Faith is intangible but far from invisible.  It is a flame of heart that finds living expression in attitudes and actions.  It stretches through doubt and glows through injury.  It grows roots in darkness and buds softly in the light.  Faith dances with strong, confident movement; it meets skeptics with depth and daring and knows a trust that does not need affirmation or even corroboration.

Faith is not confined by boundaries; it spills into every interaction,  every dream, every breath.  Discovered and nurtured, faith spirals deeper and deeper within.  And  so it becomes a well for being, becoming.  Faith knows moments of failure as moments of grace.  Faith  opens possibilities: forgiveness, reimagining, evolving.

Faith is believing in something far greater than self; faith is knowing a personal space within the world, knowing that as owned and as shared.  Faith is that deep confidence that alleviates anxiety and inspires openness.  Faith transforms fear and recognizes strength; it is flexible and resilient.  Faith finds structure and sustenance in practice and traditions shaped through centuries and refined in each generation.

Faith itself, that flame, enlivens and transcends.  The human expression of faith shared knows diverse and dramatic animation in ritual and art and architecture.  And still, nothing can capture the essence of one heart’s faith.

Catholicism in the richness of diversity opens so many options for igniting flames of faith.  There are the wealth of sacraments, the allure of sacred space, the swell of sacred music, the rhythm of the Rosary,  the daily liturgy and the simplicity of Eucharistic adoration: something for everyone searching, exploring, wondering.  And most of all, there is the way faith animates the life of Catholics.  There is the reality of what Francis of Assisi said.  “Preach the Gospel.  If necessary, use words.” That is faith lived and celebrated.




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