Faith: A Complete Abandonment to God
I wish nothing save God, God entire, [and] God alone. I wish, if possible, to suffer infinitely and to be despised for God. … Oh, if I were granted to love [God] infinitely and suffer for [Him] … infinitely. (OOCC, X, pp. 68 - 69; STA, 61)
According to St. Vincent Pallotti, the theological virtue of faith was that which sowed the seed of eternal life in a Christian, because by faith an intimate and personal relationship between God and a person was established. Besides, it was faith that directed one to a greater commitment to God and his word. Thus, faith instilled in a person genuine knowledge of God. As a person had the right knowledge of God, he was able to love God and hope in God. As a result, he was able to surrender and abandon his life to God. The faith St. Vincent Pallotti lived consisted not merely in practicing the presence of God and listening to him, but also living a life of total correspondence to the life of Jesus. This involved seeking God alone, suffering and being despised for God and loving him infinitely in imitation of Jesus. It also implied the perception of everything from God’s perspective: trusting God like that of a child; being absorbed in God; resisting the insinuations of the devil; and engaging in works of charity. For St. Vincent, living a life of faith also entailed spending his whole life in diverse ways to propagate the faith on which his life was founded. In this manner, St. Vincent’s faith in God amounted to a total abandonment of his life to God.
What is the nature of my faith-life? Does it consist merely of believing in some doctrines and dogmas? Is my faith a total abandonment of my life to God? How does my faith help me to live my Christian life? What do I do to propagate the faith which is the foundation of my life?
For his [Christ’s] sake I have suffered the loss of all things, ... in order that I may gain Christ … not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. (Phil 3: 8 – 9)