Santa Marta in the Vatican.Pope Francis concentrated especially on the 1st Letter of St John, in which he speaks of the faithful Christian as the one who is truly victor over the world. Pope Francis explained that genuine faith must be total and complete, not partial, and must express itself as an abiding in the Lord, abiding in Love:
“Whoever abides in God, whoever is begotten by God, whoever abides in love, has victory over the world – and this victory is our faith – on our part, it is the faith. On God’s part, [it is] the Holy Spirit who makes this [abiding, this victory] possible through faith. For our part, faith: it is powerful! The strength of faith has overcome the world! Our faith can do everything! It is victory! It would be beautiful to repeat this, even to ourselves, because we are often [as] Christians defeated. The Church is full of defeated Christians who do not believe in this, that faith is the victory - who do not live this faith, because if you do not live this faith, there is defeat, the world wins, the prince of this world.”
Pope Francis went on to recall the great praise that Our Lord had for the faith of the haemmoragic woman, the Caananite woman, or the man who was blind from birth – saying that faith as large as a mustard seed could move mountains. “This faith,” he said, “affirms and requires of us two attitudes: confessing and trusting.
“Faith,” Said Pope Francis, “means confessing God – the God who revealed Himself to us, from the time of our fathers down to the present: the God of history. This we recite each day in the Creed – but it is one thing to recite the Creed heartily, and another [merely] to parrot it, no? I believe, I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe – but do I believe what I am saying? Is this a true confession of faith or is it something I says somehow by rote, because it is [the thing to say]? Do I believe only halfway? Confess the Faith! All of it, not part of it! Safeguard this faith, as it came to us, by way of tradition: the whole Faith! And how may I know that I confess the Faith well? There is a sign: he, who confesses the faith well – the whole Faith – has the capacity to worship God.”
The other attitude is that of trusting:
“The man or woman who has faith relies on God: entrusts himself or herself to Him! Paul, in a dark time in his life, said, ‘I know well to whom I have entrusted myself.’ To God! To the Lord Jesus! Trusting [in God] is what leads us to hope. Just as the confession of faith leads us to the worship and praise of God, so trust in God leads us to an attitude of hope. There are many Christians with a hope too watered down, not strong: a faint hope. Why? Because they do not have the strength and the courage to trust in the Lord. But if we Christians believe confessing the faith, and safeguarding it, taking custody of the faith, and, entrusting ourselves to God, to the Lord, we shall be Christian victors- and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.”