DUTIES OF FAITH

The Duties of Faith

 Knowledge

  A Christian must have so much knowledge as is necessary for a good Christian life according to age, position and period of history. One must take into account the educational level of the individual and the propagation of error through the mass media that he is exposed to. The most fundamental knowledge comprises the Apostles’ Creed, Ten Commandments, and the chief precepts of the Church, namely, Mass on days of obligation and annual Communion, and the necessary sacraments, i.e. Baptism, Reconciliation and Eucharist. In an emergency, i.e. in the case of a dying person who has to be absolved or baptized, the minimum faith knowledge called for is of God who retributes according to one’s works and who has redeemed us through his Son, Jesus Christ. Implicit faith in God who rewards and punishes is sufficient for salvation. However, this is not sufficient for Baptism, even for a dying person. Since Baptism admits one into the visible Church, explicit faith in Christ is needed. Generally speaking, a person wishing to be baptised would surely take the trouble to have knowledge of the faith.
 Nourishing the Faith by the deepening understanding of it. Like leaven in the dough, such faith knowledge acts slowly but surely, enlightening, transforming and penetrating. This is the fruit of prayer, study, information and meditation. A non-praying faith is not a life-giving relationship with God. Life in and with the Church is another very important means of nourishing Faith. Taking active part in the liturgy and the sacraments best does this. Habitual neglect of the Sunday homily is a mortal sin for those who have no other means of instruction. There is a corresponding obligation on the part of priests and educators to provide substantial and effective instruction.

 Profession of Faith is a duty as it is a practical witness to the Christian life of love of God and neighbour. Holy Scripture speaks explicitly about professing Christ before men and indicates the times for eliciting the profession of faith. (cf. Mt 10, 32; Mk 8, 38; Lk 9, 26; 2 Tim 2, 12). Since the truths of faith are the highest value, and they are divine gifts, a Christian is bound to share them with others for the growth of God’s kingdom and the salvation of one’s fellowmen. Besides, the faith is the pearl of great price, and such a precious value must be safeguarded from attack and extinction. The consistent profession of faith by word and life assures all this. Serious motives may excuse from the external profession of faith or even oblige concealment. In times of persecution flight is permissible, but not for the priest whose ministrations are needed.

 To prevent mocking and contempt of the faith, public defence is called for. Concealment is not permissible if it is prejudicial to the cause of the faith. Questioned by proper authority, the Christian can neither deny nor decline to answer. We must distinguish between proper authority, on the one hand, and curious neighbours, petty officials, local rogues and lumpen, on the other. These latter have no right to demand a profession of faith. Thus concealment of faith is justified if it is not prejudicial to it and causes no scandal. In evaluating the denial of faith, one must consider the demand made on the faith, the circumstances of the country and the faith content of the people who are so pressurised. One must also distinguish between a denial which is an external negation, and apostasy which is an internal renouncing. As a rule, neither external denial nor internal renouncing is permissible as it destroys the honour due to God and the good of fellowmen. Denial can be direct, by words or actions; indirect denial can be by circumstances. Now-a-days, we Christians are not challenged to profess or deny our faith, in certain areas, as soon as it is known that we are Christian, we are open to discrimination and harassment.

 At definite times there is an obligatory profession of faith before Church authorities and the Christian community, e.g. at baptism, reconciliation of converts, reconcilement of apostates. However, danger of death excuses. A new convert may conceal his faith for a time, during which he may continue to attend the previous church services. But he cannot participate actively if the rites approve of heresy or unbelief.
 Safeguarding the Faith is a duty since present conditions of life pose many unavoidable challenges. Faith is safeguarded by prayer, solidarity with the community, deepening knowledge, prudence in reading contemporary literature, selection of movies and TV programmes, and choice of friends of different religious persuasions. If a friendship is a hazard to one’s faith it must be renounced. Faith is a higher value than human friendship. There should be great prudence in the choice of a marriage partner. A positively dynamic way of safeguarding the faith is by protecting the faith of other Christians and promoting its rights in society. It is a grave sin to join a political party that is hostile to the faith. It is our duty to Christianise all areas of life.
 Spreading the Faith is an obligation devolving on every Christian by the law of love in order to give all men free access to the treasures of Christ’s revelation (cf. LG 17; AG 23). Placing the “light under a bushel” is the surest way of snuffing it out. As discipleship leads on to apostleship, missionary undertaking is not optional for the Church. It is essential to it, a condition of its authentic being, the power and content of its identity. The Church is not centred on itself; it is centred on the world.  In a Trinitarian sense, evangelisation is a natural expression of the prolongation of the time-space extension of the generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit.