God's great creation, Part Three: Man

Today, we conclude our short series on God’s great creation by focusing on the pinnacle of God’s creation, the greatest thing he ever created, man.

The Catechism in #355 lists four ways that man is unique among all of God’s creation:

1)      Man is made in the image of God.

2)      In his own nature, man unites the material and spiritual worlds.

3)      Man is created male and female.

4)      God establishes man in his friendship.

Man is made in the image of God.   Only man can know and love God.  He is the only one created for his own sake, not for the sake of something else.   He alone is called, by knowledge and love, to share in God’s life.  This is why he was created.   Only he is capable of self-knowledge and has the freedom to enter in communion with another.  He can respond with faith and love to God in a way no other creature can.  God created everything for man, and man was created, in turn, to love God back and offer creation back to him.   Because of his common origin in God, the human race forms a unity, and is called to solidarity and charity.

In his own nature, man unites the material and spiritual worlds.   Man, body and soul, is willed by God.  Man was formed from the earth, but only became alive when life was breathed into him.   The soul is the spiritual principle in man.  One cannot be a human person without a soul.  Because it animates the body, the body shares in the dignity of the aforementioned “image of God”.    The soul is created by God, and since, as we said, one cannot be a human person without a soul, we can say it is God who creates human persons.    The body and the soul are so united that we can say the person is truly one, even as he is both body and soul.

Man is created male and female.   God created men and women equal in dignity, but different in such that they become complimentary to each other.   He willed them to be together, and each for the other.  They are not incomplete and only, therefore, complete with the other.   No, they are complete as individuals, but together, they form a communion of persons, and transmit life.  In both of these, they reflect God, who is a communion of persons, and who transmits life.   They reflect him as Trinity and as Creator.   They are called to “subdue the Earth” as stewards of God, who share his providence for his creatures.

God establishes man in his friendship.   Man was created in friendship, and in harmony with creation.  (This state is only surpassed by being made new creatures in Christ where we become divinized and live in God as adopted children, not just friends with him.)   In his original state, man was in harmony and at peace with himself and all creation.  He would not have to suffer or die.   He would master himself, and master creation.  All this will be lost, however, by original sin, which we spoke in the series we did on suffering, most specifically in this post:

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-mystery-of-suffering-part-two.html

What dignity man has.    It is imperative that society get back to a more highly exalted view of man.  All the components that we discussed here must be emphasized; that we are made in the image of God, that we are body and soul, that we are male and female and therefore, meant for each other, and that we are called to be friends with God, participants in, and stewards of, all creation.   If we get back to honoring man as he should be, then our respect for all of God’s great creation will be all it can be, and the world will be a better place.

Let us close this post and this series with the beautiful words of Psalm 8, which speak glowingly of man, and indeed, of all God’s great creation.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
²     Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Saint Joseph, model of artisans, pray for us.

God's great creation, Part Two: The visible world

In the last series, we looked at God as Father and Creator.  In this series, we are looking at what God created, namely, in the words of the Apostles’ Creed, the heavens and the earth.   In the last post, we looked at the invisible world, the heavens.  In this post we will look at the visible world, the earth.

God created this visible world, just as he did the invisible one.   The creation of the visible world is outlined in the story of the six days of creation as found in Genesis.   God creates in order from day one to day six: light, the sky, water, land, the sun, the stars, sea creatures, air creatures, land creatures, and finally, man.   Then God rests on the seventh day, and blesses it. 

This story points to several important truths about this world that God has created.

1)      Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator (#338).   God created out of nothing, so nothing would exist without God.  This includes everything that is, was, and will ever be.

2)      Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection (#339).   Everything that God created was “good”, as we read in Genesis.   Each creature reflects in its own way a ray of God’s wisdom and goodness.  We have to treat each other with that truth in mind.

3)      God wills the interdependence of creatures (#340).  Creatures only exist in relation to each other.  We are dependent on each other, we complete each other, and we are called to serve each other.   There is solidarity among all creatures (#344).

4)      There is beauty of the universe (#341).   The relationships among creatures point to a unity and harmony in the world, in the midst of all the diversity.  It reflects the beauty of the Creator.

