One of the great challenges that face us as Catholics as we move forward with the New Evangelization is witnessing and teaching the proper relationship between faith and reason. As our culture becomes increasingly secular, more and more people rely purely on science and reason as the source of truth, and not Christ and the Church. Anything proposed from a position of science or reason is readily accepted as true with little reflection or questioning. On the other hand, anything that is proposed from a religious standpoint is oftentimes immediately questioned and is seen as opposed to reason and therefore, not true.
However, God is the only genuine source of truth, and what God has revealed to us through Christ and entrusted to the Church fully reveals to us who God is and who we are as human beings created in the image and likeness of God. Faith, rather than being opposed to reason, allows our reason to achieve a level of knowledge and understanding of truth that goes far beyond its own natural capacities.
How then, do faith and reason work together? The great early Church Father St. Anselm defined theology, the study or science of God, as “faith seeking understanding.” How we come to know God and ultimately how we come to share in his life is indeed through first accepting in faith what God has revealed to us and then seeking to further understand his truth and plan for us. Mary gives us a perfect example of this faith seeking understanding faith at the Annunciation. Mary demonstrates great faith, but a faith that was seeking understanding. When the angel told her that she was going to conceive a child, she accepted with faith what God was revealing to her in this mysterious event. She clung to his words; she believed them even though she did not fully understand them.
But Mary’s faith did not stop there. She sought to more deeply understand what God’s word meant so that she could more deeply know, love, and serve Him. So Mary pondered God’s word in her heart and mind and asked questions. “How will this be if I do not know man?” (Luke 1:34). Asking questions is not doubting! Mary’s question does not show doubt, but rather shows that she believes God’s revelation and desires to know his will even more profoundly, so that she will be able to more perfectly cooperate with his plan. We should always seek to know more deeply who God is and who we are and what God’s plan and will is for us.
The reality is that our relationship with God is like any relationship. Whether it be with a spouse or a friend, we seek to know ever more deeply who they are, and the more we come to truly know them, the more we can grow in love and friendship with them. The same applies with our faith in God and our relationship with Him. We certainly do not know everything about God. But that does not mean we stop learning. And just because God’s revelation can sometimes be difficult to understand or difficult to live does not mean we just reject it or give up. It is at those times in particular that like Mary we cling with faith to what God has revealed to us, and we surrender our intellect and will to what He has revealed.
But then we ponder it, we ask questions, we read the Scriptures, study the teachings of the Church, and we pray about it. What if Mary had not understood at first what the angel was telling her, and she thought it was just too hard to accept or live without pondering in her heart God’s word, asking the questions, and praying for the grace to live faithfully according to God’s will? Our faith in God requires that we always seek to more deeply understand God’s revelation, so that we may more deeply love and serve Him.
Therefore, not only does faith not contradict reason, but faith actually builds upon and perfects our reason. Faith takes what we can know through our reason alone and enables us to understand the truths about God and ourselves on a completely new level. We see this profoundly with Mary and the Annunciation. It seems “unreasonable” that Mary could be with child since she had never had relations with a man. However, because of Mary’s faith and her desire to further understand God’s revelation and plan, God reveals to her that her child is not conceived through a man, but rather through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no way that Mary could have come to know this through her reason alone. But through her faith in God’s revelation, she comes to know that her Son will be conceived through the Holy Spirit and truly be the Son of God.
Is this unreasonable or is God’s plan simply beyond Mary’s natural reason? This is the crucial point. We call what we do not know about God “mysteries” not because the truths about God are unreasonable, but because they are simply beyond the capacity of our reason that is currently limited by space and time and our finite nature here on earth. In addition, just because something is beyond our reason does not mean that it is not true. We see this in our everyday lives! For example, if I ask my four-year-old what eight times eight is, he would have no idea. It is simply beyond his reason at this point in his human existence. Does this mean that “eight times eight equals 64” is not true? Of course not! It just means that this truth is simply beyond his reason, not contrary to it or non-existent.
Can we possibly completely know and understand the many mysteries concerning the universe, the natural world, the complexity of the human person? How many complex truths are there out there that many of us are unable to understand at this moment? That does not mean they are false, or non-existent, or contradict our reason, those complex truths are just simply beyond our understanding.
The same applies to the mysteries of God. They are true because God has revealed them to us, but many of them are beyond our reason, which is limited in many ways while we are in this world. In fact not only is God’s revelation not unreasonable, but we can even come to a limited and imperfect understanding of revelation through our reason alone, such as in our understanding of the natural law. However, through God’s revelation and our faith seeking understanding, we can continue to ponder the mysteries of God so that we may come to know them more deeply until the fullness of time when we see God face to face.
Thus, the dual and inseparable relationship of faith and reason are the two irreplaceable and indispensable means through which we come to know God and enter into the profound depths of his mystery and also come to know who we are as children of God created in his image and likeness. As Blessed Pope John Paul II powerfully states:
Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.
— Fides et Ratio,(Faith and Reason) 1
Therefore, the mysteries of our Catholic faith should never be roadblocks to our faith, but should always call us to a deeper understanding and a deeper communion with God who is continuously calling us to Himself. This is why life-long catechesis is not only important but should be an essential and indispensable part of the Christian walk. As we see in the great story Luke tells of the two disciples encountering Christ on the Road to Emmaus in his Gospel, Christ is always walking with us on the journey, answering our questions and fulfilling our deepest longings. All we need to do is open our hearts and minds without fear to his truth so that our hearts may indeed burn with love for Christ and we may become his powerful instruments of love and truth. Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ!
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