We have to understand that as Christian believers, we view our life not simply as a physical or biological life, nor a sociological or temporal life. Our life is life with God, a supernatural life born and nourished in faith, hope and charity.

Yes, even while we are still here on earth, immersed in the things of this world without being worldly, we are already meant to share the supernatural life of God. Our life should not only be natural. It also has to be supernatural.

Living by faith is an indispensable characteristic of Christian life. We may be subject to hormones and other physical factors, we can't escape from the effects of our culture, our business, politics, etc., but in the end our life is governed by faith.

Living by faith can mean thinking like God. If our life is a participation in the life of God, we can't help but think the way God thinks. Our reasoning is not completely our own. Our reasoning should reflect God's reasoning.

That may sound strange, I know, but that's what it actually means. We simply don't use our reason, actuating it in anyway we can. We use reason, but reason enlightened by faith.

Faith can mean many things. It is first of all a supernatural gift. It's not something we create and develop. It's given and received. It can only be lived in grace. We have to ask for it, echoing the apostles? ?Lord, increase our faith.? (Lk 17,5)

But it can also mean doctrine or teaching, revealed by Christ and now authoritatively taught by the Church. Thus, faith can mean studying and familiarizing with the doctrines to the point that these become flesh of our flesh.

The faith should be the leaven of all our thoughts and desires. Since our Lord has something to say to everything we do, our faith is always relevant in our life. Our faith is never distant and abstract to our affairs. It is concrete and practical, it is in the core of all our concerns.

Establishing and nourishing this connection comprises the essence of what it means to live by faith. Faith is not a special-occasion event. A permanent feature, it flows with life itself.

It certainly does not supplant reason and everything natural and human.

What it does is to purify reason and the natural and human elements in our life. Then it elevates them to the supernatural order, since we are meant for that.

To be able to live by faith, we need to interpolate it with our reason. That's why we have to realize that there's always a need to keep a dialogue between our faith and reason. This is a need of ours.

The basis for this dialogue is the fact that faith in itself is always in need of understanding, and so it needs reason to act on it. At the same time, our reasoning cannot help, unless something extraneous intervenes, but to enter sooner or later into the world of faith.

Keeping this dialogue is a skill we all need to learn. It is not just an intellectual or purely theological affair, though the use of the intelligence or our theology figures prominently.

Better said, this dialogue is done best through prayer, a loving conversation with God in our heart, even if that conversation cannot help but be theological also. Because the moment we try to understand our faith, we would be doing theology.

But this theologizing should never undermine, but rather reinforce the father-and-son-loving-conversation character of the dialogue between faith and reason. Theology should never be pursued outside of prayer.

In fact, theology is always needed. It is the language and necessary tool of our faith. With it, we get to discern endless implications of our faith. Thus, our faith becomes active and transformative, never passive and of little effect.

Doing theology is to live by faith. It makes us know and love God better. It helps to conform our life to God's life, that is, to get connected with him. It widens our perspectives, and deepens our beliefs and convictions.

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Fr. Roy Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) in Talamban, Cebu City. You can email him at:Email: roycimagala@boholchronicle.com