5)      While all creatures are good, there is a nonetheless a hierarchy of creatures (#342).  God loves all his creatures, but some reflect his perfection more than others.  The six days of creation reflect an order from less to more perfect creations. Man is the summit of the Creator's work (#343).   Our Lord says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.   But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows."  (Luke 12:6-7)     

6)      There is something special about the sabbath - the end of the work of the six days (#345).  He blessed this day, unique among all days.  On this day, God finished his work of creation.  His special blessing of this day, which occurs immediately after the initial creation of the world is completed, points to a few realities: that creation is good, that God’s laws of creation are good and trustworthy, that all creation is oriented towards the Sabbath, to the worship of God, and that keeping his commandments is to correspond to the laws of creation.  Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality (#354).

7)      For Christians, however, there is a greater work than even creation, and that is redemption.   When we are re-created in Christ, we enter the “eighth” day (#349).   (For more on the Sabbath, and the 8^th day, read my post:

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/sunday-mass.html

As we stated in the last series, God created the world to show his glory.  Both the visible and invisible worlds radiate the beauty, truth, love, and power of God.  The fact that he freely chose to create both a visible and an invisible world shows that there is something noble in both; things that can be seen, like animals and nature, and things that cannot be seen, like intellectual thought and sensual feeling.  All things point toward God and when used rightly in accordance with his laws, lead us to Him, who is our end and destiny.  We must treat both the spiritual and the natural worlds with the respect each deserve.

But nothing in creation radiates the glory of God as much as man, and as such, the topic of man deserves its own post, and that will be next as we conclude this short series on God’s great creation.

Joseph most obedient, pray for us.


(The attached painting is Jan Brueghel's the Garden of Eden.)

God's great creation, Part One: The invisible world

In the last series, we looked at God as Father.  The last few posts in that series dealt with God as Creator.  

Now, it is time to look at what God created.  In this post and the next, we will look at the created world, or as the Creed refers to it, the heavens and the earth.   (This post will focus on the heavens, and the next will focus on the earth.) In the final post, we will look at the pinnacle of his creation, man.

The Catechism explains what is meant by the phrase “the heavens and the earth”.  We read in #326: The Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other: "the earth" is the world of men, while "heaven" or "the heavens" can designate both the firmament and God's own "place" - "our Father in heaven" and consequently the "heaven" too which is eschatological glory. Finally, "heaven" refers to the saints and the "place" of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God.    As we hear in the Nicene Creed, God created all things “seen and unseen”.  So basically, Earth is what we visibly see around us, while the "heavens" refer to the unseen, but real nonetheless, creation of God, a "place" that surrounds him.  God, as creator, made both;  the angelic, and the earthly.

What are angels?   They are servants and messengers of God.  They are purely spiritual, with no bodies.    They have intelligence and will, and surpass us in perfection. (There’s a big but to that, however, which we will get into later in this series.)

Angels were created through and for Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We read in Paul’s letter to the Colossians:  for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16).   They serve at his pleasure, but what is most important for us now, is that they are messengers of his saving plan.  We see angels in the Infancy narrative, and then again at the empty tomb.  (We also saw them throughout the Old Testament, as well, as the way was prepared for Christ.)

The Church, in her liturgy, joins the angels in worshipping God.   We think of the phrase we often hear at Mass, “With the choirs of angels in heaven, we now join in their unending hymn of praise.”  They guide the Church, and all of creation.  Each one of us has our own guardian angel.

The Catechism does not go into this, but I think it interesting just to list the different orders, or “choirs” of angels that have been discerned in the tradition of the Church. This list comes courtesy of Catholic.org.  There are nine.   We will start with the highest rank, and work our way down.

1)      Seraphim are the highest order or choir of angels. They are the angels who are attendants or guardians before God's throne.

2)      Cherubim have intimate knowledge of God, and praise him continually, just slightly below the seraphim in the order of rank.   Like the seraphim, they are intimately associated with the glory of God.

3)      Thrones are the angels of pure humility, peace and submisssion. They reside in the area of the cosmos where material form begins to take shape. The lower angels needs the thrones to access God.   They exist at the boundary between heaven and earth.

4)      Dominions are angels of leadership. They regulate the duties of the angels, making known the commands of God.

5)      Virtues govern all nature. They have control over seasons, stars, moon; even the sun is subject to their command. They are also in charge of miracles and provide courage, grace, and valor.

6)      Powers are warrior angels against evil defending the cosmos and humans. They fight against evil spirits who attempt to wreak chaos through human beings. (I like these guys!)

