Although outwardly Father Gabriel seems to disobey those to whom he has pledged obedience and knowingly risks the survival of his order as a result, he does in fact maintain much greater faith in the areas it matters. As a member of a religious order of the Church, Fr. Gabriel is expected to obey the papal office, especially if he has taken a special vow of obedience to the pope. By deciding to remain with the Guarani, he not only personally disobeys the papal emissary but also vindicates the natives� decision to stay at the mission. He also effectively loses his faith in the idea of a greater good for the Jesuits. Fr. Gabriel�s disobedience sets him up as a subordinate on the global stage much as Rodrigo was in the conference at the emissary�s court, only his actions betray the Jesuit order to which he has pledged obedience.
However, Fr. Gabriel displays strong faith in things much greater than those of the physical world. When the emissary asks him what he believes the purpose of the hearings is, he responds that it must be about God�s works. The priest remains faithful to what he believes is God�s purpose for him even to death. Refusing to abandon his people for diplomacy or the safety of his own life, he continues on his path by living the message of the Gospels until the last moment of his life. Obviously, he considers this purpose more important than his own life and the well-being of his order in Europe, a decision that would have been heavily weighed by his conscience. It is said during the movie that remaining faithful to one�s conscience is the most important commitment, and Fr. Gabriel does just this, even as Europeans massacre his people. When he dies, he falls on the monstrance containing the body of Jesus, an image showing his ultimate commitment to Jesus� message.
Whether or not Fr. Gabriel�s Faith is realistic depends completely upon his values. If survival is the uppermost concern in his mind, then his Faith is not only unrealistic but actually contradictory to survival. However, Fr. Gabriel expressly chose God�s work to be his utmost concern; because of this, his Faith is entirely reasonable and actually pushes his mission along. Concepts like �Faith� and �doing God�s work on Earth� are in and of themselves idealistic, and a response that is equally idealistic, such as giving up one�s life in a nonviolent fashion, is quite fitting. Had Fr. Gabriel not sacrificed himself and had instead followed the papal delegate�s directions, what would he have done? Leave South America for Europe to help the Jesuits survive? Such a choice would have been an offense to all that the Jesuits stood for. At one point in the movie, Fr. Gabriel reminds Rodrigo that they are not military commanders. If they were, they may have called for a retreat to regroup instead of making a suicidal last stand. But they were not in Uruguay to fight a war. They were there to do God�s work, and, as Fr. Gabriel apparently reasoned, if that means sacrificing oneself, then so be it.
While Fr. Gabriel�s Faith is extremely admirable, I don�t believe that everyone is called to lay down their lives for God�s work. All Life is sacred, including ourselves. Still, a near sacrifice of life defined Abraham�s Faith, a self-sacrifice brought to a climax Jesus� Faith, and Church martyrs for two millennia have sustained our Faith as a whole, from Stephen to Sister Dorothy Stang. Furthermore, those who have committed whole lives without their being cut short to God�s work show perhaps even greater Faith, since they must choose to remain faithful every day, and not just in a single climactic circumstance.
Even then, though, we cannot all be expected to serve in this way. If it were possible, the Church would lose much of its purpose, as no one would need direction any longer. Most of us constantly waver in our Faith, and people whose Faith is comparable to that of Fr. Gabriel are the ones who keep us together and inspired. In a way, we are the impossibly heavy roof of a cathedral, and they are the ingenious architectural techniques that keep us aloft.
Father Gabriel�s Faith fits the seven characteristics of Catholic Faith very well. Obviously, he has been given a grace in his Faith, shown through the astonishing things he can achieve, such as befriending a previously hostile Guarani tribe. His multitude of decisions, among them his continuing campaign to persuade the papal delegate to accept the Jesuit presence in Uruguay and his final decision to sacrifice himself doing God�s work, is his response to God�s gift to him. His first decision, to travel into the territory above to waterfall, and his last, to remain at the mission, were both life-threatening risks that he took because of his Faith. Still, his Faith is reasonable � he never attempts to do anything beyond his own capabilities, as his comment about not being a military commander shows. His Faith is certain in that once he makes a decision, although he is not sure his choice is the best, he follows it wholeheartedly and without questioning what may happen to him as a result � once again, we see this in his final decision to stay at the mission. In working with the Guarani, Fr. Gabriel comes to realize the humanity of these people and their need for enlightenment, as opposed to the Europeans� general consensus that they are mindless jungle savages. His realization reveals to him God�s universal love for all humans, showing that Faith indeed seeks understanding. Finally, Fr. Gabriel�s consistent use of his Faith throughout The Mission brings to life the idea that a virtue can only be acquired through practice. Overall, Fr. Gabriel repeatedly brings to life the full vision of Faith to which Catholics aspire.