The breakthroughs in science and technology that we experience today are a direct result of the breakthroughs of yesterday. Our body of research grows in scope and understanding with each successive career, and when a new researcher enters into a lab, they do so with a big head start. It would be difficult to make any forward progress if every scientific fact had to be researched and understood anew with each scientist.

What the body of scientific research does for today’s scientists, faith does for humanity. What it means to be a human person, why we were created and what we are to do now that we are here, are no small questions. They are the questions that animate our existence, that pulls us outside ourselves, and place us within the context of the created world. Though they are simple in structure, the layers of meaning hidden within them would take our whole life to understand.

So we are presented with two paths. The first path is a life without and outside of faith. It is one in which the person must first determine who they are, why they are here, and what they are to do. No doubt it would take many years to find credible answers to any of those questions, but there is a deeper danger. There are far fewer correct answers than there are wrong answers. When a conclusion is reached, there is no guarantee that it will be the correct one. Then, even if the correct answer is found, what is its value? Is death near, and how will these lessons, rumination, and insights be handed on? There is no mechanism for sharing or teaching these findings. We die and leave it to others to find their path.

Faith offers us something much more certain. It is the culmination of generations of deep thought about these questions. When we choose the path of faith, we stand upon the shoulders of giants, benefiting from their wisdom. We accept a rich heritage and an identity as a member of God’s family. It does not make life easier or any more certain. In fact, faith is clear that rest and peace and joy are attributes of the next life, not this one. Instead, we persevere in this life, with full knowledge that our purpose here is to give of ourselves for the good of others.

The path of faith is a more difficult path to select, because it begins with the acceptance that we do not have all the answers. It’s an act of humility to admit that others have reached the proper conclusion and, as part of the self-giving that faith demands, share it now with me for my edification. It is in receiving this gift that we are to carry on the commission to go and do likewise.