7)      Archangels are generally taken to mean "chief or leading angel.  They deliver important messages at critical times in the history of salvation.   Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael are all archangels.

8)      Principalities are hostile to God and human beings.  The fact that Christ rules over them shows the reign of Him as King, and so, they still serve a purpose.

9)      Angels While all the choirs are known as angels, the lowest order has no special name; they are just called angels.  These angels are closest to us.  (These would include our guardian angels.)  They deliver the prayers to God and God's answers and other messages to humans. Angels have the capacity to access any and all other angels from any other rank at any time. They are the most caring and social to assist those who ask for help.

For a little bit more personal reflection on angels, please read the post I did on them back in 2015:

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/angels.html

Now there is more to the invisible world, to the heavens, than just angels.  There are the Saints who have gone before us.   They all surround the throne of God, singing his praises, and delighting in doing his will.  However, while it is a holy place, it is still separate from Him, and cannot be equated with God himself.  It is still indeed a creation of God, just like our visible world is.  It was created, like our world was, for God’s glory. 

Heaven is indeed where we wish to be some day.  But keep in mind that our destiny is not just to enjoy heaven as a creation of God, but rather, to enjoy God himself.  This, I think, should caution us to make a slight distinction when we refer to the heavens as a created place, versus heaven as our destiny.  Heaven as our destiny will encompass all the wonderful things about “the heavens”, but it will be even more!   For the most part, heaven is beyond words, but over the centuries, many Saints and scholars have come up with words to describe a little of what it will be like there.   That is beyond the scope of this particular post, though, but I hope to come back to it someday.  

(If you are new to this blog, however, I did speak of heaven in general in a post back in 2016.   Here is a link if you are interested:

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/tough-teachings-heaven_82.html

In the next post, we will turn from the invisible to the visible creation.

Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.

(Attached picture is angels by 14th century painter Guariento Di Apro.)

What does the Church teach about the Father of Jesus Christ? Part Five

In the last post, we discussed how God the Father created the world.  Tonight we will continue our series on God the Father by discussing how the Father, as Creator, guides and sustains this creation.

We mentioned in the last post that the term divine providence is used to describe how God guides the world.  The Catechism (#302) explains why it is necessary that God continue to guide creation once he began it:

Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created "in a state of journeying" (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call "divine providence" the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection:

By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, "reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well". For "all are open and laid bare to his eyes", even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures.

An important point here is that the work of creation is ongoing.   It is not a thing that is over.  Yes, it had a beginning, but it continues to this day.  It is not perfect or complete: it is on the road to completeness, to ultimate perfection. 

God cares for everything in his creation, from the smallest speck of dust to the biggest ocean, from the least powerful people in the world to the most powerful.   In the words of the Catechism (#303), God’s solicitude is concrete and immediate.   He cares for every detail of our lives, and every detail of every living thing in creation.   This reality is the basis behind a lot of the Church’s teaching on the dignity of the human person, as well as the environment.   In all this, we can see him truly acting like a good Father.  Just as a father cares for every detail of all his children’s lives, so does God care about the details of all his children’s lives.

God does make use of the cooperation of his creatures (us) in the work of creation.   The Catechism (#306) notes that this is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God's greatness and goodness.  God is the first cause of everything, we are secondary causes.  It speaks to our dignity that we are allowed to share in this work of creation, through our work, prayer, and our sufferings.

If God is in control of everything, then how can we explain the existence of evil?  There are two basic reasons:

1)      God respects our freedom.   If he is free, so must we, too, be free, as his creatures.

2)      God knows how to draw good out of evil.   

Do these both not sound like the qualities of a good father?

The Catechism (#312 and #324) points us to what happened to Christ as both the perfect example of the reality of evil, and an insight into why evil is allowed:  From the greatest moral evil ever committed - the rejection and murder of God's only Son, caused by the sins of all men - God, by his grace that "abounded all the more", brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption.  The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God  illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.  

Sometimes we see human parents allow their children to suffer in the form of a punishment as a result of a wrong the child did, as to bring a greater good out of it, such as better behavior.   Along the same lines of thought, God allows us to experience the effects of evil so as to bring a greater good out of it.  Most of the time, we will not likely fully understand the good until the next life.  (For more details on why we suffer, and our response to it, please see my recent series on the mystery of suffering.)

