Even a little faith can lead the individual into a wonderful, powerful way of life. That seems to be the import of the discourse of Jesus in today's gospel. Faith is not something earned or acquired; it is pure gift, a gift from God, a vision of life that enhances humanity. Paul urges Timothy to 'fan into a flame the gift that God gave you.' Within the Catholic tradition we are often given the impression that the more 'religious' or 'theological' articles you believe in, the stronger and the better your faith. Today's gospel doesn't support such a contention.

In our own time, the Christian faith is going through something of a crisis. Apparently, in times of economic prosperity, faith diminishes. The need for a dimension beyond our selves and our selfish world is not so keenly felt. Faith is under pressure too from another undermining agent: apathy, lack of interest, an absence of wonder that seems to be blighting the lives of our young people, and indeed the lives of many who are no longer young. Technology and sophistication seem to militate against wonder. And wonder is an essential foundation for faith.

There is a temptation to react to this diminution of faith in two ways: either to retreat into a world that is long dead, 'back to the good old days', or else to indulge in blind fundamentalism: "We have all the answers if only you would listen to us......The Pope has all the answers if only you would listen to him." Once again, wonder is snuffed out. Fanaticism, not faith, is being promoted.

Such temptations should be resisted for various reasons. As Fr. Dermot Lane has so often pointed out, a faith that retreats from the modern world is no longer 'faith' in any real sense, nor can it be called 'Christian', because faith without reason is not faith but a distortion of faith.

Christianity is 'incarnational', embedded in the flesh and blood of this world. The Church exists as a 'servant of the world, a servant of humanity'. To deny the world would amount to a flight from Christianity itself. And a faith that takes refuge in the past is ultimately a faith without hope in the future. Instead, therefore, of pulling down the blinds on faith, what is required at this moment in Ireland is the courage to open up a new dialogue between faith and reason, knowledge and belief, culture and religion, church and society.

In opening up this dialogue between faith and life, we must banish a few misconceptions first. These include the privatisation of faith, banishing faith to some interior, invisible zone in our souls. We must shed the impression that faith is some sort of additional little baggage carried around by religious people. Faith is a universal phenomenon; everyone has faith of some kind. Because without faith, without faith in the value of life, without some semblance of meaning in our lives, we just could not continue on living. Everybody lives out of faith, including unbelievers, agnostics and atheists. They have a trust and confidence in life and in living that we seldom recognise, much less acknowledge. This is a faith that must be 'fanned into a flame' too.

The role of religion is to point this 'basic faith' towards a wider horizon, towards a transcendent dimension. Christianity, if we live it properly, will point to that transcendence while at the same time keeping its feet firmly on the ground. We are grounded in history; we are destined for eternity. This is a faith that is worth fanning into a flame.