264. Old Testament. Moreover God
has specially revealed Himself in salvation history to the Israelites as
recorded in the Old Testament. There is but One God who is to be loved (Dt
6:4-5), who reveals His Name — “I Am” — (cf. Ex 3:14), who is Truth (2
Sm 7:28) and Love
(cf. Hos 11:1; CCC 200-21). To believe in such a God affects our whole
life tremendously. It means realizing the majestic grandeur of God (cf. Jb
36:26), living within the action of His grace (cf. Ps 116:12), with
complete confidence in His Providence, recognizing the unity and dignity
of every person (cf. Gn 1:26),
and the task of caring for all creation (cf. CCC 222-27).
265. But the God of the Creed, while firmly
based on this Old Testament revelation, is specifically the God revealed in the
concrete experiences of Easter and Pentecost, the God revealed by Jesus Christ.
He is the God experienced by the disciples of the Risen Christ, in the Spirit.
“Father” in the Creed means first and foremost “Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,” and only in view of that, Father of all men.
266. Identifying the Creed’s “Father” thus
expresses the biblical portrayal of Jesus’ unique relation to the
Father. When Philip asked Jesus: “Show us the Father and that will be enough
for us,” Jesus replied: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Do you
not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?. . . it is the
Father who lives in me accomplishing His works” (Jn 14:9-10). This
brings us to the third preliminary point, namely, the Trinity as the
specific “Christian” image of God.
267. Blessed Trinity/Grace. The God
revealed by Jesus Christ is, of course, the Blessed Trinity, the central
Mystery of the Christian Faith and of our Christian life. “No one has ever seen
God. It is God the only Son, ever at the Father’s side, who has revealed Him”
(Jn 1:18). Jesus, the
Incarnate Son, reveals to us the Eternal Father, and his own unity with the
Father (cf. Jn 10:30).
Together with the Father, the Risen Christ sends their Holy Spirit, “a spirit
of adoption through which we cry, Abba, ‘Father!’ The Spirit itself
gives witness with our spirit that we are children of God . . . heirs of God,
joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:15-17;
cf. CCC 232-67).
268. This Trinitarian image of God is present to
us from the very inception of our Christian life. We were baptized in
the name of Father, Son, and Spirit (cf.
CCC 249). Baptism is a continuing reality in our lives through which
we are called to share their divine life of love even now on earth through Grace,
in the obscurity of faith, and after death in the eternal light of heaven (cf.
CCC 265). Meanwhile our every prayer as Catholics is begun with the Sign of
the Cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (CCC
232). And our community Eucharistic celebrations begin with a greeting such
as: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor 13:13). In brief, our whole Christian life is marked
by the Trinity.
269. With this general background on God in Old
Testament and Christian perspectives, we can now begin to study the meaning of
the Creed’s “Father” and “Almighty.”
II. GOD AS OUR FATHER
270. How is it possible, proper, and true to
call God our “Father?” Five basic reasons can be given why God is
our Father.
Our Creator
271. First, the most
obvious reason is because He created us. “Thus says God, the Lord, who
created the heavens and stretched them out, . . . Who gives breath to its
people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you . . . I
have grasped you by the hand; I formed you” (Is 42:5-6).
As
Christians, we know further that “we are truly [God’s] handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10).
Our Provider
272. Second, God is our
Father because He provides for our needs. The Psalmist acclaims: “The
Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps 23:1). He sent us Jesus, “the
Good Shepherd,” who taught: “If God clothes in such splendor the grass of the
field . . . how much more will he provide for you, O weak in faith!” (Lk
12:28)
Our Redeemer
273. Third, God is our
Father because He has redeemed us. “You, Lord, are our Father, our
Redeemer you are named forever” (Is 63:16). This redemption is a further
sign of our Father’s love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,
that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
God’s Indwelling Spirit
274. Fourth, as our Father, God sends His Spirit to share His divine
life with us. “If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is
brought to perfection in us. The way we know we remain in Him and He in us is
that He has given us of His Spirit” (1 Jn 4:12-13).
Our Self-Identity/Destiny
275. Lastly, as with Jesus
himself, God as our Father grounds our own self-identity. For we are all
essentially children of God, destined for life eternal with Him. “Abba,
Father” captures in a word that unique relationship to God enjoyed by Jesus
Christ. In this relationship Jesus invites all of us to share. To be a
Christian, then, means to acknowledge that all persons are called to be
adopted sons/daughters of the Father, in Christ Jesus. Thus filial love of God
our Father calls for loving service of our fellowmen.
Our Motherly Father
276. These reasons why God is “Father” are
certainly not affirming that God is sexual, that is, masculine rather than
feminine. God’s fullness of life embraces both the paternal and maternal
dimensions of love, and infinitely more! Isaiah describes how God promises “as
a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you” (Is 66:13). Christ
described his desire to gather Jerusalem’s
children together as “a mother bird gathers her young under her wings” (Mt 23:37).
