Thought for the Day – 12 August – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Faith and Charity
“Faith is a wonderful thing.
As has been said, it is a supernatural gift from God which we should keep alive by prayer.
Faith alone is not enough, however.
It is the foundation, on which we must build the structure of our Christian life.
It is especially necessary for it to be united to the flame of charity.
“Without love,” says St Augustine, “there is only the faith which the devil has” (De Caritate 10) because, as St James explains, “the devil also believes and trembles” (Js 2:19).
We, however, should believe and love.
We must combine faith with charity towards God and towards our neighbour.
Our faith should be active.
As St Paul says, it should work under the influence of charity (Gal 5:6).
Without charity and good works, faith is a lifeless thing.
If we really believe, we should love God above all things, even more than we love ourselves and, we should be ready to make any sacrifice for Him, even the sacrifice of our lives.
Faith should induce us to think constantly of God and charity should urge us to do everytig for His sake, rather than for any lesser purpose.
If we lack this kind of charity, we cannot claim to be sincere Christians.”
Antonio Cardinal Bacci
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