APPETIZER: "God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #213)
MAIN COURSE: It's so very difficult - and frustrating at times - to try and imagine God who is unimaginable! And yet we humans have sought to do so for centuries because we have this inherent need "to know". But the words and descriptions we use to try and wrap our minds around the mystery that is God are only a shadow of his reality. We can, however, get glimpses of who he is and what he is like by pondering ourselves and the world around us as we saw in our first bite-size serving of the Faith (see #1, The Gift of Faith). We see the Lord reflected here on earth in all that we experience and encounter that is Good, Beautiful and True.
While it's technically possible for us to come to know that there is a Supreme Being, Creator, Designer, Intelligence, and Life-Source whom we call God, it's impossible to know personal details about this Divine Being unless he makes these things known to us. As inheritors of the Sacred Scriptures, we believe that this is where we must go to find what God has revealed about who he is and what he is like. But then, this begs the question: how can we know that the Bible is God-inspired and not simply a human invention?
Both the Old and New Testaments have been proven to be trustworthy documentary sources by experts in literature, history and archaeology. But this is not the same as saying they are the "Word of God". This simply allows us to accept them as authentic and reliable expressions of religious experiences of many people and cultures.
While it's technically possible for us to come to know that there is a Supreme Being, Creator, Designer, Intelligence, and Life-Source whom we call God, it's impossible to know personal details about this Divine Being unless he makes these things known to us. As inheritors of the Sacred Scriptures, we believe that this is where we must go to find what God has revealed about who he is and what he is like. But then, this begs the question: how can we know that the Bible is God-inspired and not simply a human invention?
Both the Old and New Testaments have been proven to be trustworthy documentary sources by experts in literature, history and archaeology. But this is not the same as saying they are the "Word of God". This simply allows us to accept them as authentic and reliable expressions of religious experiences of many people and cultures.
As Christians, we come to our faith in Scripture as God's Word by taking a "backwards" approach, so to speak. We don't start from Genesis and work our way forward to figure things out. We actually start with the New Testament and work our way back! In other words, the physical historical Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead proves his Divinity and thus confirms the Scriptures as God's Word. As St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the First Corinthians: if the Resurrection isn't true then neither is anything we have been told and believed! This is vital for us to know and accept as Christians. The Resurrection of Jesus means everything to us! This is why Easter is the greatest highest holiday of Christianity. The whole of Christianity rises or falls upon the truth and reality of the Resurrection!
The thousand-plus pages of the Old Testament inform us that there is but One True God who is the Creator, the Source of All Existence. This is why in the Book of Exodus, God reveals his personal Name as "I AM who AM." (Ex 3:14) Through the history, poetry, prophecy and wisdom of Scripture we come to behold a God who is all-present, all-knowing, all-powerful. He is a God of Justice (which means he is "fair", giving each person what is due to them, rewarding good and punishing evil). But this justice is balanced by the truth that he is a God of Mercy who forgives, heals, restores, reconciles and continually holds us in his care.
Those last two attributes of God - justice and mercy - wrongly find themselves in a kind of "tug of war" among Christians today. But two awesome (and very popular) saints teach us a hopeful truth about this alleged tension. Both St. Therese of the Child Jesus (a "doctor" or teacher of the Church) and St. Faustina Kowalska (of the Divine Mercy revelations) beautifully remind us that mercy is the expression of God's justice, not its competition!
They wrote that because we are weak and wounded human beings, God's justice moves him to treat us above all with mercy because that is the fair thing to do! If we were perfect and immaculate human beings without the luring effects of original sin and thus utterly free in our power to chose good and avoid evil it would be a different story. But we're not, and so these saints (along with modern popes and Church teaching) encourage us with this truth and the New Testament itself also proclaims that "mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:13)
Taking a brief look ahead to Jesus and the New Testament, we see that above all else and first of all: "God is love" (1 John 4:16) And it is this greatest attribute of his, love, that impelled him to become one of us so that he could be seen, heard, touched and experienced in person. As St. Paul says, "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15) so when pondering the questions of "Who is God?" and "What is he like?" all we need do is turn to the Gospels. We will see in them what God is like, how he acts, what he thinks, how he loves through the person and message of Jesus of Nazareth, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us-in-the-flesh.
Those last two attributes of God - justice and mercy - wrongly find themselves in a kind of "tug of war" among Christians today. But two awesome (and very popular) saints teach us a hopeful truth about this alleged tension. Both St. Therese of the Child Jesus (a "doctor" or teacher of the Church) and St. Faustina Kowalska (of the Divine Mercy revelations) beautifully remind us that mercy is the expression of God's justice, not its competition!
They wrote that because we are weak and wounded human beings, God's justice moves him to treat us above all with mercy because that is the fair thing to do! If we were perfect and immaculate human beings without the luring effects of original sin and thus utterly free in our power to chose good and avoid evil it would be a different story. But we're not, and so these saints (along with modern popes and Church teaching) encourage us with this truth and the New Testament itself also proclaims that "mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:13)
Taking a brief look ahead to Jesus and the New Testament, we see that above all else and first of all: "God is love" (1 John 4:16) And it is this greatest attribute of his, love, that impelled him to become one of us so that he could be seen, heard, touched and experienced in person. As St. Paul says, "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15) so when pondering the questions of "Who is God?" and "What is he like?" all we need do is turn to the Gospels. We will see in them what God is like, how he acts, what he thinks, how he loves through the person and message of Jesus of Nazareth, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us-in-the-flesh.
In our Catholic tradition, there have been many brilliant minds who have dedicated their studies, writings and lives to seeking the answers to these questions about who God is and what he is like. Two top contenders in this endeavor have been St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274AD). St. Augustine is especially known for enlightening us on WHO God is by elaborating on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a 5-volume series of theology telling us WHAT God is like (among many other things).
Near the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas concluded that all he had written was nothing but "worthless straw" in comparison to the reality of who God is and what he is like. Which brings us back to what was said at the beginning of our study: the words and descriptions we use to try and wrap our minds around the mystery that is God are only a shadow of his reality. And so we accept this limitation and remember that St. Paul reminds us: "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7)
Near the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas concluded that all he had written was nothing but "worthless straw" in comparison to the reality of who God is and what he is like. Which brings us back to what was said at the beginning of our study: the words and descriptions we use to try and wrap our minds around the mystery that is God are only a shadow of his reality. And so we accept this limitation and remember that St. Paul reminds us: "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7)
DOGGIE BAG: Here are a few things to take away from our study for spiritual snacking throughout the day.
St. Augustine's Prayer
My God, let me know and love you, so that I may find my happiness in you. Since I cannot fully achieve this on earth, help me to improve daily until I may do so to the full. Enable me to know you ever more on earth, so that I may know you perfectly in heaven. Enable me to love you ever more on earth, so that I may love you perfectly in heaven. In that way my joy may be great on earth, and perfect with you in heaven. Amen.
St. Thomas Aquinas' Prayer
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
St. Thomas Aquinas' Prayer
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
Scripture verse to memorize: "God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 4:16) or "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15)
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