Three Levels of Faith Believers Should Have

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • St. Josaphat Formation Center, Phoenix, AZ

On the day after my father’s 90th birthday, the family members all got together for a big celebration – the “you don’t look a day over 90” birthday party. It started with Mass to give thanks to God for his 90 years and the many blessing of his life because he has the blessing of a son who is a priest. The Gospel for August 11th was about Faith. Our Lord chided the disciples for their lack of it and affirmed that, with even a little, nothing was impossible for the believer. It made me reflect that most of the blessings (if not indeed all of them) in my father’s long life was because of Faith – my Dad’s and all his ancestors’. 

Because I get asked a lot of questions about Faith in the confessional and elsewhere, it occurred to me that there were three levels of Faith that a believer has to have. The first one is that God exists and that everything else exists because of Him. While this may seem rather simplistic to the active believer, it’s quite challenging for the average person today, especially the young. Surrounded in schools from elementary to university with teachers who profess absolute belief in science and evolution as the answers to man’s ultimate questions, hence a very practical and often vocal atheism, it is no wonder that young people have doubts about God and their Faith. A doubt is a kind of question that begs to be answered, and so I try very hard (and gladly) to answer someone’s questions about Faith – even if it takes extra time in a long line of confessions because it is a lot easier and better to believe in God than in chance.

The second level of Faith is that this Powerful Creator God is also GOOD! He is not vindictive, dualistic, forgetful or neglectful – God is always good. It is His very essence! Jesus’ mission was in great part to teach us that God is a Father and that He does good. All the miracles of healing many sick, blind, paralyzed, leprous persons or feeding the multitudes, raising the dead, and forgiving sins, were to show us this. “If you do not believe my words, at least believe because of the works I do.” However, the Divine attributes of “Almighty” together with “All-Good” present a challenge to some who find a contradiction in this when evil still prevails in our world. A valid and challenging question, yet certainly not insurmountable to give an explanation, but Faith is still required. As St Augustine explains: “For almighty God…because He is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if He were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself”.

The Third level of Faith that is indispensable for believers is that this Power and Goodness of God is directed towards ME. It is not just for everyone in general, but I have to believe that God loves me and does all He can for my good – physically and spiritually. This is where the rubber meets the road, if you will – with Faith in God! My father’s 90 years of life with countless blessings (as well as many difficulties overcome or still to come) were evidence of this. My Dad’s great gift to us after helping to bring us into this world was passing on the gift of Faith. We gave thanks to God.