“In a way, everything necessary to understand ‘faithful Catholic’ is contained in the word ‘faith,’” replies Colin Donovan, EWTN vice president for theology.
“What does it mean to be full of faith? A faithful Catholic is one who will swear before God and man that ‘I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’ And also, ‘I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins and that he will come to judge the living and the dead.’ Further, ‘I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches because you have revealed them who are eternal Truth and Wisdom, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.’”
“These words of the ‘Act of Faith’ tell us that a faithful Catholic is not ashamed of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, of any of the dogmatic and moral truths taught by the Church, truths of social justice or of sexual and medical morality, and is willing to affirm them before his family, friends, the court of public opinion and, if need be, the state.
“Since faith is a gift from God, and God’s grace will never be found wanting, we cannot fail in it except by our own fault. We only must hold fast to it.
“One could go on to define a hopeful Catholic and a charitable Catholic similarly, from the Church’s ‘Act of Hope’ and ‘Act of Charity.’ It should be clear, therefore, that a ‘faithful Catholic’ may not be a perfect Catholic (faithful, hopeful and charitable), but he or she is one who has not abandoned the faith, the foundation of the Christian life, for the opinions of the world.”
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