One of the great weaknesses in the Church right now is the loss of faith in the Sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Anointing, Marriage and Holy Orders. For many years now this has been almost universally blamed on poor teaching to the Catholic faithful. It is true that when all the religious deserted 50 years ago that the Catholic mandate to pass on the Faith fell on very hard times. Parents had to step in and take over a duty they were not prepared for and received very little assistance from the Church. This was also coupled with an influx of distorted teachings about the Sacraments that did much damage to the “believing” dimension as related to the Deposit of Faith, that which is universally held by the faithful to be true. This brings me to the false contention that I want to take issue with. It is summarized by something I read in our Lenten meditations based on the words of St. Terresa of Calcutta. “Faith is not a matter of knowing, it’s a matter of believing!” The faith spoken of here is not the doctrinal composition of stated beliefs, but rather the faith lived out in our day to day lives. So, we say we believe in the Sacraments, but do we? This might best be tested by two questions of evaluation. One, do I regularly participate in those offered on a repeated basis, such as Confession and the Eucharist (Mass)? Two, do I consciously expect God’s Grace to be actively working in me through the Sacraments, therefore experiencing real power at work within me? If the answer is “no” or “not sure”, I am probably not dealing with a matter of sufficient knowledge of the subject material, but rather a matter of unbelief, not believing what knowledge we already have. Remember what Jesus said, “To him who has, more will be given. But he who has not even what he has will be taken away from him.” To him who has what we ask? Faith, believing! It’s not the conclusion just based on convincing evidence. Faith is a decision to believe someone we trust as being truthful. Jesus, I trust in you! I believe in what you have done, said, and revealed! Yours in Christ, Fr. Sid.