The Mystery Of God, Creator Of All Things

“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” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Our memories of gatherings with friends and family at Thanksgiving and other significant times can provide insights for reflection on the God in whose image and likeness we are made.  We can recall the unique qualities of each individual and the bonds that unite them.  The unique qualities of each person, as the well as the bonds unifying them, mirror for us the life of our God as Trinity—three distinct persons in one God. 

The “Lifelong Faith Formation Guidelines” written for the Diocese of Evansville reflect on the Trinity and the teaching about each of the three persons.  The guidelines list seven core concepts of our faith; the first three relate to the three persons of the Trinity. 

The first core concept concerns the mystery of God, Creator of all things.

The guidelines suggest four specific categories that adult Catholics should know, understand and be able to live out. 

First, we should be able to demonstrate an understanding of God as creator of all things.  To do this we must recognize the paradox of God’s immanence and transcendence—that God is both very close to us within our hearts and yet apart and separate from us, surpassing our creaturely existence.  We must also be able to critique the causes of good and evil existing in this world.  In other words, we cannot blame God for everything that happens.  We must take responsibility for our own conduct and the conduct of those before us as it has been played out in history.  How do we reconcile the existence of evil with an all-loving, almighty God?

A second way of understanding God is being able to visualize the human person as imaging God.  We can do this by integrating the limitations of being human while approving the attainments and possibilities of humanity.  Furthermore, we need to seriously examine the complementarity of male and female roles.  This involves studying our use of language in liturgy and in speaking about God, as well as the role women are to take in the church of this century. 

The guidelines suggest that a third category for understanding the mystery of God is our ability to recognize the inter-connectedness of humans with all creation.  We are, and our children must be taught, to care for the earth.  We are the example for the children if they are to continue to enjoy the natural world and all it has to share with us.  To do this we must construct our lives to preserve the goodness of creation.   This is a major challenge for all of us.  How can we make our lives simpler and not be caught up in the consumerism that is all about us?   Somehow the mystery of God connects to our lifestyle.  Do you explain your lifestyle in relationship to your understanding of God?  The Guidelines call us to do so!

Fourth, and finally, we are to recognize the call to continuing creation by further developing the Kingdom of God.  To do this we need to be able to distinguish between the Kingdom of God and the Church.  What is the difference?  Can we explain the difference to our children?  Adult Catholics illustrate the struggle to bring the Kingdom of God into their own personal lives and to bring themselves to the Kingdom of God.  The movement is in both directions.  There are many social-justice issues that are involved in this understanding of the mystery of God.  We are challenged to meet others on their terms.  How inclusive are we?  Must everyone become like us to be accepted into the Kingdom?

This core concept of the mystery of God, creator of all things is fundamental and crucial in our understanding of who we are as Christian people of God.  “Forming a People of Faith: Lifelong Guidelines for Faith Formation for the Diocese of Evansville”helps us to make our faith in God real, meaningful and alive through the six tasks of catechesis:  knowledge of the faith, liturgical education, moral formation, learning to pray, education for community life and missionary discipleship.  As we come to know and understand this core concept of God, we will come to God more fully with our hearts, with our souls, and with all our strength.