The Light of Faith

When grace comes into the intellect, it comes as a kind of a light. It is difficult to describe what it does to the human mind. Picture sunlight shining through a stained-glass window. Notice how it is diffused and brings out all of the color. That is what grace does to the intellect. It gives it a new vision. Faith, then, becomes to reason something like a telescope is to the eye. It does not destroy the eye, it just perfects it. When faith gets into us, it gives us a new certitude beyond reason. My arguments do not give you certitude. That has to come from faith, that has to come from God. That is why our Blessed Lord said to Peter, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.”  The certitude that comes from faith is so great that nothing can destroy it. As a matter of fact, the certitude that comes from faith is greater than the reasons for faith. That is because the light comes from God. We often have many certitudes that are stronger than the reasons we can give. For example, if we were challenged all of a sudden to prove that we were legitimate children, it might be rather difficult. We do not have the documents. But nothing could shake our certitude. Even so, a learned man could give many arguments against the existence of God and the divinity of Christ to one of our children, but he could never destroy the faith of that child.