In all this, we can see the hand of a real loving Father at work. 

Let us go back once more to the beginning of the Nicene Creed, which this series is based on.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

So we now have discussed God as “one”, “Father”, “almighty”, and “creator”.

The next few posts will deal with the actual creation: the heavens and the earth.  It will refer back to the Creator, but the main focus will be the actual creation itself.  In light of that, I will close this series on God the Father with this post, and will, in the next post, start a new mini-series on God’s creation. 

I thank you for joining me in this series on God the Father.  Let us come to know God as Father, a loving Divine Person who willed us into existence, knows us better than anyone, loves us better than anyone, and is interested in every single detail of our life.

The next post may not be for a little while as I will be on vacation for a handful of days starting tomorrow.  I wish you all a Happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Joseph most prudent, pray for us.

What does the Church teach about the Father of Jesus Christ? Part Four

In today’s post, we will begin to look at God the Father as the creator of heaven and earth.   In this post, we will look at the initial creation of the world.   In the next post, we will look at how God the Father continues to guide creation through what we term divine providence.

What are the very first words of the Bible?  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)   So the story of salvation begins with creation, and so our individual stories begin with our own creation.

It is critical that we examine creation because it helps answer some questions like “Where did the world including myself, come from?”, and “Where are we going?”  Creation helps us understand not just about our origin, but our end, as well. 

To this end, there are different theories about creation out there: for example we can hear things like:  

• the world is evil, a result of sin
• the world is God
• the development of the world is the development of God
• the world has always existed and is just material things, or perhaps
• God created the world, but then abandoned it to men 

It is human, the Catechism points out, to inquire about man’s origins.  It is a good thing to do so. We can, as we have alluded to, come to know God as creator through natural reason.   

However, as we have also stated, there is another order of knowledge, Divine Revelation.  Through Revelation, we come to know this Creator is Father, and we are confirmed in our knowledge of him as Creator.   One channel of Revelation, as we have spoken about, is Sacred Scripture. The first three books of Genesis (the creation of the world in seven days, the creation of man and woman, and the fall) are of prime importance in telling the truth about creation.

Going back again to those very first few words in Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  , the Catechism in #290 notes that this sentence confirms three things:

1)      the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself

2)      he alone is Creator (the verb "create" - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject)

3)      The totality of what exists (expressed by the formula "the heavens and the earth") depends on the One who gives it being

So our world (and the world to come) had a beginning, a beginning that was caused by God alone without any help, this world is not God, but rather a separate entity from him, and everything in this world and in the world to come, however, is caused by him. 

In the Trinity, it is indeed the Father who creates, but he creates by the Son.  "In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made John 1:1-5.   So it is entirely appropriate that we are speaking about creation in this series on God the Father.

Why did God the Father create the world?  The Church teaches that God did so to show his glory, and share it.   This is an act of omnipotence, but more importantly, of love and goodness.   The act of creation was one of wisdom and love, not chance.   Since the act was wise, so the creation itself is necessarily therefore ordered and good.  God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good Genesis 1:31.   

But beyond just creating the world, he also sustains it.    We read in #301: With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end.

As we stated at the beginning, we will speak more about the ongoing process of creation in the next post.

Joseph, mode of artisans, pray for us.

What does the Church teach about the Father of Jesus Christ? Part Three

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

We have spoken about God as “one God”, and as “Father”.  Today we will focus on the word “almighty”.

The Catechism in #268 lists several different implications of saying that God is “almighty":

1)      God’s might is universal.   He created everything, so he rules everything.  The universe is subject to him and at his disposal.    He governs all of history.  Nothing is impossible for him.

2)      God’s power is loving.  He is Father.  His fatherhood and power shed light on each other.  His love reveals his power.  He shows his power by taking care of our needs, adopting us in his Son, and providing infinite mercy to us.  

3)      God’s power is mysterious.  It is made present in weakness, something only faith can reveal. But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. ( 1 Corinthians 1:24-25)  The Father revealed his power in the sufferings, and subsequent Resurrection of his Son, which he ordained, and through which evil was conquered.   The seeming powerlessness of God is what the world sees, but through faith, we see he is not powerless at all.  He has done something about evil.   If he can send his own Son to die for us, is there anything he cannot do?

