The virtue of the month for Conquest and Challenge in March is Faith. There are two types of faith: what we believe (our Catholic faith as a body of teachings) and in whom we believe (God – our personal relationship with him). What we believe is important , but even more important is the One in whom we believe. Our faith is about a person – Jesus. The Catechism tells us that it is natural for man to seek God. A person is not completely himself until he has found God. To know the invisible God is a great challenge for the human mind. Many are scared off by it. Another reason why some do not want to know God is because they would then have to change their life. Anyone who says that the question about God is meaningless because it cannot be answered is making things too easy for himself. Faith is hard because it means believing in something that we have not seen. If we could see it then it would not be faith – it would be proof and knowledge.
It is very appropriate to have this virtue in March with so many special moments in our Catholic faith. March 1 was the beginning of Lent and this is a time of faith and sacrifice. Lent makes absolutely no sense unless we have faith that God listens to our prayers and appreciates our sacrifices. March 17th is the feast of St Patrick who is a person who helped spread the faith all throughout Europe but especially in Ireland. His personal faith in God allowed him to go to new lands and follow his calling. March 19th is the feast day of St Joseph. St Joseph is barely mentioned in the Gospel but from what we know we can see that faith and hardwork were the virtues he stood out most for. St Joseph believed in God’s plan even though it was beyond what the human mind could grasp. He believed Mary, believed the angel in his dream, set out to Bethlehem and then to Egypt. He was a man of great faith in God. March 25th is the beautiful feast day of the Annunciation. This is a big moment of faith in Mary’s life when the angel comes and tells her she will be the Mother of Jesus. It was the biggest leap of faith in history! We have great examples of faith this month and we should remember Pope Francis’ words, ” Faith is not a gift just for me. Faith is given to be joyfully shared.”