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.