The 3 supernatural virtues of faith, hope and love relate directly to God, and they dispose the Christian to live in a right relationship with the Holy Trinity. The source, the motive and the object of the 3 supernatural virtues is the Holy Trinity. By God’s grace, they are infused in the souls of the faithful to make them capable of living as God’s children and of meriting eternal life. (see CCC 1812-1813)
According to St. John of the Cross, the function of these 3 supernatural virtues is to withdraw the soul from all that is less than God. Consequently, their purpose is to join the soul with God. As a result, they offer more chances to focus on God, rather than one’s own efforts. Without these 3 virtues, it is impossible to reach perfect union with God. (The Dark Night of the Soul).
St. John of the Cross explained further in his other book that the soul cannot be effectively united with God in this life merely by knowing about God, or by emotionally delighting in God, or by imagining God. Only the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and love can unite the soul with God in this life. (The Ascent of Mount Carmel).
The virtue of faith frees the intellect from its natural understanding, as preparation for union with God. A person who seeks God’s will through faith is therefore able to freely commit oneself to God. People think that “belief” and “faith” are the exact same thing, but they are very different. Belief is about “sticking to something” or “hanging on to something”; e.g., ‘I stick to my belief that there is life after death.’
On the contrary, faith is about “letting go.” Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. (John 14:1)” At the time Jesus said this, His disciples still had preconceived notions of Jesus which they just couldn’t let go of. To live in faith means to let go from everything that prevents us from pursuing unity with God.
The virtue of hope helps a person to keep focused on the ultimate goal in life, which is the perfect union with God in heaven. Hope enables a person to earnestly desire and patiently wait for this eternal union. While some people hope to attain what one desires or to avoid what one dreads on earth, Christian hope is about trusting in God who will carry us through the worst times in life, and not just around it.
The virtue of love empties a person from the worldly affections and appetites that are not of God. Through the virtue of love, the person is able to live out Christ’s commands to love God above all things and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. (cf. Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27-29).
There are 3 stages of ultimate love: (1) incipient agape is choosing not to take advantage of others for one’s own benefit; (2) proficient agape is choosing to put one’s self at the service of others; (3) perfect agape is dying for the sake of others, including those who we don’t think deserve it.
In conclusion, if we want to have a right relationship with the Holy Trinity, then we do need to recognize and make use of the 3 supernatural virtues which God has gratuitously given to us at the time of our baptism. Faith, hope and love are the supernatural means for us to respond to God, and they enable us to discover and actualize God’s will in life. The best way for man to collaborate with God’s will is to have an attitude of a living faith, which arouses hope and works through love.