The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 28: The Nature of God (2024)

Episode Date: January 28, 2024

In this episode, we discuss the nature of God, “who” God is, beginning with God the Father. Our reading explains how the Creed begins with God the Father because he is the first Divine Person of the most Holy Trinity. God is one Divine Being made up of three persons, and his identity is a deep mystery. Fr. Mike explains that God is a single ‘what’ made up of three ‘who’s.’ Despite this mystery, God is not an anonymous force. He has revealed himself to us by making his name known to us, and he has thus made himself accessible. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 198-204. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 28. We're reading paragraphs 198-204. I mentioned this a little bit yesterday, but we're jumping into chapter 1. I believe in God the Father. Article 1, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. That is what we're

talking about today. So if you have a Catechism with you, that would be phenomenal. You can get the Ascension Edition of the Catechism. That's what I'm using, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can also follow along in any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you want to, you can download your Catechism in a year reading plan for free by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y and also you can follow or subscribe. I don't know if you know about this. There's this thing that's a secret. It's kind of, it's kind of like a life hack, one of those kind of situations where you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app

and get daily notifications. You don't have to find it. It finds it finds you. Okay. Yep. That's what I was just trying to talk about. Okay. So what are we talking about today? Okay. As I mentioned yesterday, yesterday, the day before we talked about the Creed and how the Creed is very important, the Apostles Creed, the Niceno Constantinoplexian Creed, very, very important. All the creeds, super important. But the first article of the creed is going to be, I believe in God, the Father. So we're going to highlight this. We're going to highlight the fact that our faith begins with God because God is the first and the last. He's the beginning and the end of everything. One of the things I just want to draw your attention to is for the next couple of days.

It's kind of like we're talking about the mystery of God. So there are some big words, like ineffable, that God who is unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty, of course, that's what we know about God. Sometimes we're kind of flippant with those words. I think that there are occasions when I think that I approach God as if, like, oh, yeah, yeah, I know who God is I know what God is and God is absolutely so much more I think one of the things that the catechism begins reminding us of is that yes God is one but also The God is a person like a personal God that we're not saying I believe in what I'm we're saying I believe in who? And this is what he's done, of course that we're not saying I believe in what. We're saying I believe in who.

And this is what he's done, of course, but I believe in a who. In fact, my best friend once said this. He said, every time I stand up on Sunday and recite the Creed, and we say, I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and keep going on. He's saying, sometimes we think,

this is what we believe about God. But he says, I really want to hold in my mind, into my heart. I'm describing who I believe. That's it. Not just here's what I believe, I'm describing who I believe. Because ultimately, God is not a what? God is a who? I mean, he's both obviously, right? He is the divine being. But he also reveals himself as Father and Son and Holy Spirit. And so I just as we as we launch into this talking about God, we always want to hold in our minds and hope to hold in our hearts the fact that even when we talk about what God is, we're always talking ultimately

about who God is. Does that make sense? Hopefully it does. So in one of the ways we can hopefully be reminded and guarantee that we never lose sight of the fact that who God is is drawing us into a relationship with Himself is prayer. And so let's begin our day now with the prayer. Father in heaven, we give you praise. You are the Father in heaven. You are the Father on earth. You're the Lord of everything. And you've sent us your son, Jesus Christ, who is also God to be our savior.

And you've sent us your Holy Spirit, who is also God to guide us and to sanctify us. So Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, help us to understand your nature, help us to understand what you are, help us to understand even more fully who you are that we may, that we might be drawn in to your heart even more deeply.

We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God, the Father, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God the Father and the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I said, we are in day 28, we're reading paragraphs 198 to 204. Chapter one, I believe in God the Father. Also article one, let's get started. Chapter one, I believe in God the Father. Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the first and the last, the beginning and the end of everything. The credo begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity. Our creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is

the beginning and the foundation of all God's works. Article 1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Paragraph 1. I believe in God. I believe in God. This first affirmation of the Apostles' Creed is also the most fundamental. The whole Creed speaks of God, and when it also speaks of man and of

the world, it does so in relation to God. The other articles of the creed all depend on the first, just as the remaining commandments make the first explicit. The other articles help us to know God better as He revealed Himself progressively to men. The faithful first profess their belief in God. I believe in one God. These are the words with which the Nacino-Consent and Apolleton Creed begins. The confession of God's oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God's existence and is equally fundamental. God is unique.

There is only one God. As the Roman catechism states, the Christian faith confesses that God is one in nature, substance, and essence. To Israel, his chosen. God revealed himself as the only one. Deuteronomy chapter 6 states, Here, 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. Through the prophets, God calls Israel, in all nations, to turn to Him, the one and only God. Isaiah 45 states, 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, our righteousness and strength." Jesus himself affirms that God is the one Lord whom you must love with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

At the same time, Jesus gives us to understand that He Himself is the Lord. To confess that Jesus is Lord is distinctive of Christian faith. This is not contrary to belief in the one God, nor does believing in the Holy Spirit as the Lord and giver of life introduce any division into the one God. As the fourth Lateran Council states, we firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal, infinite, and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty, and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, three persons indeed but one essence, substance, or nature, entirely simple.

