Faith changes EVERYTHING

fr Tadeusz Dajczer Faith changes EVERYTHING

Fr Tadeusz Dajczer, the founder of the Families of Nazareth, one of the new lay movements in the Church, which originated in Poland, shares some of his insights about how the gift of Faith changes a person's whole attitude to life.

Sharing in God's life, through faith, causes us to become "a new person". We obtain a new comprehension of reality, a new perception of God as well as a new perception of the temporal reality around us. We realise that what we come to know only in human and worldly terms is not complete reality, it is seeing merely the surface, seeing only the secondary causes which God employs.

Faith is a virtue, which allows us to be in touch with God, and is fundamental to the supernatural life. Since faith is fundamental to all supernatural works, everything happens because of it. The positive qualities or shortcomings of our faith determine the activity of our supernatural life. Difficulties in the supernatural life always stem from a weakness of faith. / Faith is the basic virtue, since it gives us the possibility of sharing in the life of God. Faith is sharing in God's thinking. It is as if supernatural reason were placed upon our natural faculties of the soul. Faith allows us to think as God does, not only about ourselves but also about everything we come into contact with.

"Faith changes our mentality"

The purpose of our faith is for us to think as Jesus Christ does; to allow Him who is living in us through faith, to use us, think within us, and live in us. Because faith can accomplish in us a complete change from our former way of seeing, thinking and experiencing, it changes our mentality. It tells us always to place God first, to be concerned about focusing our entire lives on Him and to interpret the world in the divine light coming from God. Then the light of faith illuminates all our judgements, appraisals, desires and expectations. The created world surrounding us is a voice which speaks to us. If our faith is weak, then that voice will distract us, pull us away from God, and focus our attention on itself. As faith grows, the opposite process occurs. The outside world begins to speak of God, focuses our attention on God, to draw us to Him, to become a sign of His presence, to help us get in touch with Him and to become a place where we encounter Him. Faith allows us to see that all that happens around us does not happen due to man's power. Faith allows us to discover the traces of God in creation. It gives us the ability to perceive God's will in phenomena and to see events as signs of God passing by.

Every moment of our lives is permeated with the Presence that loves and bestows. To live in faith means to be able to see this loving and constantly bestowing Presence. Because of faith, Christ gradually becomes a light which shines through a person's whole life, and which shines through the world. He becomes a living, active Presence in the life of His disciples. Every moment of our lives brings us His presence.

"God even tries to draw good out of evil"

God reveals Himself to us through His will. But what is His will? It is always that which is best for us, because God is love. The statement of St Therese of the Child Jesus that "everything is grace" means that everything that happens in your life, is linked with some kind of grace. God comes to you in the form of a gift, in the form of grace, in the form of a call. God wants everything to become for you a "capital of good". He even tries to draw good out of evil. Evil cannot be a grace, but God in his almighty and infinite mercy can even draw good from it. Even when you commit a grievous sin, Christ is with you and loves you.

Through faith we discover that man only appears to be the protagonist in the history of the world; in reality God is the main protagonist. The presence of God throughout history affects equally the things that happen in the realm of politics, society and the economy, as well as in our family or in professional matters. He is present everywhere and everything depends on Him. God waits for us to look with the eyes of faith at all the experiences we live through, especially the difficult ones.

"God is present everywhere and everything depends on Him"

In the parable of the talents, Jesus warns us not to close ourselves off from coming to know Him through faith and not to be slothful in using all the things which God is continuously giving us. A talent is a gift and material, but at the same time an opportunity. Christ, in giving you a talent trusts you and waits for you to take proper advantage of it. If He has given you certain abilities, then He is not indifferent as to what you do with them. If, however, you did not receive these abilities - this is also a talent. A talent is not only receiving something, but it is only lacking something.

In the light of faith, the good health you have is a talent but bad health is also a talent. Jesus in each case asks the question, "What are you doing with this talent?" You can equally waste good health, and even more so, you can waste the lack of health. Everything is a gift, a talent is a gift. It is a talent for example if you are unable to pray; yet you consider this a misfortune. It is important what you do with this inability to pray. Maybe you have buried this talent and you say to yourself: well, I will not pray. But you can gain so much from it. The inability to pray should intensify your hunger for God, and thereby, it can become a means of contributing to your sanctification. The same thing applies when you have problems at home, when the family is quarrelling. This also is your talent and an opportunity given to you by God.

What can you do it with? If you break down, and are discouraged, then you bury it in the ground. It is not possible for a person of faith not to see the deeper meaning of his own experiences. The very search of the deeper understanding of personal experiences is to profit from the talent.

"Everything is meant to serve towards your sanctification"

If certain situations make you feel tense, it means that your talent is hidden within them, as if a diamond were buried beneath the ashes. What do you do with it? How do you make use of it? Everything is meant to serve towards your sanctification. In this sense everything is grace. Suffering which overwhelms you or other unfavourable circumstances, is a whole mass of talents. We, however, are often like blind people or like children who understand very little. It is only when we stand before God that everything will be made clear to us. The parable of the talents is an evangelical call to conversion. You have to start looking at your life differently; you must look at it with the eyes of faith. Then you will see God's endless giving of graces; you will see your whole life as a multitude of hidden chances for continual inner transformation. St Augustine says, "For the ones who love God, all things work for good, even sin" (Romans 8.28) Therefore even a fall, which is a great misfortune and at the same time hurts Jesus, can be an opportunity within which is hidden some kind of talent given to you in that situation, from which you can profit. Jesus, looking at your life, that may be filled with failures, problems, conflicts, unfulfilled plans, everyday difficulties and spiritual difficulties is never sad. He is joyful because He expects all those things to bear fruit and that you will take advantage of them and you will be joyful and grateful for everything He gives you.

The above edited extract is taken from Fr Tadeusz Dajczer 's book "Inquiring Faith".

Fr Tadeusz Dajczer, was born in 1931. He received a doctorate of theology from the Gregorianum University in Rome and is currently a professor of the Academy of Catholic Theology at Warsaw. He has received the highest award in Poland for his outstanding achievements in academia. Being a gifted spiritual director as well, a group of students grew up around him in the 19 70s, who wanted to explore and develop their spiritual life. This eventually grew into the Families of Nazareth which was officially recognised in 1985. In an age characterised by the great disintegration of the family, Fr Tadeusz's response was not to engage in polemics about this but rather to encourage people to get back in closer contact with God, to grow in Faith, as it is this that he sees as the key to conquering and neutralising the destructive forces around us. The Families of Nazareth have communities all round the world. If you would like to know more please contact Fr Denis Sarsfield at Westminster Cathedral - Clergy House - 42 Francis Street - London SW1 1QW Tel: 0207 7989068

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