How do we know whether we are losing our faith or actually growing within it? Will the faith we learned and practiced in our youth be enough to get as through the challenges of later life? What are the common stages of faith most of us can expect to go through? What are the signs of a mature faith? "Faith remains always a gift of God," writes Sweeney. "The precise stage of faith to which we are called by God depends greatly on our life experiences. God loves us at each stage of our development, affirming us at the level at which we are and, when the time is right, inviting us to fuller life."