Faith is not a thing, but a relationship with God. The expression to lose your faith, as one might lose a key or a purse, is really rather silly. Faith is not a thing which one loses; we merely cease to shape our lives by it.
All of us should make our own the prayer of the apostles: ‘Lord, increase our faith,’ because it is not enough to keep the faith: we have to grow in it. Faith is not acquired fully grown at the start. Faith has to grow, and as it grows it changes. Faith does not remain stationary, no more than any of our relationships remain stationary.
Faith grows when exercised. Faith also grows through regular nourishment. Those beliefs that we don’t nourish become less solid. How do we nourish the faith? By prayer and contact with the believing community.
Faith is the greatest power in the world. That is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘If you have 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.’ This is a striking way of saying that with faith what looks impossible become possible. It’s not the size of it but the quality of it that matters. ‘Those with a grain of faith never lose hope, because they believe in the ultimate triumph of truth’ (Gandhi)
With love and prayers
Fr Michael