Faith and Understanding

What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths Appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason We believe because the authority of Eternal God Himself who reveals them Who can neither deceive nor be deceived So that the submission of our faith nevertheless be in accordance with reason Eternal God willed that external proofs of his Revelation Should be joined to the internal help of the Eternal Holy Spirit Thus the miracles of Father Christ and the saints Prophecies The Church’s growth and holiness Her fruitfulness and stability are the most certain signs of divine Revelation Adapted to the intelligence of fall They are motives of credibility Which show that the assent of faith is by no means a blind impulse of the mind Faith is certain It is certain than all human knowledge Because it is founded at the very word of Eternal God who cannot lie To be sure Revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience But The certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that Which the light of natural reason gives Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt Faith seeks understanding It is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better The One in whom he has put his faith To understand better what He has revealed A more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith Increasingly set afire by love The grace of faith opens the eyes of our hearts To a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation That is Of the reality of Eternal God’s plan and the mysteries of faith Of their connection with each other with Father Christ The center of the revealed mystery The same Eternal Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts So that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood In the words of St. Augustine I believe In order to understand And I understand The better to believe Or can truth ever contradict truth Consequently Methodical research in all branches of knowledge Provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner Does not override moral laws Can never conflict with the faith Because the things of the world The things of faith derive from the same Eternal God The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led As it were By the hand of Eternal God in spite of Himself For it is Eternal God The conserver of all things Who made them what they are 1252015