But to
really appreciate that God is truly our Father, we have to go back to
the biblical narrative of the great events of salvation history.
III. GOD REVEALED AS “FATHER” IN SCRIPTURE
A. Yahweh in the Old Testament
277. The Old Testament presents the
inspired story of God forming His own people by establishing a special
relationship with them. This covenant was a call to fuller life and
salvation. First God called Abraham out of his homeland and
promised him: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you” (Gn
12:1-2). Through Abraham, God promised: “all the nations of the earth shall
find blessing __ all this because you obeyed my command” (Gn 22:18). Thus God showed Himself
to be a personal God, eager to endow his people with land, material
possessions and countless descendants.
278. The call of Moses gives an even
sharper picture of God as liberating His people. Out of the burning bush
the Lord said: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt
and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers. . . . Come
now, I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people out of Egypt” (Ex 3:7,10). God
showed Himself “Father” to the Israelites by choosing them “to be a people
peculiarly His own.” This was not because they were the largest of all nations,
but solely because He “set His heart” on them and loved them (cf. Dt 7:6-8).
For their part, the Israelites were to observe God’s commandments, the “Ten
Words,” to guide them toward fuller freedom as His children (cf. Ex
20:1-17).
279. The subsequent history of the Israelites showed
the same infidelities which we ourselves experience today in our relationship
with God. Yet, despite their stubborn unfaithfulness, God remained faithful. He
established a covenant with David and promised him: “I will raise up
your heir after you. . . I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me”
(2 Sm 7:12,14).
After the Exile, God promised through the prophets a New and Eternal
Covenant: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (cf. Jer
31:31-34).
This is
the image of God given us in the Old Testament and described in the Fourth
Eucharistic Prayer:
Father, we acknowledge your greatness.
All your actions show your wisdom and love . . .
Even when we disobeyed you and lost your friendship
You did not abandon us to the power of death,
but helped
us all to seek and find you.
Again and again you offered a covenant to us,
And through the prophets taught us to hope for
salvation.
This is the image of God that Jesus came to bring to
fulfillment.
B. Jesus’ “Abba” Relationship
280. Jesus’ relation to the Father is unique.
The Old Testament commonly referred to “the God of our Fathers.” It names God
as “Father” only in eleven places, and never in direct address. But
Jesus constantly speaks of God as Father (over 170 times in the New Testament).
This is especially true at crucial points in our Lord’s life __ his Baptism,
his Transfiguration, his Last Supper with his apostles, and especially in his
Passion and Death. In each of these critical moments, Jesus experienced this
special relation to God, his “Abba.” He lived as Son of his Father by
his filial love, obedience, and complete dedication to his Father’s will. Jesus
also realized that this experience was unique to him: “No one knows the Father
but the Son __ and anyone to
whom the Son wishes to reveal Him” (Mt 11:27).
281. Jesus taught that God is the Father of
all, and instructed his disciples to pray to God as “Our Father” (Mt
6:9). In this he revolutionized the idea and image of God. For
Jesus, the Father was not an authoritarian paternalistic God, but a God
incredibly committed to us, His adopted children. He rains down the Just One,
Immanuel, God-with-us. He is a forgiving Father who runs out to greet His
prodigal repentant son (cf. Lk 15:20).
He is a Father who cannot be bribed, or cajoled, or fooled in any way. But his
love for us goes beyond all bounds. He even sends His only begotten Son to die
on the Cross to bring salvation and new life to us all.
282. Proclaiming God as Father, as Ama,
Tatay, is to realize God’s place in our own self-identity. Our
deepest self is to be His adopted son or daughter. We recognize the
tremendous utang na loob we owe God our Father who sustains us
every moment of our lives. But we also come to realize our responsibility
to order our lives according to God’s loving will. His Fatherly love desires
only our utmost good. God’s will is that we grow into the fullness of our
capacities, unto our perfect happiness. Thus we are most our true selves, most
creative, when we obey His will. Trusting completely in His Fatherly Providence
frees us from all depressing fear, through an authentic, positive “bahala
na” attitude.
IV. ALMIGHTY
283. God the Father is described as “Almighty,”
the only divine attribute cited in the Creed. Its importance can be
explained under three specific qualities. We believe God’s power is: 1) universal;
2) loving; and 3) a mystery (cf. CCC 268).
284. Universal. God the
Father’s power is universal because He is PANTOKRATOR, the
Creator and ruler of all things, infinitely beyond any human father we
experience on earth (cf. CCC 268). This stops us from falling into any
false sentimentalism regarding God our loving Father. We believe: “He rules and
compasses all things, for the heights of the heavens and the depths of the
abysses and the limits of the world are in His Hand” (St. Theophilus of Antioch).
