Faith is a Noun and a Verb
Jesus said to his disciples, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17: 20
Deacon Lex Ferrauiola
I used to think that the word ‘faith’ was a noun, but I have come to understand that faith is both a noun and a verb. Faith is something that we proclaim as a community in prayer at Mass and in our worship services, but faith doesn’t come alive until we carry it out through the church door and live it day after day in the world.
The Second Vatican Council reminded Catholics that whatever we do in liturgy must “ritualize a lived reality.” The bread and wine becoming the real presence of Christ on the church altar only takes on meaning when that presence is subsequently made manifest in the world ─ especially to those most suffering and in need, those who are alone and unwanted, those who are unloved and excluded.
It is there in the world that our faith is transformed from a noun into a verb. It is there in the world that our faith is made active through us, with us, and in us, just as salvation is active through Him, with Him, and in Him.
One of the great Catholic theologians of our time Karl Rahner speaks of the three tables of the liturgy: the table of the word, the table of the Eucharist, and the table of the world. We come together at church in community to be nourished with the Lord’s word, and his body and blood, so that we might in turn go out into the streets, the offices, the factories, the schools, and the malls and bring that nourishment to the world.
Sister Mary Collins, another theologian, tells us about the “theology of the door.” She calls us to come to terms with the church door ─ a door that swings both ways between the altar and the world. Our faith doesn’t stop with the ‘dismissal’ at the end of Mass; it starts there. It comes alive when we go out into the world and become Eucharist for others.
Faith can indeed move mountains but it first needs to be transformed within us from a noun to a verb. As we leave Church this weekend, as we pass through the church door, let us be mindful that we are moving from the table of the Eucharist to the table of the world — a world that needs redemption; a world that desperately needs each one of us to be the hands and the feet and the eyes and the voice of Christ.
With love,
Deacon Lex