Faith is a gift from God, and invitation for man to respond to God’s revelation. God gives us Christ; Christ gives us the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit. “It is this revelation of God which the Church proposes for our belief and which we:
How do we respond to God’s revelation?
We profess in the Creed
We celebrate in the Sacraments
We live by right conduct (as specified in the Ten Commandments)
We respond to (Faith) in our prayer[i]
We live in a world in which we do not trust authority; we doubt our government, our teachers, our parents. This sometimes moves into the area of our religion and we begin to doubt the authority of the magisterium. Without faith the only one we can believe in, the only one we can ultimately trust is me myself and I. We have a preoccupation with self, to some extent because of our lack of trust in others, particularly authority. “faith is a liberation of my I from its preoccupation with self…a breaking out of the isolation that is the malady of my I.”[ii] “I” am no longer calling the shots; “I” am no longer my own “god”.
MUSIC VIDEO – “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd
Many times “authority” in the world is corrupt and surrounds us like a brick wall or hammers at us and we feel enslaved not liberated. It is unjust to attribute the misuse of authority in the world onto the ultimate authority of God. It is faith, yielding to the authority of God that never enslaved but liberates.
Why do we believe in God? Why can we trust God? God is eternal truth and wisdom, He is all-knowing. He also cannot be deceived and cannot deceive. God is not trying to trick us. It is Satan who is called the “father of lies”. God is truth; there is no falsehood in Him. As the act of Faith states, “I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because you have revealed them who are eternal truth and wisdom, who can neither, deceive nor be deceived. In this faith I intend to live and die.”[iii]
Why do we have a hard time believing, trusting authority in general? The basic motive of all faith is the authority (or right to be believed) of someone who is speaking. This authority has an adequate knowledge of what he or she is taking about, and integrity in not wanting to deceive.[iv] Unlike God, human authorities do not always speak the truth and can deceive and be deceived. How can those in authority redeem their reputation? Those in authority must pattern their life after the one who holds supreme authority. Those in authority must strive for truth and wisdom. The must stand firm and be careful not to be deceived by false promises and bribes or lies. They must strive to never intentially deceive anyone but be bold and clear in their intentions. What authority do you hold in life? Do you model these virtues patterned after God?
What ways can we promote trust in God in our country?
STORY - In God we Trust: On our coins and our motto
The motto In God We Trust was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the American Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout Christians throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize God on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Salmon P. Chase by Reverend M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, and read:
Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances. One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins. You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the all seeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW. This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my heart I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters. To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.
There was no official motto of the United States, so in 1956, almost a century after "In God we trust" was placed on coins, the phase was placed in the heart of America as it's official motto. A law was passed by the 84th United States Congress and approved by the President on July 30, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a joint resolution declaring In God We Trust the national motto of the United States. "At the present time the United States has no national motto. The committee deems it most appropriate that 'In God we trust' be so designated as U.S. national motto." The same Congress had required, in the previous year, that the words appear on all currency, as a Cold War measure:
"In these days when imperialistic and materialistic Communism seeks to attack and destroy freedom, it is proper" to "remind all of us of this self-evident truth" that "as long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail."
There were noble reasons for placing "In God we trust" on US currency and making the same phrase our countries motto. This phase is a public witness of what American's should stand for. If our country is destroyed as other great nations have been destroyed before us, will people wonder if we were pagan or Christian? When atheistic communism shouted to the whole world that "God is dead", America replied back that, God is our Hope! We must imprint on our heart, what is imprinted on our money, if not our motto becomes hypocrisy. The band Creed once said, "On our god, we print, 'In God we trust'." We no longer have the threat of communism but modernism, secularism, materialism, relativism promise mankind many things to TRUST, none of those things being God. Finally we look at a private revelation given to a simple Polish nun, Saint Faustina. Jesus appeared to her and asked her to print on the bottom of an image of him, "Jesus, I trust in You." Trust depends on belief. A person usually asks someone to do something for them if they trust that person but also if they believe that the person is capable of the task. Trust and belief work together. The amount of trust, America has in God reflects the lack of belief, the lack of Faith.
[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church, Page 878
[ii] Pope Benedict XVI
[iii] Act of Faith, found in the Profession of Faith / Popular Devotion section of this Link to Liturgy packet
[iv] Fr. John A.Hardon, S.J. “Modern Catholic Dictionary” page 205