285. So in the Old Testament we read of Yahweh
Sabaoth, “Lord of Hosts,” and El Shaddai, “Lord of the mountain,”
who showed His power particularly in the Exodus liberation. “With strong hand
and outstretched arm you brought your people Israel
out of Egypt
amid signs and wonders and great terror” (Jer 32:21). In the New
Testament God’s power is revealed in Christ’s “signs” or miracles, and
especially in his Resurrection (cf. CCC 269).
286. God’s
almighty power is manifested as universal in that He is both utterly beyond
us (transcendent), and yet more intimately within us (immanent)
than we are to ourselves. His utter transcendence is expressed by Isaiah
the prophet: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways
above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Is 55:8-9). But the same prophet sees this transcendence in God’s holiness:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” (Is 6:3) This we repeat in the Sanctus
of every Mass.
This same
quality of holiness brings out God’s universal immanent presence. So the
Sanctus continues Isaiah’s text: “All the earth is filled with his
glory!” (Is 6:3).
287. Loving. Now since we
all expect God to be all-powerful, almighty, we might miss
what is most striking about the divine power in the Bible. For as with the idea
of “Father,” the Bible actually revolutionizes the notion of
God as ‘almighty.’ The biblical ‘almighty’ is not some impersonal,
arbitrary, self-seeking force, imposing terror on all creatures. Rather, the
Father’s almighty power is the re-creating personal energy of non-violent
Love.
288. This
“loving power” of the Father, His “kagandahang-loob,” is revealed
especially in Christ our Lord, present among us in the Spirit. God keeps us as
His “segullah” __ the apple of His eye. His almighty love is forever
yearning to do more for us, in the spirit of “malasakit,” as Christ
pictured for all in his parable of the Good Shepherd (cf. Jn 10:11; CCC
270).
289. A Mystery. Yet
proclaiming God as Father Almighty does not blind the Christian to all
the evil in the world. Sin and the suffering of countless people are
much too real to make light of, or explain away by some flimsy excuse. Thus the
ever-persistent question: If God is really all-powerful, why can’t He wipe out
all evil? Our Christian Faith does not give us any easy “answer” to this
mystery. But it does offer us some basic truths to fortify us against
meaningless, despairing suffering (cf. CCC 309).
290. Mystery of God’s
Powerlessness. God’s power is “mystery” because it so often
appears as powerlessness. This is most sharply manifested in the Passion
and Death of Christ. With St. Paul
we “proclaim
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to
those who are called. . . 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 Cor 1:23-25). Thus, God’s “powerlessness”
calls forth the exclamation:
May you know. . . the immeasurable scope of his power
in us who believe. It is like the strength he showed in raising christ from the dead and seating him at
his right hand in heaven, high above every principality, power virtue, and
domination, and every name that can be given in this age or in the age to come.
He has put all things under Christ's feet and has made him, thus exalted, head
of the Church” (Eph 1:19-22;
cf. CCC 272).
Moreover,
we firmly believe that “God, who raised up the Lord, will raise us also by His
power” (1 Cor 6:14).
291. Mystery of
Evil. In approaching this mystery of evil,
we first affirm our unshakeable belief that God our Father is
concerned precisely with each and every one of us, here and now, in all our
troubles and sufferings. Second, our Faith tells us that evil originated
in the Fall of the first persons, and not from any defect in God or his
creative power. Third, by picturing the Fall of Adam as a dramatic
event, the Bible situates moral evil in the mystery of freedom, not in
the limitations of all creatures. Sin is the result not of our being “tao
lamang” — only a limited human person! — but of our free choice of evil (cf.
CCC 311).
292. The broader mystery of all suffering
and evil in the world, physical as well as moral, has to be
viewed in terms of our interrelated “world-in-process.” We realize the world is
developing through an evolutionary process which involves our own free
self-development in society. The only power that prevents the evils of the world
from becoming intolerable and totally devastating, is God’s.
God the Father
has entered into this process by sending His Son on His redemptive mission, and
sending the Holy Spirit to continue Christ’s work on earth. He continues to
take upon himself the sin and suffering of the world, and thus transforms what
would be the cause of ultimate despair into a source of hope, now and for
eternal life.
293. Our
Christian faith thus offers us spiritual strength to face “the human condition”
rather than any intellectual “solution.” The evil in the world is not some “problem”
to be solved, but a “mystery” to be faced. Three “faces” of evil __ fate, sin and
death __
can never be answered by any rationalistic “head
knowledge.” What alone is effective is a vibrant spiritual life of believing,
hoping and loving God, our Father Almighty, through Christ Jesus our Lord and
Savior, in their indwelling Holy Spirit.