God reveals His name. God revealed Himself to His people Israel by making His name known to them. The name expresses the person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name. He is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is He is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others. In a way, it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately

and addressed personally. God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be fundamental, one for both the old and new covenants, was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai. Okay, and you guys, was I not right? Did I not tell you that this was going to be just so cool as we begin? Here, we're now diving into the creed. What we talked about up to now, so important, right?

Revelation got revealed himself. Our response is a response of faith. The creed, yes, absolutely. It's the thing that binds us together as believers. But now that we get to talk directly about God, there is something that is absolutely just, so it's good, right? Isn't it so so good? So our profession of faith begins. What does it say begins with God?

Why because God is the first and the last I love how in paragraph 198 It says the Creed big or credo right begins with God the father and explains exactly why For the father is the first divine person of the most holy trinity and then it begins with the creation of heaven and earth goes on I believe in God the father the creation of heaven and earth goes on. I believe in God the Father, almighty creator of heaven and earth. Why? Because creation is the beginning and foundation of all God's works. And so we're starting with the most basic, right? We're starting with the most foundational. There is one God and he's God the Father. Also, he made heaven and earth. Okay, so that's all creation, all space, all time, all everything comes from God. And I

just think it's very, very important. The faithful, as it says in the Roman catechism, the faithful first professed their belief in God. He reveals himself progressively to us. Okay, so moving on. One of the articles that is being highlighted in this very, very beginning of chapter one, I believe in God the Father, is the fact that God is one being. And this is absolutely, absolutely critically important, that there is one divine being, one supreme divine being. They're not many of them. They're not even three. That even when we start to talk about God as being three distinct persons, three divine persons, his essence still is one.

So to kind of go back to what I mentioned before we even read these paragraphs today, you could say it like this, God is a single what and three who's. God is one what and three who's. He is who, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is what? A divine being. That kind of consort of begin to help us understand what we're really talking about in here in paragraph 202. Jesus himself affirms that God is the one Lord whom we must love with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. At the same time, Jesus gives us to understand that He Himself is the Lord.

And so this is really remarkable to confess that Jesus is Lord, is distinctive of Christian faith and it's not contrary to belief in the one God. Also the Trinitarian God, right? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit does not introduce any division into the one God. And that's why we quoted this fourth letter in counsel, which once again says this, we firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal, infinite, unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty, and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple. The

Trinity is a mystery. The God's identity is the deepest mystery that any of us could ever even begin to ponder. And when I say mystery, I mean mystery in the way that Christians mean mystery, which is not like Sherlock Holmes cracking the case, like solving the problem and figuring it out. I mean mystery in that sense of, I will never fully grasp all of the depth, the complexity, the immensity, the simplicity of who God ultimately is. Not even what God ultimately is. We use these words, I just mentioned,

eternal, infinite, unchangeable, incomprehensible, as if I know what those mean. I mean, I have a sense of what they mean, but can I really actually even fully grasp? I can't. That's why one of the last words they used is ineffable, right? We can't even begin to comprehend, right? Incomprehensible. And so yet, at the same time, paragraph 203 and 204 highlights this truth.

Yes, God is complete mystery, but maybe not complete mystery, right? Because it says God revealed himself to his people, Israel, by making his name known to them. So there is something about God that he allows us to grasp him, right? He allows us to have access. And that's what it says.

It says a name expresses the person's essence and identity, and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name, he is not an anonymous force. This is so important for us. God has a name, he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others. In a way, it's to hand oneself over by becoming accessible. And this is the truth.

Yes, we're going to talk about the mystery of the Trinity. Talk about the mystery of that relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One divine being, three divine persons, which is just, again, incomprehensible. And yet, God has become accessible. He's made himself capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally. And it's just that, that, that for us is going to be so important as we move forward tomorrow. We're going to dive more deeply into the fact that God calls to Moses from the burning bush.

But today paragraph 204 just kind of like teases it out there that, yes, God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be fundamental for both the Old and New Covenants, right, for the Jews and for Christians was the revelation of the Divine Name to Moses in the Theophany. Theophany means that so God's appearing himself, God's revealing himself in the burning bush. And so God reveals himself his name in the burning bush, and we're going to talk about that name tomorrow. But today, today, sometimes in some ways it's enough to know that God has, the God who is mystery, has made himself accessible. He has made himself known and he's given us a name. In fact, more than one name, but which we can call him. And an access to a relationship with him, have

access to his heart. And so we call upon that name this day and every day. I am praying for you. Please please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.