How well do you know YOUR Parish Church? - 2

Just as a church building is an inanimate object without its parishioners, so Faith, a Gift of God, is not merely something we ‘do’ on Sundays and Holy Days. Faith is not just a set of facts to be learned from the Catechism or in lessons, but it is something which must be accepted and practised, i.e. ‘taken on board’ and have a definite effect on our day-to-day life if it is to live and grow in us and spread to those among whom we live. Faith, in a ‘compartment’ of the mind that means little or nothing to one is rather like a plant which, once in the soil, is then neglected and, in time, attacked by frost, insects and the sun, will either be stunted in growth or even shrivel and die, whereas plants which are watered, fertilised, pruned and carefully nurtured flourish, producing flowers, fruit, seeds and further growth round the garden. Cuttings can spread this bounty far and wide. Who knows how many ‘seeds of Faith’ God will plant and how many ‘cuttings’ He will transplant through our efforts?

As with productive gardening, considerable effort ‘growing’ Faith is required on our part, perhaps more than ever in today’s world which would seem to be governed by outward principles such as reputation, pleasure and material success; a world which, at times, might appear to be run according to the whims of pressure groups who, most decidedly, do not accept the Will of God, but strenuously oppose it!

In very early times the Christian message was, of course, spread by word of mouth and, of course, through example! Throughout the ages, until literacy became more widespread and before written and printed matter were more readily available and understandable, other ways were essential to teach and recall the Truths of the Faith. The Rosary, for example, was originally developed from the prayers of the Psalter (book of psalms), having 150 beads corresponding to the 150 psalms; in this way even the uneducated could, through prayers, counted on their beads, join in the Prayer of the Church, truly a demonstration of one’s equality before God which transcends all buildings and borders, and which does not depend on one’s academic qualifications!