DISPATCHES FROM FR. CHARITAS

Saturday, April 21, 2018

The Existentialists speak of a leap of faith. And I think I know what they mean. Yet this soul who pens these words never needed a leap of faith, rather, I experienced the discovery of faith. My faith is not a trust that if I leap a net will appear; for me, it was far more a trust in what I now know will lead me to what I have yet know. My faith is but an extension of what of what I behold, what I touch, what I hear in the breathing and pulse of Creation, a breathing and a pulse that is in rhythm of the soul of the Creator.

My faith in Christ is by way of listening to Him, by way of watching Him, by way of experiencing Him. My faith is not through closing my eyes and daring to trust Him, neither by way of gritting my teeth and believing what I do not yet truly believe nor by closing my eyes and making that leap of existential faith. Rather my faith came by way of opening my eyes, opening my heart, opening my mind … with that first assurance I journeyed further on.

My faith is not a consequence of my coming to grips with how small I am in a vast universe or how brief my lifetime in a vast eternity … No, my faith is in allowing myself to experience the wonder of my being a part of a vast universe and of being a ripple in the flow of an eternal river. My faith was not born out of despair, though I have known despair. My faith was born out of wonder and my quest to know of the One who creates such wonders.

My salvation was not for the purpose of fleeing hell or overcoming the fear of death … but for the purpose of coming fully alive in the heavenly realms, this Life in the fields of Forever.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz