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Office Of Readings | Week 31, Wednesday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Instructions Of Saint Cyril Of Jerusalem To Catechumens | The Power Of Faith Transcends Man’s Powers
‘The power of faith transcends man’s powers.’
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem offers a rich and disciplined reflection on the nature of faith, distinguishing between its doctrinal content and its charismatic power. Cyril explores how belief engages both the intellect and the divine grace that enables action beyond natural capacity. He presents faith not simply as assent to truth but as participation in the life of God.
Cyril begins by noting that the word faith can be used in two senses. The first is faith as belief — the mind’s assent to revealed doctrine. It is an intellectual and moral act through which the believer accepts the truth of God’s word and enters into life. Quoting Scripture, Cyril shows that this faith is salvific: to believe in the Son is to pass from death to life. What others might attain through long struggle or labour, God grants freely through a moment’s faith. The example of the thief on the cross demonstrates the immediacy of salvation: faith opens paradise not through human achievement but through divine generosity.
The second kind of faith is described as a gift of the Spirit — a grace that empowers action. This faith is charismatic, operative in miracles, and capable of transforming the world. Citing Saint Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts, Cyril explains that this faith produces effects ‘beyond any human capability’. It is an energy rather than an idea, the channel through which divine power works in creation. When Christ says that faith can move mountains, Cyril interprets it as a literal statement about the potency of grace when received without doubt.
The image of the mustard seed illustrates the hidden intensity of faith. Though small, it contains within itself a force of growth and transformation. Likewise, true faith, though simple in form, expands within the soul to encompass vision, understanding, and hope. Enlightened by faith, the believer perceives reality as God does — seeing creation, judgment, and fulfilment in the light of divine promise.
Cyril concludes by urging his hearers to cultivate the faith that lies within human choice — the trust directed toward God — so that they may also receive the faith that surpasses human strength. The two dimensions are therefore inseparable: intellectual assent opens the way to divine operation; divine grace perfects the believer’s response. Faith, in this teaching, is both a human act and a divine gift, binding knowledge, love, and power into one movement of the soul toward God.
A Reading From The Instructions Of Saint Cyril Of Jerusalem To Catechumens | The Power Of Faith Transcends Man’s Powers
The one word faith can have two meanings. One kind of faith concerns doctrines. It involves the soul’s ascent to and acceptance of some particular matter. It also concerns the soul’s good, according to the words of the Lord: Whoever hears my voice and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, and will not come to be judged. And again: He who believes in the Son is not condemned, but has passed from death to life.
How great is God’s love for men! Some good men have been found pleasing to God because of years of work. What they achieved by working for many hours at a task pleasing to God is freely given to you by Jesus in one short hour. For if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and taken up to paradise by him, just as he brought the thief there. Do not doubt that this is possible. After all, he saved the thief on the holy hill of Golgotha because of one hour’s faith; will he not save you too since you have believed?
The other kind of faith is given by Christ by means of a special grace. To one wise sayings are given through the Spirit, to another perceptive comments by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing. Now this kind of faith, given by the Spirit as a special favor, is not confined to doctrinal matters, for it produces effects beyond any human capability. If a man who has this faith says to this mountain move from here to there, it will move. For when anybody says this in faith, believing it will happen and having no doubt in his heart, he then receives that grace.
It is of this kind of faith, moreover, that it is said: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed. The mustard seed is small in size but it holds an explosive force; although it is sown in a small hole, it produces great branches, and when it is grown birds can nest there. In the same way faith produces great effects in the soul instantaneously. Enlightened by faith, the soul pictures God and sees him as clearly as any soul can. It circles the earth; even before the end of this world it sees the judgment and the conferring of promised rewards. So may you have the faith which depends on you and is directed to God, that you may receive from him that faith too which transcends man’s capacity.
Christian Prayer With Jesus
Lord of life and truth,
you grant to your people the gift of faith
through which we see your hand at work in all things.
Strengthen our belief when we falter,
and deepen our trust when understanding fails.
As you gave faith to the thief on the cross
and power to your apostles,
so fill our hearts with the light of your Spirit,
that we may speak your word with courage
and act with confidence in your love.
Let our faith be small yet fruitful,
hidden yet alive with your strength,
until it grows into the fullness of vision
and brings us to share your eternal life.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Assent: The intellectual and voluntary acceptance of a truth; the act of agreement by which the believer affirms what God reveals.
Doctrine: A formal statement of belief or teaching proposed by the Church as divinely revealed or essential to faith.
Grace: The free and undeserved gift of God’s own life and help, enabling human beings to respond to his call and act beyond their natural capacity.
Charism: A special gift or spiritual endowment given by the Holy Spirit for the good of others and the building up of the Church.
Salvation: Deliverance from sin and death, and participation in the life of God through faith in Christ.
Metaphor of the Mustard Seed: A biblical image (Matthew 17:20) symbolising faith’s latent power to grow and achieve great things despite small beginnings.
Providence: God’s wise and loving governance of creation, guiding events toward their fulfilment in his will.
Theological Virtue: One of the infused virtues — faith, hope, and charity — by which the soul is directed toward God.
Illumination: The spiritual enlightenment of the mind and heart by divine grace, enabling insight into truth and reality.
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