Faith and belief are the two sides of human spirituality: At once synonymous and inseparable; but varying in texture and capacity. Faith takes over when belief tends to wane, with the psychological taking over from the physical. While belief is rooted in physical evidence, faith glides on without any prior proof or evidential reality. Seeing is believing; but believing without seeing is the true act of faith.

“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not apparent…By faith, we understand the world to be fashioned by the Word of God, so that the visible might be made by the invisible” (Hebrews 11:1 & 3). 

The Bible goes further to give instances of individuals who have benefitted tremendously by the exercise of pure faith, such as Abel offering a better sacrifice than Cain’s, resulting in the very first murder out of envy; Enoch being prevented from seeing death; Noah fashioning an ark for the salvation of his household ever before seeing the looming flood disaster; Abraham going out to dwell in the Land of Promise he had no foreknowledge of, just in obedience to God’s call; barren Sarah, past the bearing age, accepting the ability to conceive an offspring; and many more instances (Hebrews 11:3-11).

The Bible concludes that “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). 
We also know that it was faith that made the Blessed Virgin Mary say ‘yes’ to God and made St. Joseph to accept pregnant Mary as a wife without doubting her virginity status.

We are meant to love, worship, and adore God whom we do not physically see, although His works and existence are everywhere in evidence: The sun, the moon, the stars, the rains, the snow, the oceans, the trees, the mountain ranges, the birds in the sky, the air we breathe, the fish in the seas, and the beasts in the jungle.

Indeed, only the fool doubts the existence of God (Psalm 13:1). Our faith in God’s reality is founded upon our belief in all He has created, including ourselves, putting them all under our charge.

There is hardly anything we can do without faith. Most of the miracles performed by Christ during his earthly ministry were based on faith. A few examples can be cited here: The woman who had been suffering haemorrhage for twelve years received instant healing by simply touching the garment of Christ (Mark 5:25-34; Matthew 9:20-22; Luke 8:43-48); the ruler of the synagogue whose twelve-year-old daughter was dying or dead, but was told that the girl was merely asleep. Jesus followed him home and, raising the girl’s hand, commanded her to rise from the dead to the astonishment of all (Mark 5:38-42).

This reminds us of the incident of raising Lazarus from the dead in Bethany (John 11:1- 45). Perhaps one of the greatest acts of faith was by the centurion whose servant was lying sick at home and he would not bother Jesus to take the trouble of coming to his house to do the healing. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed…For I, too, am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go’, and he goes, and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:5-10). Jesus responded ‘Amen’ to him and the servant was healed at that instant.

Jesus was so moved by the centurion’s faith that he commented: “…I have not found so great a faith in Israel” (Matthew 8:10). The centurion displayed a combination of faith and humility, as well as great confidence in the efficacy of the word.

The immortal words of the centurion have now become a significant part of the liturgy of the Eucharist. The ten lepers healed (Luke 17:12-19) as Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem were beneficiaries of their faith.

Without getting too close to Jesus, they asked for his mercy which they received instantly and got healed, and were asked to go and show themselves to the priests as evidence of their healing and social reintegration. But, curiously enough, only one of them, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks to the Lord.

The fact that Jesus said to him, “Rise up, go forth. For your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19), tacitly suggests that the other nine lepers might have later suffered a relapse of their affliction, although this was not confirmed. 

Thankfulness to God for every favour received, big or small, is a cardinal principle of Christianity. One character who got trapped in the conflict between faith and belief was Thomas, the doubting disciple.

The first time Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection Thomas was not present, and he refused to believe the report of his colleagues who had no proof to offer him (John 20:24-29).

Thomas was even looking for more than ocular proof; he wanted tactile proof as well. “Unless I will see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the place of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

But when the risen Christ appeared to the disciples on a second occasion, with Thomas now present, the mortified disciple could only exclaim: “My Lord and my God” (John 20: 28). The ocular proof was now enough, and Thomas had no need to explore the tactile proofs anymore.

But Jesus upbraided him for his lack of faith. “You have seen me, Thomas, so you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). 

This remark refers to all (including the succeeding generations) who, with neither tactile nor ocular proof, believe in the resurrection of Christ, and have faith in his redemptive power.

The honest truth is, there is a bit of Thomas in all of us, which is exhibited at moments of deep crisis and depression; moments when we feel abandoned and even doubt the love of God for us. We should remain steadfast at all times, and hold on to our faiths even when things appear to be going contrary to our expectations. 

Belief without faith is sheer dogma. It is not enough to believe in God; it is more important to anchor that belief on an unshakeable faith in His eternal goodness, without seeking for any proof for our faith.