ENCOUTERING GOD IN OUR

LIFE

Revelation and
Faith

WHAT IS
REVELATION?

What is Revelation?
The process by which God
personally manifests and
communicates Himself, the
Divine Self, to us and the eternal
designs of the divine will for our
salvation (Dei Verbum 6)

God Comes to Meet Man

By natural reason man can know
God with certainty, on the basis
of his works.
Through an utterly free decision,
God has revealed himself and
given himself to man (CCC 36,1066)

Human experience is the

locus of Gods revelation to
His people
God speaks to us gradually,
in and through our concrete
historical human experience

The divine plan of Revelation is

realized simultaneously by
deeds and words which are
intrinsically bound up with each
other and shed light on each
other. It involves a specific divine
pedagogy: God communicates
himself to man gradually.

God Reveals Himself

Through:

Created things: The Physical world

and The Person
The world: starting from
movement, becoming,
contingency, and the worlds
order and beauty, one can come
to a knowledge of God as origin
and the end of the universe.

The word of man attest that they

contain within themselves neither
their first principle nor final end, but
rather that they participate in Being
itself which alone is without origin or
end. Thus, in different ways, man can
come to know that there exists a
reality which is the first cause and
final end of all things, a reality that
everyone calls God.

Sacred Scripture (Biblical Signs)

Through His Inspired words in
Scriptures, God still reveals
Himself to us, and inspires us
to respond to His covenant of
love

By love, God has revealed himself and

given himself to man. He has thus
provided the definitive, super
abundant answer to the questions that
man asks himself about the meaning
and purpose of his life.
Beyond the witness to himself that
God gives in created things, he
manifested himself to our first parents,
spoke to them, to our fathers by the
prophets, and offered them the
covenant of salvation.

The Magisterium of the Church

(Ecclesial)
God continues to manifest Himself
through the Holy Spirit in the Church
Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture
make up the a single sacred deposit of
the word of God (DV 10), in which, as
mirror, the pilgrim Church
contemplates God, the sources of all
her riches.

The Church, in her doctrine, life and

worship, perpetuates and transmits
to every generation all that she
herself is, all that she believes(DV
8).
The task of interpreting the Word of
God authentically has been
entrusted solely to the Magisterium
of the Church, that is to the Pope
and Bishops in communion with him.

In other Religion

But many Filipino Catholics ask if non-Christian

receive Gods revelation. The Church, in her
prophetic mission of reading the signs of the
times and of interpreting them in the light of
the Gospel (GS 4), discern the seeds of the
Word in the history and culture of all men of
good will. Thus, even non-Christians who do
not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church,
but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere
heart, and, moved by grace, try in their
actions to do His will as they know it through
the dictates of their conscience, may achieve
eternal salvation(LG 16)

For whatever is true and holy in nonChristian cultures and religion is

accepted by the Catholic Church since
it often reflect(s) a ray of that truth
which enlightens all men. Filipino
Catholics, therefore, should
acknowledge, preserve and encourage
the spiritual and moral truths found
among non-Christians, also their
social life and culture.

MANS RESPONSE TO
GOD

By his Revelation, the invincible

God, from the fullness of his love,
addresses men as his friends,
and moves among them in order
to invite and received them into
his own company. The adequate
response to this invitation is
FAITH

WHAT IS FAITH?

Faith
Is our response to Gods
offer of personal relationship
It is a gift, and we are free to
accept it or reject it
God respects our freedom at
all times

Both a gift of God and a human act by which

believer gives personal adherence to God who
invites his response, and freely assents to the
whole truth that God has revealed. (CCC1102)

By faith, man completely submits his intellect

and his will to God. With his whole being man
gives his assents to God the revealer. Sacred
Scripture calls this human response to God,
the author of revelation, the obedience of
Faith. (CCC 2087)

I BELIEVE
To believe has thus a twofold reference:
to the person and the truth: to the truth, by
trust in the person who bears witness to it.
Believing is a human act, consciousness
and free, corresponding to the dignity of
the human person.
Faith is a foretaste of the knowledge that
will make us blessed in the life to come(St.
Thomas Aquinas, Comp. theol.1,2)

Faith is necessary for salvation.

The Lord himself affirms:He
who believes and is baptize will
be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned(Mk
16:16).