So we can point to the Old
Testament narration of Joseph (cf. Gn 45:8;
50:20), and Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the New Testament, to
show how God can draw good from evil. Since we rely on His infinite loving power and
mercy. “we know that God makes all things work for good, for those who love
God” (Rom 8:28;
cf. CCC 312-14).
INTEGRATION
294. When we proclaim in the Creed the truth
that God is Father and Almighty, we commit ourselves to a certain vision and
style of life. The conviction that God is our Almighty Father provides the
basis not only for all meaning in life, but also for our moral action
and behavior, and our total prayer life. God is proclaimed as the ground
for all our most precious values: how we want to think and act, be and pray.
295. Moral Life. The first
Commandment gives us a perfect example of this connection between believing in
God our almighty Father, and acting accordingly. First, the truth:
“I, the Lord am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery” (Ex 20:2; Dt 5:6). Then the action: “You
shall not have other gods besides me”(Ex 20:3).
Our utang
na loob before God our Father means rejecting all other “gods” __ whether they
be wealth and possessions, reputation before men, or worldly power and success
(cf. Mt 4:1-11). It means rejecting the split-level type of life of the
Christian who gives lip service to the Lord one day a week (or less!) and acts
no better than a pagan the rest of the time. Believing in God our almighty
Father demands a real conversion of heart which alone can motivate the
radical change in life-style that constitutes authentic Christian life.
296. The social dimension of this
authentic life-style rejects all exclusivism __ caring only
for our own family, barkada, group or region. For this denies that we
are all brothers and sisters under God, our heavenly Father. Christian Faith
calls for social maturity that recognizes our responsibilities in the
community. Pakikisama must be balanced by bayanihan.
297. Prayer Life. The place of God as Father almighty
is central to all Christian prayer. In the Eucharistic Celebration we begin with
confessing our sins to “almighty God.” In the Gloria we worship, give
thanks and praise the “almighty God and Father.” This is the worship “in Spirit
and in truth” (Jn 4:24)
that Christ proclaimed. This is the way our utang before God is
expressed in prayer and worship.
PCP II has challenged
Filipino Catholics to root out all superstitious practices and belief in occult
powers and spirits. Christ came to liberate us from such fears and idolatries.
They not only enslave us, but open our faith to ridicule before others.
298. Our
private devotions must be grounded in the authentic liturgical prayer of the
Church, for there is only ONE GOD and “Him alone shall you adore” (Mt 4:10; Dt 6:13). The Church’s prayer insures that our
private devotions are not completely taken up with constant petitions, but
include the essential dimensions of adoration, thanksgiving and praise.
Finally, sincere personal conviction that God is truly our almighty Father may
be the best safeguard against “empty ritualism.” Instead of focusing on the
external rituals, or on superficial emotional sentimentalism,
strong attachment to our almighty Father inspires authentic spiritual
movements of the heart (cf. NCDP 103, 167, 327, 430).
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
299. How do most Filipinos relate to God?
In general,
most Christian Filipinos think of God as their all-powerful Father who is the
Lord of all.
This image
conforms well with many traditional Filipino cultural values.
300. How does the Creed describe God?
The Creed affirms
God as Almighty Father, Creator of all things, with the divine
Son-made-man Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, thus presenting the
Holy Trinity.
301. What is the special value of the Creed’s
first assertion?
By proclaiming
belief in “God, the Father Almighty,” the Creed lifts us out of ourselves and
centers us on the ONE God who is
LOVE, and not on our meager selves.
302. How does God enter into our lives?
God enters our
lives in our experiencing:
• our
own inner search for meaning and happiness;
• the
beauty and goodness of nature and our family, friends and neighbors around us;
• our
Filipino history and culture; and especially,
• God’s
public Revelation in salvation history as recorded in the Old and New
Testaments, and climaxed in Jesus Christ.
“From the
greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy,
is seen” (Wis
13:5).
“Since the
creation of the world, invisible realities: God’s eternal power and divinity,
have become visible, recognized through the things he has made” (Rom 1:20).
“The heavens
declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork” (Ps
19:2).
303. What are some of the Bible’s most basic faith
affirmations about God?
Scripture
affirms: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” (Dt 6:4),
and “I am the Lord your God. . . you shall have no other gods besides me” (Ex
20:2-3; Dt 5: 6-7). The one God is a saving God. “This is eternal life: to
know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn
17:3).
Church teaching summarizes a
description of God as follows:
There is one true and living God, Creator and Lord of
heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immeasurable, incomprehensible, infinite
in intellect and will and in every perfection . . . one unique spiritual
substance, entirely simple and unchangeable . . . really and essentially
distinct from the world, most blessed in and of Himself, and inexpressibly
exalted above all things that exist or can be conceived other than Himself (Vat.
I, DS 3001, ND 327).
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