Your Questions, Answered
Sometimes it feels like God chooses some and excludes others in the Old Testament. Why is this?
POEM: DESCRIBING HIM
Therese Pace
God has a heart as big as outer space,
a hoard from where all gifts are distributed
deserved or undeserved. Kibbutz of grace.
FROM LIFE: Understanding The Love Of God The Father
It was the Sunday mass. I admit that I wasn’t paying much attention but looking around at the people there. Even when we get distracted God has a way of reeling us back in. As I was sitting at the back, I was noticing every person walking past, either late or keeping their children entertained. At one point the latter passed by. The verse from Matthew 7:11 came to me.
A dad and his child, just a toddler learning to walk paced the aisle as the dad tried to quieten the child and simultaneously listen to the priest...
Prayer: To me God is...
THE FATHER – offering us unconditional love,
THE MOTHER – promising us eternal tender care,
THE GIFT – giving Himself to us,
THE WORD – becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us,
THE TRUTH – bearing witness to Himself,
THE REVEALER – showing Himself as Love,
THE BROTHER – sharing our experiences of life,
THE BABY – so fragile in a manger in Bethlehem,
THE CARPENTER – leading a normal life in Nazareth...
From the Fathers of the Church
"You made us for Yourself, O Lord; and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
St Augustine of Hippo
Experiencing God "with me" and yet as the "totally other"
If one is to ask various persons, if they believe in God, probably they will say 'yes'. If one is to ask, "who is God?" or "what is God?" there will probably be as many different answers as there are people! In ancient philosophy, God is described as the Unmoved mover, the all-knowing, eternal and transcendent. In Christianity, according to Scriptures, God revealed his name as YHWH: the God Who Is. From the very first book of Scriptures, God is seen creating the universe, the stars, our planet and finally the human being. So God can be called the Creator of heaven and earth. In the New Testament, we find Jesus Christ calling God as Father and revealing God to be a Triune God: Father, Son and Spirit. Hence, in Christianity, we speak of the Trinity. Throughout the centuries, God was experienced as the God with us and yet as the Totally Other.
From the Bible
BIBLE VERSES ABOUT GOD
"God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all!"
1 John 1:5
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."
1 John 4:7
From the Popes
TOP POPE'S QUOTES ABOUT GOD
"I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?"
Pope Francis to atheist newspaper editor of La Repubblica - Eugenio Scalfari, 2013