To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to

hear or listen to) in faith is to submit
freely to the word that has been heard,
because its truth is guaranteed by God,
who is Truth itself.
Faith comes from the Latin fidere,
which means to trust
We must begin to look at any
experience of human trust as an
experience of trusting God

DIMENSION OF FAITH

BELIEVING

DOING

TRUSTING

PARADOXICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF
FAITH

Certain, Yet Obscure (CFC 142-145)

Free, Yet Morally Obliging (CFC 146)
Reasonable, Yet Beyond Natural Reason
(CFC 147)
An Act, Yet a Process (CFC 148)
A Gift, Yet Our Doing (CFC 149-150)
Personal, Yet Ecclesial (CFC 151-154)

Certain, yet obscure

We are certain of our Faith because it rests

our personally committed loving knowledge
based on the convincing signs of God
revealing Himself in Jesus Christ, and
present to us in His Church through word,
service, fellowship and sacrament.
This certainty of Faith does not mean
everything is clear and obvious.

Free, yet morally obliging

No one, not even God, forces
us to believe.
God, who by loving us the
most has the greatest claim
on us, leaves and keeps us
free.

Reasonable, yet beyond

reason
Christian faith is in no
conflict with reason.
Yet faith itself is a grace
that enlightens our minds.

An act, yet a process

Faith is more than a single,
personal decision for Christ.
It is an enduring way of life
within the Christian
community, the Church.

A gift, yet our doing

It depends upon God who revealed

Himself through Salvation History,
and on the grace of the Holy Spirits
interior illumination and inspiration.
Faith is also our active response to
the witness to Christ and the Gospel
given to us by others.

Personal, yet ecclesial

Christ is personal Savior to
Filipino Catholics not as private
individuals, but as members of
a community of salvation
wherein we meet Jesus and
experience His saving power.

Story of Faith

There is a well-known story of a man

who always had complete trust in God.
After many days of rain, the river was
about to flood its banks and all the
residents in the area were warned to
seek higher ground. The man ignored
the call because he was certain that God
would not let this thing happen to him.

As the flood waters rose, the man

climbed to the upstairs part of the
house. A boat came by taking people
off who, like himself, had left it too
late to leave. He refused a ride in the
boat because he was certain that
God would help him. As the waters
rose further, he climbed on to the
roof of his house.

At which point a helicopter, taking off

the few remaining survivors, came
by and lowered a rope for him. No,
he said, God would look after him.
And in time, he drowned. The man
arrived in heaven, and being very
angry at the way he had been
treated, complained to Saint Peter
that God had let him

Down despite his great faith and trust.

St. Peter replied: Did we not give you
ample warning to seek higher ground?
And did we not send you a boat to
collect you when you did not heed the
first warning? And did we not send you
a helicopter, taking off the few
remaining survivors for you? It seems
that we really did answer your prayers!

STAGES IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF FAITH

Our faith expression is greatly affected by the

changes that take place in our own continuing
development as human persons.
Taking a look at these stages of human
development will help to understand some of the
ways in which faith is expressed in our lives.
Vital to our faith development will be our own selfunderstanding, our concept of ourselves, and that
will depend largely on how we understand the
stages of our own human development.

Stages of
Development
Infancy and Childhood

INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

The Infant has all its needs to
be taken care of: feeding,
sleeping, changing of diapers.
Infancy and childhood are
marked by strong selfcentredness.

In fact selfishness is a basic problem

that remains with us more or less
strongly, throughout life. It is the root
of all sin. Even as adults, our own self
pre-occupation make us tend to
manipulate others to suit our own
needs, whims and desires.
Applying this to our faith response, we see
that sometimes we tend to look upon God
almost exclusively as someone who will
provide security against all our problem
and the danger of the big wide world .

Somehow we believe that

God will manipulate the world
to suit us.
God is also a babys pacifier
God will fix things for us
Take a look for example, at
how we pray?

We must admit that there is an

element of childhood in everyones
faith; there is an element of personal
selfishness, but this should not
dominate our faith, our faith response.
That sign of immature faith.
An important aspect of the
development from infancy and
childhood to further maturity is taking
charge of ones own moral sense.
During the early life the childs
parents are the agents of discipline.

The childs moral sense develops

according to the positive and negative
reinforcement of the guardians.
Gradually the child has to learn to
regulate her own conduct and take
responsibility for her own actions.
Refusal to take responsibility for ones
own decision and actions can only
result in the prolongation of infancy and
stunting of moral and religious growth.

ADOLESCENCE
The great struggle of adolescence is the
struggle for identity and self acceptance.
One must become a person in ones own
right. One must grow out of and away
from dependence on others.
Consequently, some form of rebellion
against authority is notable feature of
this stages of development.
Adolescence are going through
physiological changes which make them
awkward and self conscious.

