Why do you suppose that it was necessary for God to become man, to come in to a family, to come into poverty, to be powerless, to hand select his close circle of followers, and to ask that we "do this in memory of me" Luke 22:19? If you search the Old Testament you will find that God revealed His plan to the prophets, many years before, in fact He gives us a hint about it right from the Book of Genesis, when He declares to the serpent "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." God's plan is the best plan, could we all agree upon that? God does not make mistakes, His plans don't go awry. Man on the other hand is constantly making mistakes, from blurting out God and denying His existence to personal interpretations of Scripture that can justify or explain anything. God does exist and He knows far better what is going on than we do. C.S. Lewis wrote " A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." God became a physical man, died a physical man, and resurrected as a physical man because we human beings comprehend and relate in a physical tangible way. That is precisely why He instituted a physical Church with physical means of attaining His grace - the Sacraments. God does not make mistakes. The disciples of Christ as well as the Early Church Fathers knew precisely that Jesus was present in the consecrated bread and wine when they worshiped, at most times in hiding, fear of being caught and killed. God entered the world in a family because the family is the most sacred and holiest structure of human beings. God did not come to earth as a gang member, or a homosexual couple, or a member of a secret society or as a renegade, rugged, individual calling His own shots. God does not make mistakes. He is in essence what family is about; the loving Son of the Father, united in love with and through the Holy Spirit. God became a powerless tiny infant, requiring care to survive so He could teach us all that our lives are not about us. The greatest act of humility is God becoming a baby. Jesus chose His disciples because He knew it would be necessary for human beings to learn from other human beings (not a book, Jesus never wrote anything down as far as we know). These human beings ate, drank, slept, with Jesus for a three year period. They shared His close secrets, received individual one on one instruction, watched as He performed miracles, listened to Him preach, certainly they did more stuff over that time with Jesus than is recorded in the Bible. John says in Chapter 21:25 "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." This statement alone should make you wonder if "sola scriptura" isn't kind of an odd way of following Jesus and His teachings. God does not make mistakes. Finally Jesus said "do this in memory of me." This was Jesus speaking, the Son of the Father, the second person of the Trinity. He knew what He meant and so did his disciples. These are not frivolous words that were meant that once a month we break out some grape juice and crackers and have a toast to His memory. God does not make mistakes. The single greatest problem in the world is that human beings, who are made in the image and likeness of God, diminish God, like C.S. Lewis' lunatic, choosing Satan and his empty promises over God. The Evil One is good at what he does. He uses man's physical nature too, with promises of the trilogy for the fallen, sex, power and money. His appeal is with visible physical tangible things to the pleasures of man and woman. That is the opposite of the sacramental life which is physical in nature but is hidden in the mystery of God. God became man in the form of a baby so He could conquer evil and death in a visible physical nature. God does not make mistakes.
Pope Francis
Friday, December 18, 2009
God Does Not Make Mistakes
Why do you suppose that it was necessary for God to become man, to come in to a family, to come into poverty, to be powerless, to hand select his close circle of followers, and to ask that we "do this in memory of me" Luke 22:19? If you search the Old Testament you will find that God revealed His plan to the prophets, many years before, in fact He gives us a hint about it right from the Book of Genesis, when He declares to the serpent "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." God's plan is the best plan, could we all agree upon that? God does not make mistakes, His plans don't go awry. Man on the other hand is constantly making mistakes, from blurting out God and denying His existence to personal interpretations of Scripture that can justify or explain anything. God does exist and He knows far better what is going on than we do. C.S. Lewis wrote " A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." God became a physical man, died a physical man, and resurrected as a physical man because we human beings comprehend and relate in a physical tangible way. That is precisely why He instituted a physical Church with physical means of attaining His grace - the Sacraments. God does not make mistakes. The disciples of Christ as well as the Early Church Fathers knew precisely that Jesus was present in the consecrated bread and wine when they worshiped, at most times in hiding, fear of being caught and killed. God entered the world in a family because the family is the most sacred and holiest structure of human beings. God did not come to earth as a gang member, or a homosexual couple, or a member of a secret society or as a renegade, rugged, individual calling His own shots. God does not make mistakes. He is in essence what family is about; the loving Son of the Father, united in love with and through the Holy Spirit. God became a powerless tiny infant, requiring care to survive so He could teach us all that our lives are not about us. The greatest act of humility is God becoming a baby. Jesus chose His disciples because He knew it would be necessary for human beings to learn from other human beings (not a book, Jesus never wrote anything down as far as we know). These human beings ate, drank, slept, with Jesus for a three year period. They shared His close secrets, received individual one on one instruction, watched as He performed miracles, listened to Him preach, certainly they did more stuff over that time with Jesus than is recorded in the Bible. John says in Chapter 21:25 "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." This statement alone should make you wonder if "sola scriptura" isn't kind of an odd way of following Jesus and His teachings. God does not make mistakes. Finally Jesus said "do this in memory of me." This was Jesus speaking, the Son of the Father, the second person of the Trinity. He knew what He meant and so did his disciples. These are not frivolous words that were meant that once a month we break out some grape juice and crackers and have a toast to His memory. God does not make mistakes. The single greatest problem in the world is that human beings, who are made in the image and likeness of God, diminish God, like C.S. Lewis' lunatic, choosing Satan and his empty promises over God. The Evil One is good at what he does. He uses man's physical nature too, with promises of the trilogy for the fallen, sex, power and money. His appeal is with visible physical tangible things to the pleasures of man and woman. That is the opposite of the sacramental life which is physical in nature but is hidden in the mystery of God. God became man in the form of a baby so He could conquer evil and death in a visible physical nature. God does not make mistakes.
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