GOD APPROACHES US MEN


Why did God have to show himself in order for us to be able to know what he is like?

Man can know by reason that God exists,but not what God is really like. Yet because  God would very much like to be known, he has revealed himself.[50,68-69]

God did not have to reveal himself to us. But he did it-out of love. Just as in human love one can know something  about the beloved person only if he opens his heart to us, so too we know something about God's inmost thoughts only because the eternal and mysterious God has opened himself to us out of love. From creation on, through the patriarchs and the prophets down to the definite > REVELATION in his Son Jesus Christ, God has spoken again and again to mankind. In Him he has poured out his heart to us and made his inmost being.  

The Sacrament of Baptism DVD - Clip

Why do people deny that God exists, if they can know him by reason?Can we grasp God at all in concepts?Can we grasp God at all in concepts? Is it possible to speak about him meaningfully?

To know the invisible God is a great challenge for the human mind. Many are scared off by it. Another reason why some do not want to know God is because they would then have to change their life. Anyone who says that the question about God is meaningless because it cannot be answered is making things too easy for himself.

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Although we men are limited and the infinite greatness of God never fits into finite human concepts, we can nevertheless speak rightly about God.

In order to express something about God, we use imperfect images and limited notions. And so everything we say about God is subject to the reservation that our language is not equal to God's greatness. Therefore we must constantly purify and improve our speech about God.

Can we Really know that God exists?

Can we know the existence of God by our reason?

Yes. Human reason can know God with certainty. The world cannot have its origin and its destination within itself. In everything that exists, there is more than we see. The order, the beauty, and the development of the world point beyond themselves toward God. Every man is receptive to what is true, good, and beautiful. He hears within himself the voice of conscience, which urges him to what is good and warns him against what is evil. Anyone who follows this path reasonably finds God. (YOUCAT question 4)

Why do we seek God?

Why do we seek God?

God has placed in our hearts a longing to seek and find him. St. Augustine says, "You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." We call this longing for God Religion.

It is natural for man to seek God. All of our striving for truth and happiness is ultimately a search for the one who supports us absolutely, satisfies us absolutely, and employs us absolutely in his service. A person is not completely himself until he has found God. "Anyone who seeks truth seeks God, whether or not he realizes it" (St. Edith Stein). (YOUCAT question 3)

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Why did God create us?

Why did God create us?

God created us out of free and unselfish love. When a man loves, his heart overflows. He would like to share his joy with others. He gets this from his Creator. Although God is a mystery, we can still think about him in a human way and say: Out of the "surplus" of his love he created us. He wanted to share his endless joy with us, who are creatures of his love. (YOUCAT question 2)

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Why Are We Here?

For what purpose are we here on earth? We are here on earth in order to know and to love God, to do good according to his will, and to go someday to heaven. To be a human being means to come from God and to go to God. Our origin goes back farther than our parents. We come from God, in whom all the happiness of heaven and earth is at home, and we are expected in his everlasting, infinite blessedness. Meanwhile we live on this earth. Sometimes we feel that our Creator is near; often we feel nothing at all. So that we might find the way home, God sent us his Son, who freed us from sin, delivers us from all evil, and leads us unerringly into true life. He is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). (YOUCAT question 1)