Confronting the Crisis of Faith

8/14/2012

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and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Cf. Luke 10:27)

St. Nicholas's vision is referred to as the mystical wheel (Radbild), which in its most simple form looks like a wagon wheel with six spokes. St. Nicholas, who was unlettered, described this vision to a visitor as his "book." In this Trinitarian vision, St. Nicholas saw the Holy Face of God, in fact Jesus as King, at the center of a circle with two sword tips on the two eyes broadening outward, with a similar sword pointed at the mouth. Three swords with tips to the earth broadened into God, so that you have a sort of movement out of God and a movement into God. "God the Trinity (Trinit�t), is both three-in-one (Dreienigkeit) as he reveals himself to the world, and threeformed (Dreifaltigkeit) as he reaches out to the world to draw it in. One gets the perception of God in Christ, reaching out to the world in threefold love and reconciling the world into the threefold love within God's very self, so that God may be all in all. (Cf. 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Cor. 15:28)

The meaning behind the vision has been expanded by incorporating it into what is known as St. Nicholas of Fl�e's meditation prayer cloth (Meditationsbild). Here, the rich tapestry of faith and works that results when one believes in the Trinity as revealed by Jesus Christ is made manifest. Belief in God, belief in Jesus will lead us to love God and to love neighbor as ourselves in works of mercy.

Faith in God as he has revealed himself in Jesus, leads us to believe in Christ: with the faith that the Virgin had in him when his birth was announced to her and she gave her full fiat, her full consent. (Luke 1:38) Belief in Jesus will lead us to imitate him. It will lead us to imitate the humility of his birth at Bethlehem who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider that something to be grasped at but emptied himself and took on the form of a man, like us in everything but sin. (Phil. 2:6-7; Heb. 4:15) It will lead us to imitate the equanimity and trust in the Father that Jesus the Son showed when betrayed by Judas his intimate, abandoned by his other intimates, and arrested unjustly by religious and civil authorities. Faith in Jesus will lead us to imitate the obedience to the will of the Father, obedience even unto death, that Jesus displayed when he suffered crucifixion and death so as to redeem us--even the ungodly among us and in us--from our sins. (Phil. 2:8; Rom. 5:6) To believe in Christ will mean to follow him in our daily living in the sacramental life of the Church, especially in our participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, doing "this" to make Christ and his Sacrifice present among us and us present among Christ and his Sacrifice. Finally, faith in Christ means to advance Christ's Kingship, and to hope in Christ's second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. (2 Tim. 4:1) Maranatha. Lord Come! (1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:20)

But there is more. Belief in Jesus also shows itself in love of neighbor, and this is signified by symbols of six works of mercy-visiting and caring the sick (crutches), showing hospitality to strangers (walking stick and backpack), feeding the hungry and quenching the thirst of the thirsty (bread and jug), visiting those in prison (fetter), clothing the naked (garment at the foot of the cross), and burying the dead (bier).

With threefold faith, then, but especially with the credere in Christum faith, let us the threefold God praise.

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Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is married with three children. He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum. You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: St. Nicholas of Flue, faith, crisis of faith, credere in Deum

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Celia
9 months ago
Does anyone know how, why or when this crisis started? I've been a Catholic all my life & I've seen changes in the church that I don't like small but significant changes & most people have forgotten what it was like then or got in the program so they don't even notice. From the little I've been researching & reading looks like this has been happening since post Vatican Council II. Unity & the sacrifice in the Mass in the Catholic church has always been a thorn to the Communist, Freemasons, etc so these people couldn't wait to get inside (V.C II) & start meddling, succeeded & thus our crisis now. Made a comment on Fr Farfaglia's article but it wasn't published somehow talking about the old Latin Traditional mass & comparing it with the New Mass seems to strike a nerve. Why was the Latin Mass changed if there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. As the saying goes don't fix something that isn't broken.
With JP II"s Ecumenical system who needs to convert anyway, to him looks like every religions God is the same but I would think not!!!! We would be going against the first commandment I am the Lord thy God & you shall have no strange gods before me.
The Muslims don't believe in the Trinity nor that Jesus is divine so allah can't be our God!!!
The Hindu's have so many Gods. Buddhism is a way of life rather than religion. Etc
The meeting in Assisi with all other religions is a blasphemy to God. When St Francis of Assisi went to see the Sultan he spoke only of his Christian faith with the intention of Converting the Sultan & dying a martyrs death. Not to tell him your god is my god like JP II is trying to imply 2 very different things I would say. I'm no expert nor have I lost my faith although I do question the motives of our leaders who are administering our Catholic faith are they really leading us to Christ or elsewhere????? Wonder if they publish my post???
Juneau Alaska
10 months ago
So, I read this entire article and it looks like the intended audience must be people of faith. A sort of "strenghthen your brothers in the faith [Luke 22:32]" approach. I am not a person of faith so I obviously don't have a crisis! Cheers! -Mike
Dliodoir
10 months ago
I too am saddened at the decline in faith, particularly in our American/Western society. It was our faith, after all, that was the moral and spiritual impetus for all the great things that our society has acheived. At the end of the day, however, faith is an individual experience. We can not make anyone else believe. We can testify to the truth and live our lives as a model to its correctness and maybe the Holy Spirit will work through us to enlighten another heart to accept the sacrafice that Christ made for us all. That said, I would rather the dead leaves fall from the tree so that the sun can stimulate new, vibrant growth. There is much to be sad about in the decline of faith in the West, but there are many signs of hope as well. Those that do believe do so with more passion and knowledge and intent. People no longer believe and practice out of some sense of societal or cultural obligation but rather because they are actively striving to be please God. The church militant is enlivened and vigorous and fresh. We stand before a hostile and unbelieving world. . .not unlike the Christians that spread throughout Western Europe in the early Middle Ages. They encountered hostility and violence and scepticism. . .but they gave witness to the pagans and the pagans came to believe. It is a true test of faith to live a proud and open Christian life in a hostile world. Those brave saints, martyrs and un-named evangelizers didn't need a society to accept and affirm their beliefs. We don't need one either. Christ is our King and Mary our Queen and we are their humble strivers toward the kingdom of God no matter what temporal society we happen to live in.
abey
10 months ago
Jesus told St. Philip "seeing me is seeing the Father", again to His words "I am in the Father & the Father in me , me & The Father are one.,since God is spirit. Seeing Jesus in His spiritual glory Apostle John describes Him in revelations chapter 1, but again there is a fulness to Him which comes in the revelation of the original "Arc of the covenant" that which John saw in the temple of God, when the heavens opened, Prophesied by Prophet Jeremiah to the revelation of the covenant in the book of the Maccabees which again is to the words of Jesus of the manner" You do not know the Father neither the Son , but them unto whom the Son pleases to reveal". True to His words, this comes purely by His revelation. Through no amount of intelligence, understanding, interpretations or speculations can this be known, but to a criteria Biblically mentioned "Blessed be the pure in heart for they shall see God" in the literal sense, His Face to His fulness. Rest assured that even the god of this world standing before Him does not speak unless spoken to, none dare, leave alone to even looking at His glorious Face. For all fall short of the Glory of God, but by His Mercy.
Kasoy
10 months ago
Faith is the first step. As stated in paragraph 2518 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St. Augustine "by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe."
Virgil Alfaro
10 months ago
An erudite and timely publication meaningful to those church members
whose daily lives are immersed in science and intellectualism.

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