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THE ACT
OF FAITH
19. This act of
self-examination on the part of the Church seems to Us to accord well with the
method employed by God in revealing himself to men and initiating that
religious, two-way relationship between God and man which is what the Church
both effects in the world and manifests in itself. For whereas it is true that
divine revelation was made "in divers ways and at divers times,"
5 in an incontestably historical setting, it is also true that it was
able to effect an entry into the very life of men by means involving both human
speech and divine grace. Grace comes secretly into the soul after the hearing
of the message of salvation. This is followed by the act of faith, the
beginning of our justification.
20. We would wish this
reflection on the origin and nature of those new and vital relationships which
the Christian religion establishes between God and man to assume the character
of an act of willing submission to what the divine Teacher said to those who
listened to Him, and especially to the disciples, among whom we today rightly
rejoice to be numbered. From the many insistent and frequently reiterated
commands of Our Lord We select one which would seem to have special relevance
for Christ's faithful followers at the present time, namely that concerning
Christian vigilance.
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