If a Catholic is to regard his Faith in this light, as the most enormous factor in the, whole shaping of his life, he must, first, know that Faith. The Catholic Church has no skeletons in the cupboard; she is only too anxious to explain her position and the arguments by which she establishes it. Our Lord encountered a man who was deaf and dumb. It would be a calamity if an intelligent, earnest nonCatholic was to find me dumb and deaf, unable to give a reason for the Faith that is in me. But I must know my Faith, not only for the sake of others but for my own sake. The more deeply I probe, the more soulsatisfying do I find my Faith to be. There is logic all the way and the inspiration and thrilling example of those who knew and loved the Faith unto what men call folly.
Next, a Catholic must love his Faith. This follows swiftly on knowledge. One often sees it in converts to the Catholic religion. Everything is so different from what they had hitherto experienced. Here in the Catholic Church there is the peaceful assurance that all is well; without contradiction, without doubt, without compromise, the Catholic Church moves majestically down the ages, her human weaknesses only an offset to the divinity within her.
Love of the Faith is counterfeit unless it leads to regular and fervent practice. If I bring an ardent spirit of faith to Mass and Holy Communion, I certainly will assist at Mass and receive Holy Communion on every possible occasion. If faith shows me Christ in my neighbor, I will not sit comfortably at home in luxurious case if I know he is hungry. If for me the light of faith is always shining across the gate of paradise and reminding me I have not here a lasting city but seek one that is to come, why, I shall surely make every detail of my life a steppingstone to the fuller life hereafter.
Knowledge and love and practice of my Faith cannot but make me anxious that the whole world should share in the good things revealed to me. I would wish all men to know the God I have found His existence and His truth, His love and lovableness, and the certainty that has become part of me that in the Catholic Church He continues to live and teach and inspire and strengthen. This is not to be wanting in respect for the opinions of earnest, highsouled men who are often found outside the Church. It is, rather, a deep regret that such worthy people should be deprived, through no fault of their own, of the magnificent truths that are my daily bread. What have I done to deserve this inestimable gift? And what can I want to do but tell the world about it, knowing as I do, its beauty and its worth and its truth, divinely guaranteed?
Jesus, increase my faith. Make me to know the Faith better in order to practice it more faithfully, thus proving the sincerity of my love of it. Give me the spirit of Your apostles, who spread it everywhere because they could not but speak about what they knew to be truth, and truth essentially bound up with the eternal salvation of the souls of men.