How do these changes affect

adolescence faith-response? Rebelling
against authority can take the form of
rebellion against their parents religion.
Adolescence struggle for their faith
expression that is different from that of
their parents.
Just as probably found some infant and
child in the expression of our faith ,
probably we shall find some
adolescence too.

Stages of
Development
Adulthood

ADULTHOOD
Two stages are significant
a. Early adulthood is a period of risk
b. Later adulthood may bring a crisis
of meaning

RISK- is a period when people tend to

form more mature personal
relationship.

It also a period in which serious

life- decision are made: for
example, the choice of career,
the decision to marry and raise a
family.
A period when we express our
love for someone we tend to
expose our selves being hurt.

A true love relationship cannot blossom unless

the parties are prepared to share themselves
fully with each other.
This is also our relationship with God. Adulthood
is a time when we must formulate our own
personal way of believing and living our faith.
The road to firm and mature faith is strewn with
many anxious moments, sudden feelings of
disbelief and agnosticism, a certain loneliness.

Meaning
The problem of meaning does not only
arise in later life, though it may become
more prominent at this stages of life.
Senseless and emptiness of life.
The real crisis is the inability to find a
sense of meaning and purpose of life.
The first step in coming to faith in God
is probably the inquire into the meaning
of life.

A mature faith is a faith that finds

meaning in human life because God is
the source of meaning.
Dang Hammarskjold, former general
secretary to the United Nations, in his
book Markings, On the day I first
believe in God, for the first time life
made sense to me and the world had
meaning

SUMMARY AND
CONCLUSION

Faith is not a static thing, we do not remain

stagnant in any one expression of faith
through life.
It ebbs and flows, waxes and wane, changes
its perspective.
Faith goes through doubts and crises. Each
crises is an opportunity for further growth
and maturity.
Maturing in faith is possible only if faith is
integrated into the whole framework of life.

Abraham

ABRAHAM: THE OF FAITH

(LUMEN FIDEI)
Abraham- father of all who
believe
By Faith Abraham obeyed when
he was called to go out to a place
which he was to received as an
heritance; and he went out, not
knowing where he was to go.

Abraham

By Faith he lived as a stranger

and pilgrim in the promised
land.
By Faith, Sarah was given to
conceive the son of the promise.
By Faith Abraham offered his
only son in sacrifice.

Abraham

Abraham fulfills the definition of

faith in Hebrews 11:1 Faith is
the assurance of things hoped,
for the conviction of things not
seen
Abraham was strong in Faith,
Abraham became the Father of
all who believe.

PRAYER:

A WAY OF
COMMUNICATING
WITH GOD AND
A EXPRESSION OF
FAITH

PRAYER

WHAT IS
PRAYER?

PRAYER prayer is the

raising of ones mind and
heart to God or the
requesting of goods things
from God( St. John
Damascene, De fide orth. 3,
24: PG 94, 1089C).

Where does prayer come

from?
Whether prayer is expressed in
words or gesture, it is the whole
man who prays.
Scripture speaks sometimes of
the soul or the spirit but most
often of the heart.
According to the Scripture it is
the hearts that prays

Why Prayer an essential

part of doing theology?
God tirelessly calls each person to
this mysterious encounter with
Himself. Prayer unfolds throughout
the whole history of salvation as
reciprocal call between God and
man.
The drama of prayer is fully
revealed to us in the Word who
became flesh and dwell among us.

EXPRESSION OF PRAYER

VOCAL PRAYER Founded

on the union of body and soul
in human nature, associates
the body with interior prayer
of the heart, following Christs
example of praying to his
Father and teaching the Our
Father to his disciples

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
is the simple expression of the
mystery of prayer. It is a gaze
of faith fixed on Jesus, an
attentiveness to the Word of
God, a silent love. It achieves
real union with the prayer of
Christ to the extend that it
makes us share in his mystery.

Meditation- is a prayerful

quest engaging thought,

imagination, emotion and
desire. Its goal is to make
our own in faith the subject
considered, by confronting it
with the reality of our own
life. ( CCC 2708)

REASON FOR PRAYER

ADORATION
CONTRITION
THANKS GIVING
SUPLICATION

THE HIGHEST FORM OF

PRAYER
WHAT THE HIGHEST FORM OF
PRAYER?

Eucharis

The Eucharist serves as a

reminder that God nourishes
us and loves us
unconditionally.
It also signifies the love poured
out to us giving us new life.

It is JESUS who is praying,

giving thanks to the Father

As the highest form of prayer, is the

heart and summit of the Churchs
life, for in it Christ associates His
Church and all her members with His
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
offered once and for all on the cross
to His Father; by this sacrifice he
pours out the graces of salvation on
His Body which is the Church.