"Let us recall before our eyes the evils which we have done, and ponder how great is that goodness of God by which we are tolerated. Let us mark what are the bowels of His loving-kindness, that He does not merely pardon our faults, but promises the kingdom of heaven to penitents even after their faults."
From Homily 18 on the Gospels given by St. Gregory the Great.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
A Sideways 8
So...today I went to the Wake County Public Library book sale with two friends of mine. Might I just say that it had to be one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. It was held inside of an old K-Mart. This immense room was filled end to end with over 300 000 books. Joy in the purest form. I walked away with one book thus far, but the prices go down this weekend so I may very well return for more. The following excerpt is from the book "My Catholic Faith" by Louis LaRavoire Morrow. The book is rather dated but I liked the way it presented some of the finer theological tenets of Catholicism. The following is from the section on God as the Supreme Being, which is the first article of the Apostles Creed.
"
God cannot be better, more holy, or more perfect that He already is. He is the acme of perfection. the uncreated, the Infinite.
"Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee." ~ 3 Kings 8:27
So perfect is God that He is infinitely incomprehensible, incapable of being completely understood. Reason can verify the revelation that God made of Himself. But when we make our reason or our emotions the final authority, we make ourselves our own god, and shut the road to the supernatural, the Infinite.
God alone can bridge the chasm that yawns between the finite and the infinite. When we take advantage of His grace to seek Him in loving trust, He holds out His hand, a Father calling to children, to cross the chasm safely to Him. "
Too many times I see people that are trying their hardest to force God into their own flawed human perception of what the supreme being should be. Whether he is an old, robed man with a long beard as he is depicted in the aforementioned book, or as a playful creature which follows his whims and plays checkers with the angels. Anything that we can perceive of God or name him limits Him to our human views. To put it as accurately as possible, God = God. He is, always has been and ever shall be God. To compromise what He truly is and compress Him to our own notions is blasphemy. It is a HUGE disservice to the glory that He is. And yet people do it all the time. Rather that accept that "He is" and humble YOURSELF in worship to Him, people swimming in their own pride are content to humble God to what they "think" or "feel" He should be...just to settle their own pride and insecurities. We need to take a look at who needs to be humbled. You or God? Just in case you weren't listening...it's you and I. We live in such an arrogant generation. One plagued with the thought that we are amazing and can do anything on our own. And we are content to do anything to foster those feelings. Even if it means watering down God so much that we create our own god. Notice the lower case. We warp the true nature of God so much that what we worship is no longer the true Father, the all powerful, the ever-living God.
P.S. It totally just hit me that the verse came from the book of 3rd Kings. Not everybody has that...oops. Hope that doesn't ruin this message for you! I promise...the deuterocanonical books aren't half as scary as you think.
"
God cannot be better, more holy, or more perfect that He already is. He is the acme of perfection. the uncreated, the Infinite.
"Heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee." ~ 3 Kings 8:27
So perfect is God that He is infinitely incomprehensible, incapable of being completely understood. Reason can verify the revelation that God made of Himself. But when we make our reason or our emotions the final authority, we make ourselves our own god, and shut the road to the supernatural, the Infinite.
God alone can bridge the chasm that yawns between the finite and the infinite. When we take advantage of His grace to seek Him in loving trust, He holds out His hand, a Father calling to children, to cross the chasm safely to Him. "
Too many times I see people that are trying their hardest to force God into their own flawed human perception of what the supreme being should be. Whether he is an old, robed man with a long beard as he is depicted in the aforementioned book, or as a playful creature which follows his whims and plays checkers with the angels. Anything that we can perceive of God or name him limits Him to our human views. To put it as accurately as possible, God = God. He is, always has been and ever shall be God. To compromise what He truly is and compress Him to our own notions is blasphemy. It is a HUGE disservice to the glory that He is. And yet people do it all the time. Rather that accept that "He is" and humble YOURSELF in worship to Him, people swimming in their own pride are content to humble God to what they "think" or "feel" He should be...just to settle their own pride and insecurities. We need to take a look at who needs to be humbled. You or God? Just in case you weren't listening...it's you and I. We live in such an arrogant generation. One plagued with the thought that we are amazing and can do anything on our own. And we are content to do anything to foster those feelings. Even if it means watering down God so much that we create our own god. Notice the lower case. We warp the true nature of God so much that what we worship is no longer the true Father, the all powerful, the ever-living God.
P.S. It totally just hit me that the verse came from the book of 3rd Kings. Not everybody has that...oops. Hope that doesn't ruin this message for you! I promise...the deuterocanonical books aren't half as scary as you think.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Nature of God is God
"The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church believes and professes that there is one living and true God, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, omnipotent, eternal, immense, incomprehensible, infinite in intellect and will and in all perfection Who, being One, singular, absolutely simple and unchangeable spiritual substance, is to be regarded as distinct really and in essence from the world most blessed in and from Himself, and unspeakably elevated above all things that exist, or can be conceived, except Himself."
After listening to a heated debate between two friends about the Nature of God (...yeah...good luck with that one!) I found this and thought it was pretty cool.
After listening to a heated debate between two friends about the Nature of God (...yeah...good luck with that one!) I found this and thought it was pretty cool.
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