God Created Man and Woman

369

Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.²⁴⁰ Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness.

370

In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective "perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband.²⁴¹

"Each for the other" — "A unity in two"  

371

God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him."²⁴² None of the animals can be man's partner.²⁴³ The woman God "fashions" from the man's rib and brings to him elicits on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."²⁴⁴ Man discovers woman as another "I", sharing the same humanity.

The Catechism really says it better than I can, that men and women are equal in dignity before the Lord, but we are different.  We are physically and emotionally different.  Wired differently, you might say.  God in His wisdom knows that to be helpmates to one another, we cannot be just alike.  Although you'd think sometimes that would make life together so much easier,  it wouldn't make life better.

Reading the Catechism - Week 5

I almost didn't do this today because I'm 4 days behind in reading!  I don't know how that happened----oh, yes, leaving it for "later" which rarely comes.  I imagine that this may be one of the most difficult sections of the whole Catechism.  At least I hope so.  It would be a lot easier to take in those small, daily doses, instead of all at once, so I'm going to stop leaving it for later.

226

It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him:My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.⁵¹

51.

St. Nicholas of Flüe; cf. Mt 5:29-30; 16:24-26.

1723
2090
2830
313
(all)

227

It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this trust:Let nothing trouble you / Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes / God never changes
Patience / Obtains all
Whoever has God / Wants for nothing
God alone is enough.⁵²

Then we move on to the Holy Trinity:

247

The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447,⁷⁶ even before Rome, in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, came to recognize and receive the Symbol of 381. The use of this formula in the Creed was gradually admitted into the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries). The introduction of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches.

248

At the outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he "who proceeds from the Father", it affirms that he comes from the Father through the Son.⁷⁷ The Western tradition expresses first the consubstantial communion between Father and Son, by saying that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque). It says this, "legitimately and with good reason",⁷⁸ for the eternal order of the divine persons in their consubstantial communion implies that the Father, as "the principle without principle",⁷⁹ is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that as Father of the only Son, he is, with the Son, the single principle from which the Holy Spirit proceeds.⁸⁰ This legitimate complementarity, provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.

I thought this was interesting about the ancient disagreement with the Orthodox Churches., though I gather it's not a "rigid" disagreement that prevents them from being united with us.

The following section that continues the relationship of the Holy Trinity was/is completely mind boggling, but St. Gregory manages to make it slightly more comprehensible:

256

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called "the Theologian", entrusts this summary of Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople:Above all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts down... the infinite co-naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God... the three considered together... I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes me in its splendor. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity grasps me...⁹²

92.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40,41: PG 36,417.

Even more clarity.  Bring it down to something really simple that I can follow:

259

Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.⁹⁹

99.

Cf. Jn 6:44; Rom 8:14.

And wrap it up with a beautiful prayer by Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity:

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.¹⁰²

Reading the Catechism (Week 4)

201

To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "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."⁴ Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.... To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 'Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength.'"⁵

One of our parish deacons begins his spontaneous prayers with this (Hear, O Israel) which is a beautiful way of reminding us that we are united with those same Israelites whom Moses led out of Egypt.  Often, we are just as faithless, too, turning to idols in our impatience to have all our desire.

"I Am who I Am" ⇡

Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'... this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."¹⁰ ⇡

43
(all)

206

In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is — infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.¹¹

10.

Ex 3:13-15.

11.

Cf. Isa 45:15; Judg 13:18.

1

207

By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past ("I am the God of your father"), as for the future ("I will be with you").¹² God, who reveals his name as "I AM", reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them.

This entire section on God's name is fascinating and mysterious.  There is so much revealed in His name that I do not comprehend.  It also reminds me of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" where Jesus dares to utter the word "Yhwh" which I find fascinating to hear spoken in the original, not in English. 

On another note, (haha) here is a letter which explains why Yhwh, or variations of it, is not allowed to be used in music.  

Reading the Catechism (Week 3)

My thoughts on the Catechism this past week...

129

Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself.¹⁰⁵ Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament.¹⁰⁶ As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.¹⁰⁷

One of the greatest revelations to me, as a Catholic, is the way the Bible "interprets itself."  Instead of saying Mary is hardly mentioned in the New Testament, and therefore has very little importance, we can look at how the Ark of the Covenant is reverenced and untouched.  Mary carried The Word, just as the Ark did.  She is the Ark of the New Covenant and worthy of reverence.

132

"Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too — pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place — is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."¹¹¹

Ah, this tells me that the most important catechesis comes from the homily at Mass, a fact which, sadly, many priests don't seem to understand.  It's no wonder many Catholics don't know what the Church teaches on difficult issues.

143

By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God.² With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith".³

I. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH ⇡

144

To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

I've always had so much admiration for Abraham whose faith was so incredible that he was able to leave everything and go to a strange land where he would not have been welcomed.  Not only that, but he was asked to sacrifice his own son---and very nearly did it!  Mary may be the perfect embodiment of faith, but aside from giving her assent to the task of being God's mother, I've never been inclined to compare her faith to Abraham's.   

How do you compare Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac with Mary's submission to Jesus's sacrifice?  She didn't wield the knife as Abraham did...I really have to think about this comparison!  (Not that I question Mary's position in Heaven or her importance to the Church, just I've never thought of these two people as similar examples of faith.)

Reading the Catechism (Week 2)

I may be a week late, but I thought I might post some snippets of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that I've read during the week. Any additional thoughts provided depend on how much time I've had during the week to supplement the cutting and pasting.  I'm loving reading these paragraphs daily, usually in the morning.  Even if I haven't learned anything new yet, which I'm sure I will, I have seen some things from a slightly different perspective.

I post this section today because this was an important revelation for me when I was a Protestant questioning the Catholic Church.  The Holy Bible that we (as Protestants) think of as the answer to all questions theological didn't always exist, at all, least of all in it's current form.  Teaching by word of mouth and Tradition was the norm for the first few hundred years of Christianity.

My emphases are in bold italics.

Article2:The Transmission of Divine Revelation (74 - 100) II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE One common source... 80     "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal." Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age". ... two distinct modes of transmission 81     "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." "And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching." 82     As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions 83     The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition. III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH The Magisterium of the Church 85     "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ." This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. 86     "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."

....moving down to the next section:

108     Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book." Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is "not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living". If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures."

 It's not too late to subscribe to read the Catechism during this Year of Faith.