A former Mormon, now Catholic, told a story worth repeating as we begin this Year of Faith.

When the Catholic Bishop of Salt Lake City was building the cathedral, the Mormons decided, as a gift, to present the Catholics with doors for the cathedral. It was a great ecumenical gesture but the interesting thing that happened is that the bishop completed the doors and near them is a plaque.

Now, the Mormon Temple with the angel Moroni topping its spire and blowing his trumpet, can be seen from the Catholic cathedral. And near the Catholic cathedral doors is this inscription from Galatians: “Though we or an angel preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema!” (Gal. 1:6-9)

Wow! That’s a really in your face statement! Christians do not recognize the existence of the angel Moroni. What the bishop did seems like a slap to Mormon generosity, but it is not. It’s just a statement of fact, of what we believe. Mormons and Catholics continue to have good relationships, but we do not subvert our doctrines just to get along.

The Year of Faith, which started Oct. 11, was called by Pope Benedict XVI to do two things: to rally the faithful and deepen their faith, and pray for the Holy Spirit to give us enthusiasm to preach our faith by word and deed to the modern world.

That will require several things of us. We will have to learn more about our faith. It seems to be an American thing to pick from this faith and that, then each of us molds an individual religion.

I was channel-surfing this weekend and found the program “Long Island Medium.” It’s about a lady who says she can hear the dead. It’s a hoot as entertainment, but unfortunately, on this show a Catholic was told that her dead daughter’s spirit was reincarnated into her grandaughter’s body. This Catholic woman, whom I presume knew her faith, swallowed that ridiculous notion hook, line and sinker.

We cannot really believe unless we truly know our faith. Granted, there are a lot of things to take us away from our faith, but as St. Paul says, we must be strong and cling to the Gospel preached to us.

We also have to learn to talk about our faith with others. You can split it down to two things: actual conversation about our faith with those who don’t believe in a sensitive, friendly way. And, charitable actions which show our Christian love being put into action.

Again, it is an American thing to think that charitable actions trump what we believe. Not true! Without the Gospel of Christ filling our soul, our good deeds simply remain human charity — good enough in itself, but not the Gospel infused actions of those on fire with the Holy Spirit.

Throughout this Year of Faith, we will talk more about how the Church should intersect and be a part of the modern world. But as we begin, let’s first simply ratify what we believe: that Christ is our Lord and Savior and the Savior of the world.