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    Often we forget that faith is not only an object but an action. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, freely given to us by no act on our part for our salvation, yet once we have that faith, we cannot merely hold it and say, ‘See, I have faith.â€
    The warnings of the passage for today are clear. Once we have faith, we must grow, and growth leads to maturity. Maturity means that our faith has changed- not become less but more- and change always requires action. We cannot pursue this action alone, in fact to do so is pointless, but instead we are to pursue this maturity through constantly being in the Word and participating in the Sacrament. In this way, we are strengthened in our faith so that we can see the path to spiritual maturity and growth.
    There is a grave danger for those who do not follow this path to maturity, because the opposite of growth is stagnation, which leads to the death of faith. And faith, once dead, cannot be easily regained. It is for that reason that all of us, as Christians, should encourage each other to continue to seek the path of growth, that none may be lost because of apathy or denial.
DLH
