You may have prayed this prayer for so long that you can say it without reflecting on its meaning. What does it mean to say “believe”?

What “believe” means in this instance is that we put all our trust, indeed our very lives, in God. It might be said that anytime we get on a bus that someone is driving, we are saying (without saying it) that we “believe” in the driver. If we thought that the driver was less than trustworthy, we would probably get off the bus.

Think about this as you say the creed at Mass: “I believe in (put all my trust, indeed I’m betting my entire life on) one God …”. The creed celebrates our belief and absolute trust in God.

“To believe in the one and only God involves coming to know His greatness and majesty. It involves living in thanksgiving and trusting always in him, even in adversity. It involves knowing the unity and true dignity of all human beings, created in his image. It involves making good use of the things which He has created.”  (CCC no. 43)