In the world we live in, it is sometimes difficult to believe that there is an almighty God.   We often think if he was almighty, he would do more than he is.   Yet, as we addressed in our series on suffering, God has a purpose for everything, including allowing suffering.   We, because we are not almighty, may not understand it totally, but this is where faith comes in, and where we must accept that we do not understand his wisdom now, but one day, we will.

One final point needs to be made about God’s power.  The Catechism notes in #271: God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: "In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect.   There is nothing about God that is not perfect.   His power is perfect: he is all powerful.  His will is perfect.   His intellect is perfect.  He is perfectly just.   God is almighty, and this perfection and power apply to everything about him.

So let us rejoice that the Father who created us, sustains us, and loves us is capable of doing anything for us.  He lacks nothing.   If we stay united with him, then neither shall we lack anything we need.

In the next post, we will begin to look at God the Father as creator.

Joseph most just, pray for us.

What does the Church teach about the Father of Jesus Christ? Part Two

Let us begin by recalling the words of the Nicene Creed that are the focus of this series:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

In the last post, we focused in on the words “one God”.   Tonight, we will focus in on the word “Father”.

God is one, but in three divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is the central mystery of the entire Christian faith, and it is the central message of Divine Revelation.    When we spoke in the last series about Christ, who is the Son, we made some allusions to his relationship to the Father.   Here is one that is important for our purposes here as we discuss the Father:

 Jesus reveals himself as the Son, and therefore, reveals God as Father.   He is the reason God is Father, and therefore, has a special understanding of him.

Now it is very important to note something here.   As the Catechism notes in #238, many religions invoke God as Father, but more in the sense of being the creator of things, the first origin of everything, and a transcendent authority.   And some may even add to that a sense of parental care for the world and his children in it.   However, Jesus reveals God as Father in a whole new sense, as one who is rightly called Father because he has a Son.   God is not just Father because he created the world, or even because he cares for it, but rather, again, because he has a Son.  This is what is utterly unique about Christianity amongst all the world religions.  This notion of divine sonship in God may be tough to grasp, but trying to come to some understanding of it, with the help of divine grace, is a task that can bring us more joy than any other task we will ever take.

As we said before, Jesus is begotten of the Father, not created, so he always existed in time.  The Father begets the son, and the love between them is the Holy Spirit.   The Father, therefore, in the words of the Catechism (#245) is “the source and origin of the whole divinity.”    We also read the relationship between the three explained this way (#254):  "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds." 

It is the Father who created the world, and creates our life.  (We will speak more about creation later in this series.)  He is the ultimate decision maker.  But everything he does is through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.   Or, put, another way as we read in #258:  Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are".

We all came from the heavenly Father.   We owe everything to him.

The Catechism notes that because of fallen human nature, the ideal of fatherhood is not always lived out as it should be in the world today.  And because of that, some people may have difficulty relating to God as Father.    The Catechism addresses this reality in in #239:   God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.

Jesus reveals God as Father, and so we should call him that.  However, the Father transcends human fatherhood and so calling God Father is not quite the same as calling our earthly parents Father, even though there are similarities.  Therefore, if we have not had the best experiences with our earthly fathers, we still can relate to the Father because he transcends motherhood and fatherhood as we know it, but we can incorporate images from both, even as we call him Father.

It is important that society come back to acknowledge God as Father not just for the standard "return to morality" reasons, or "to stop the erosion of family life" reasons, important as they both are.  What is even more important, I think,  is that we come to grips with the reality that we have a Father who loves us as his own, cares for us, and is a God of relationship, who wants to have one with us.  This can help us deal with the reality of the loneliness and isolation so many of us experience.  By coming to know God as Father, and telling others about him, we can help make the world a little less lonely, and we can become more of the human family God wants us to be.

In the next post, we will look at God as “almighty”.

Joseph, foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.


(The attached painting is “God the Father” by Giovanni Domenico.)

What does the Church teach about the Father of Jesus Christ? Part One

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.  Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  John 14:6-9

Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we discussed last series, points us to the Father.  In this series, we will discuss the Father.

Like the last series, this series, too, will base itself on the Nicene Creed that we say every Sunday at Mass.   The section we will deal with in this series is the very first part which reads:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

There are some important words in there, all of which we will touch in this series:  one, God, Father, almighty, maker, heaven, earth, visible, invisible

We will begin today with the first line “I believe in one God.”

