Proud Apostles of Our Faith

“Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?” 

“Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?” 

These were the words spoken to you at your baptism. They are the tenants of your faith and those you profess every Sunday. As the priest states right before pouring holy water upon the infant’s head: “This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church, we are proud to profess it.”

But are we truly proud to profess it? To my great regret I have, many times, avoided speaking of my faith. Worse still, I have found myself mitigating its truth by adding “if,” and even “but that is what I believe.” I never understood this as a lack of faith, simply a respectful way of communicating which left the other feeling included. 

However, anytime we mitigate or hide our beliefs, it is not a question of inclusion or any other justification we can find, it is a lack of faith. I came to realize this as I was reading the life of St. Louis wherein he asks his Seneschal, or steward, during a conversation about faith, what his father’s name was. 

Upon responding that his father’s name was Simon, St. Louis asked if he was sure. Resting upon the sound witness of his mother the Seneschal affirmed his certainty in the belief of his father’s name. “You should believe no less firmly in all the articles of faith of which the apostles are your witness,” concluded the king.

It is this connection between the certainty of mundane beliefs and that of our faith which leads me to conclude every caveat we place when talking about religion is a lack of faith. Why caveat truth, unless we believe it may be faulty? 

We should be proud of our faith, we should be ready and willing to talk about it just as easily as we answer the question of what our fathers’ names are. 

Now, as I conclude, I wish to clarify that I do not mean by this we should be imprudent in our speech; sometimes it is simply not the place or time. But if religion is brought up, is applicable, or is under attack, we should be the first to rise up and talk about it. We should not caveat our faith. 

So be a proud disciple and do not shy away from saying, “God bless you” and clearly stating “ I am off to Mass, or Adoration” instead of saying “Oh… hmmm… I am going somewhere…”