Faith - what is it?

Faith is knowledge and trust.  It has seven characteristics:

1. Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive when we fervently ask for it.
2. Faith is a supernatural power that is absolutely necessary if we are to attain salvation.
3. Faith requires the free will and clear understanding of a person when he accepts the divine invitation.
4. Faith is absolutely certain, because Jesus guarantees it.
5. Faith is incomplete unless it leads to active love.
6. Faith grows when we listen more and more carefully to God's Word and enter a lively exchange with him in prayer.
7. Faith gives us even now a foretaste of the joy of heaven.