Both Rodrigo and Fr. Gabriel demonstrated that faith requires a free human response. Rodrigo had no faith or at least did nothing to expand upon what little he had until he felt completely hopeless after killing his brother. When he was given the opportunity to do penance to be forgiven for his grave sins he wasn�t sure that he could do anything that would ever allow him to be forgiven. When he made the free choice to try, he would not stop until he felt he had done enough, and instead of him choosing to stop, those who he had so greatly hurt decided to set him free from his physical burden along with the burden of sin he had been carrying. Fr. Gabriel also had to make a free response to his faith. The point at which he was called to make the most challenging response was when the Guarani decided to remain in the mission, and he decided to stay with them. His faith allowed him to have the courage to give his life in a powerful demonstration of his love for others and his desire for peace. He could have left the Indians to either die alone in the mission or fight for their lives, but he chose to stay with them and help as many of them as possible withstand the violence around them through faith and not more violence.
Fr. Gabriel demonstrated that faith is certain. He was willing to sacrifice everything because he was positive that his decision was what God wanted. He could have left the Guarani to fend for themselves, but he was certain of the fact that God would have wanted him to stay and assist the Guarani in their struggle to live their faith. Rodrigo failed to have certainty in his faith because when he felt that his faith was threatened he turned to violence. The decision he made was not one that demonstrated his certainty in what he had come to believe. He did not demonstrate his certainty in love or his desire for peace but instead returned to his past of violence in an attempt to protect his faith from facing the ultimate test of sacrifice. By doing this he actually failed that test rather than avoiding it.
Both Rodrigo and Fr. Gabriel sought understanding in their faith. Rodrigo more clearly did this because he was completely new in his faith and had not yet come to even a partial understanding of why he had made his conversion. Rodrigo sought to understand why love was so apparent with these people and why he felt compelled to become a Jesuit. The understanding that Fr. Gabriel sought was not as clear. He sought to understand his reasons for his decisions to stay with the Indians and his choice to be there in the first place, but he already understood his faith much more than Rodrigo.
Faith as a virtue is very apparent in both Rodrigo and Fr. Gabriel, but Fr. Gabriel does a better job of showing it. Fr. Gabriel demonstrates that his faith is a virtue by constantly practicing it in everything he does. He allows it to guide all of his decisions and he tries to live by it. Rodrigo does the same after his conversion, but in the end he does not complete his journey of faith and instead he gives into the temptation of violence. Fr. Gabriel is able to use his many years of practicing his faith as a guiding light to help him make his decision to stay with the Guarani in the end. He demonstrates a life of faith as a virtue and ends that life by giving it freely as his faith guides him.
In my life I have been presented with violence as an alternative many times. Some are small, such as arguments with my siblings or cousins, and others are larger. One instance that has happened not only to my but also too many others is a situation in which several people were ridiculing me. I know and have seen this happen to many others, but that never makes it any easier to put up with. I usually try to ignore when I am being teased and it usually has little effect on me, but sometimes I feel very tempted to resort to violence to get people to leave me alone. I am usually able to avoid hitting anyone or doing something I would regret but it sometimes seems very hard to hold back when I feel that I am being teamed up on. In these situations I just try to use the experience as a way to avoid ever doing it to someone else. I try to understand how they would feel and use that to avoid making anyone feel that way. Choosing to take a course of nonviolence can be very hard, but every time we choose to do so it becomes a little bit easier for the next time it happens.
