[Sundaycommunity] Faith vs. Belief

[Sharon McCarthy]

THANKS Art!

Lots to consider - our Catholic history and incredible happenings with
minimal response in our present world.

Sharon

On Sat, Oct 4, 2025 at 4:08 AM Arthur Blomme via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

>
> Faith vs. Belief
>
> As a child in catechism I was taught a set of beliefs, a Creed. I was told
> that this was my faith. However, my faith is something much more than mere
> beliefs.
>
> When Jesus says, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say
> to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would
> obey you.’ The faith that Jesus refers to is quite different from the faith
> I was taught as a child.
>
> For Saint Paul, faith in the resurrection is central. He writes that
> through this faith, death has lost its sting. On another occasion he says
> our faith in the resurrection conquers death. In this Sunday’s Epistle,
> Paul speaks of the gift of faith given to us—not a spirit of timidity, but
> one of "power, love, and self-control." Christian faith has power precisely
> because it overcomes the archetype of all fear: the fear of death.
>
> For Jesus and Paul, faith is more than an intellectual affirmation of
> doctrines or myths. It is a deep conviction, a stance toward life that
> calls for the courage to face reality and remain steadfast in the fight for
> justice. Understanding that Paul wrote his epistle from a cold Roman
> dungeon, facing death and largely abandoned, gives powerful context to his
> uplifting courage. This genuine faith imbues us with love and self-control,
> embodying the power of courage, resolve, conviction, and integrity.
>
> When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire,
> these very traits of genuine faith were likely what he coveted for his army
> and civil service. Yet, in a tragic twist, he ultimately sowed their
> demise. By compelling the bishops to convene the Council of Nicaea, he
> orchestrated the creation of the Nicene Creed—a unified belief system
> designed to organize the empire. I believe this is the pivotal moment where
> the empire shifted the meaning of faith. It was no longer the courageous
> faith of Jesus and Paul, but was hollowed out into a set of mandatory
> principles. A faith that took the sting out of death was transformed into
> one that required obedience to a creed, often under pain of death.
> Ironically, Constantine undermined the very traits that had originally
> attracted him to Christianity, substituting obedience to a creed for the
> genuine, courageous faith of the early Church.
>
> Today, the courage fostered by faith in the resurrection is all but lost.
> In our country, Christian traditions and institutions appear to be waning,
> replaced by a technocratic modernism. The Nicene Creed is virtually
> meaningless in our contemporary culture. Yet, obedience to a new,
> technocratic, trans-humanist creed is alarmingly dominant. Our mainstream
> media daily delivers a narrative—a story we believe tobe reality—that
> functions as a new creed: Russia is trying to dominate the world; to call
> out genocide is to be antisemitic; science is no longer a method for
> discovery but a set of unquestionable precepts. We are told that without
> Big Pharma we would die, and if we speak against this narrative, we risk
> being jailed, "canceled," or financially crippled. We are ruled by fear.
>
> If we possessed a faith that cancels fear, we could indeed say to this
> mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey us.
>
> Addendum:
>
> On the face of it compare the protest climate here in Canada to the
> outrage found in many other places in the world.  In our country there has
> been very little reporting on mainstream media  about the 50 ship flotilla
> loaded with supplies filled with courageous protestors who stood up to the
> Israeli threats of death and destruction in order to bring supplies and
> break the brutal siege of the IDF.  In an act of piracy the IDF seized
> these ships in international waters and took the protesters into custody.
> The response in many places in the world  was strong.
>
> +
>
> www.youtube.com
>
> Global PROTESTS Break Out as Israel SEIZES Gaza Flotilla
> <#m_-6933696308539446140_>
>
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> 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCLjRPoWKk
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCLjRPoWKk>
>
> It is no coincidence that these momentous events are not broadcast to us.
> The Gazan  genocide doesn't fit into the dominant narrative as do many
> other important events.  In Jesus' words the truth will set you free and we
> thus have to have the courage to look past the narrative being fed to  us
> to see the cold hard realities that lie beyond. Only then can we act
> appropriately.
>
>
> Art Blomme Oct. 4, 2025
>
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