Faith, like love, grows day by day

Vatican City, 9 October 2015 (VIS) – His Beatitude Louis Raphael I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and head of the Synod of the Chaldean Church offered a meditation during this morning's prayer before the resumption of the work of the Synod. The Patriarch commented on the reading from St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, emphasising the apostle's wish to visit and bring the Gospel to the Christian community in Rome. In this way he affirmed that “living the faith in communion brings consolation”.

“Paul is an apostle who feels that he is sent by God”, he said. “For him, the Gospel is an act of worship, and therefore it is praying, being in communion with God, loving, obeying, and living and bearing witness to the joy of proclaiming the Gospel in everyday life. So, one is not ashamed of the Gospel. He does not subordinate his proclamation to human opportunity or hypocritical respect, but rather considers the Gospel to be a gift of inestimable value that reveals God's justice and grace”.

“Faith is the basic condition for being justified and becoming children of God, as it is faith that gives meaning to life”, he continued. It is not “a static fact, or speculation, but rather an inner vision, a profound mystical relationship, lived in the details of difficult everyday life. Faith, like love, is a commitment and must grow day by day in the long journey of life”. On reconciling love and justice, the Patriarch remarked that “if love does not exceed justice, the Gospel becomes empty. It is enough to hear of the experience of Iraqi Christians who left everything they had in one night in order to stay true to their faith”.