I did a few posts a while back on the ways of coming to know God.   We can come to know him through nature, through our interior longings, and also through Divine Revelation.   For more details, here are the links to the posts in question:

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/coming-to-know-god.html

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/divine-revelation.html

As we come to know God through all these means, what do we come to know?

We know he is one, and he is the only one. We see this in both the Old and New Testaments, as we read in #201 and #202 : To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.... To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 'Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength.'" Jesus himself affirms that God is "the one Lord" whom you must love "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength".

God indeed reveals himself as the only God to the people of Israel.   This is the beginning of the Divine Revelation, which will culminate in the person of Christ.   To Moses at the burning bush, he says his name is YHWH, which means “I am who am.”   Disclosing a name to someone is a means of allowing one to get to know you.  It does not mean we then know right then and there everything about a person, but revealing a name certainly goes a long way: we cannot get to know someone without knowing their name.   God’s name which means “ I am who am” means he is someone who is always there, faithful, unique, and the source of all that we have, without whom we are nothing.   He is truth itself, and love itself.

But even with this name, God does remain mysterious.  The phrase “I am who am” is a revelation, but it is still a little mysterious as the Catechism explains in #206:  This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.   In #230, the Catechism has a nice quote on this from Saint Augustine:  "If you understood him, it would not be God"

What are the implications of having faith in one God?   The Catechism lists several in #223-#227:

It means coming to know God's greatness and majesty.

It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him

It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men: everyone is made in the image and likeness of God.

It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him

It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity.

There are many beautiful implications to God being the one and only, but also obligations, as we see here.

In the next post, we will discuss God as Father.

Joseph, renowned offspring of David, pray for us.

What does the Church teach about Jesus Christ? Part Twelve

Tonight, we wrap up this series on what the Church teaches about Jesus Christ.   Here again is the part of the Nicene Creed, that we say every Sunday, that deals with the person of Jesus Christ, and that this series was based on.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

In this series, we touched on both the person of Jesus Christ, and the life he lived before he came to Earth, while on Earth, and now living in glory reigning with the Father in the Kingdom.

I think the most beautiful thing about Christ is that he is both fully God, and fully man.   He can sympathize with us in our weakness, not because he is weak himself, but because he endured all that we suffer.   Yet, at the same time, by uniting ourselves with him, we can share in his divine power that helped him endure and ultimately triumph over all that life brings our way.

But it goes beyond just the good of having him alongside us during our life journey.  He also points us heavenly to a life beyond all our imagining.  He not only is our guide and companion in life: he is, with the Father and the Spirit, the end or goal of our life.  Just as the world was created through him, so we were created through him and we live our lives in him.   To be with him where he is now is to be the goal we all strive for.  He both accompanies us on the journey, while at the same time, since he is God, he is the end of the journey itself.   Christ is truly all in all, and that must apply to each of us, as well.

So it is very important that we all develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.  In the Catholic understanding, that relationship begins at Baptism where we bury ourselves with him, so we can rise with him.  It is then nurtured with the other Sacraments that we receive throughout the course of life, especially the Eucharist, where Christ is present in his fullness, and we receive him in that fullness.  Outside the Sacraments, the other prominent way of getting to know Christ is to hear the New Testament proclaimed, and read it for ourselves.  Listening to what it says about Christ through the stories it tells about him will help us grow in our knowledge and love of him.   Finally, through others who are close to Christ themselves, like the holy people we know, or people who seem to have a dramatic sharing in the sufferings of Christ, like the poor and the sick, will likewise bring us close to Jesus.

It is very sad to hear of people who leave the Catholic Church and say it was because they never knew Christ.   Christ founded the Catholic Church, and is wedded to her.  She is his bride.  Christ is closer to the Catholic Church than anything or anyone else in this world.  It is truly tragic that so many are seemingly not able to see the Bridegroom when they see the Bride.  We must seek to change that.  Getting to know Jesus more ourselves, through more frequent reception of the Sacraments, more frequent listening to and reading the Scriptures, and encounter with him present in the holy, the poor, and the sick, is a good first step that can go a long way to making us better equipped to stop this exodus of people from the Church to other churches, or out of Christianity all together.  We must all become better at showing people the face of Jesus Christ, who is truly the joy of all man’s desiring.

Thank you for joining me in this series.

Joseph, foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.