“The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character,” states the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The theological virtues “inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity” (n. 1813)
Pope Francis said, “The Christian has the theological virtues, which are the great antidote to self-sufficiency. How often do certain morally irreproachable men and women run the risk of becoming conceited and arrogant in the eyes of those who know them! ... Pride is a poison, a powerful poison: a drop of it is enough to spoil a whole life marked by goodness. A person may have performed a mountain of good deeds, may have reaped accolades and praise, but if he has done all this only for himself, to exalt himself, can he still call himself a virtuous person? No!”
Faith is a supernatural virtue by which we firmly believe all the truths which God has revealed to us, and which he teaches through the Catholic Church. St. Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what we do not see. The reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”
Pope Francis said, “Faith is the virtue that makes the Christian. Because to be Christians is not first and foremost about accepting a culture, with the values that accompany it, but being Christian means welcoming and cherishing a bond, a bond with God: God and I, myself and the amiable face of Jesus. This bond is what makes us Christians.”
Faith involves grace, will, and intellect. The grace of God moves the will, and the will moves the intellect to give assent to revealed truth. Hence, to increase our faith, we must work on the three areas of grace, will, and intellect.
Faithfulness to grace will lead to an increase of faith, whereas abuse of grace may lead to unbelief. Prayer and the sacraments are the main sources of grace. Faithfulness to religious practices such as Sunday Mass, confession, and daily prayer is very important for preservation of and growth in faith.
An upright will which is faithful to grace welcomes the practice of virtues which are required by faith, whereas a perverse will gives in to evil passions which darken the mind by inclining it to errors and binding it to earthly concerns, at the expense of ignoring the spiritual.
Charity gives life to faith. Hence, living faith is accompanied by observance of the commandments, and dead faith is not accompanied by observance of the commandments. A person in a state of mortal sin has no living faith.
A deep study of Christian faith helps us preserve and increase our faith. Study leads to a fuller and more explicit knowledge of the truth.
In our study of the faith we must first familiarize ourselves with the Catechism. The study of the lives and writings of the saints officially proposed to us by the Church is very helpful to the growth of our faith.
For our deeper study of the faith we should go into the sources by familiarizing ourselves with the Bible and the writings of the Fathers.
We have a moral obligation to protect our faith by avoiding reading materials that are dangerous to faith. It is very important for parents to safeguard their children from inappropriate materials.
St. John Henry Newman said, “We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”
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信德使人成為基督徒
天主教教理指出：「超性的德行奠定、激發基督徒的倫理行為，並顯示其特點。超性的德行激發所有倫理德行並使之定型而活躍起來。超性的德行是由天主注入信友靈魂的，為使他們能以天主子女的身分行事，並掙得永遠的生命。超性的德行是聖神在人的官能上臨在並行動的保証。超性的德行有三個：信德、望德和愛德。」（教理#1813）。
教宗方濟各說：「基督徒擁有超性的德行，這些德行是對抗只顧自己的極佳解毒劑。一些在道德上無可非議的人，特別是在認識他們的人眼中，有時會陷入變得自負和傲慢的風險！… 驕傲是一種毒藥，一種強烈的毒藥：一滴就足以破壞整個充滿美好的生命。一個人可能做過無數善行，獲得了眾多榮譽和稱讚，但如果他所做的一切只是為了自己，為了抬高自己，那麼他還能稱自己為一個有德行的人嗎？絕對不能！」
信德是一種超自然的德行，藉此我們堅信天主向我們啟示的一切真理，以及祂通過天主教會所教導的真理。聖奧斯定曾說過：「信德是相信我們看不見的事物；這種信德的獎賞就是看見我們所相信的。」
教宗方濟各說：「信德是使人成為基督徒的德行。因為成為基督徒，首要的不是接受某種文化及其伴隨的價值觀，而是歡迎並珍視一種關係，一種與天主的關係：天主與我的關係，我與耶穌溫柔面容的關係。這種關係才是真正使我們成為基督徒。」
信德包括天主的恩寵、旨意和智慧。天主的恩寵推動旨意，而旨意則啟發智慧去接受啟示的真理。因此，為了增加我們的信德，我們必須在恩寵、旨意和智慧三個方面努力。
忠於恩寵將使信德增加，而濫用恩寵則可能導致不可信。祈禱和聖事是獲得恩寵的主要來源。忠於宗教實踐，如主日彌撒、告解和每日祈禱，對於保持和增長信德非常重要。
一顆忠於恩寵正直的旨意會歡迎信德所要求的德行實踐，而不正當的意志則會屈從於邪惡的欲望，這些欲望會使心智變得黑暗，使其傾向於錯誤，並捆綁於世俗事物，而忽視神修。
愛德賦予信德生命。因此，誡命的遵守伴隨著活生生的信德，而死去的信德則沒有遵守誡命。一個處於大罪狀態的人沒有活生生的信德。
深入研究基督信仰有助於我們保持並增強信德。學習會導致對真理的更完整、更明確的認識。
在我們對信仰的學習中，首先應熟悉天主教教理。研究教會正式向我們推薦的聖人們的生活和著作，對增進我們的信德非常有幫助。
為了深入學習信仰，我們應該通過熟悉聖經和教父們的著作來進入信仰的源頭。
我們有道德責任保護我們的信仰，避免閱讀那些對信仰有危害的材料。父母有責任保護子女免受不當材料的影響，這一點非常重要。
聖若望·亨利·紐曼曾說：「我們可以相信我們所選擇的。我們對我們選擇所相信的負責。」
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