calling god father: 3rd week of Lent 2013

In the first article of faith, “I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth,” we affirmed three things.  First, our origin is God – we all have come from God, we did not exist because of some molecular changes or some chemical reaction to this and that.  God is our origin – we were planned by God and purposely made by God. 

Second, our end and our goal is God – we were not made for this world, we were not meant to be in this world only, we are all called to live in God.  Earth is just a means and not an end, our life now is just a means and not an end.  We were made for God.  And lastly our relationships with others, and that includes people and even the things around us, are defined by our belief and relationship with God.  When we call God Father we define our relationship as brothers and sisters whether we are black, white or brown, whether we have blue, brown, black or chinky eyes.  Since God created all things for our well-being, the well-being of everyone who will live in this world, we are related to creation as stewards and not owners.  Kon steward ka it means nga tulogyanan ka lang kag indi tag-iya sang tanan.  Usaron mo ini pero ang pag-usar nga may paghalong kag indi pinagusto na lang. 

Many times we tend to compartmentalize God.  God is in Church but he is not allowed to meddle with my business affairs.  God is in the prayer meeting and he does not have any connection with my personal life.  But this is not how the creed sees things.  God defines my life, the whole of my life, every nook, corner and cranny of my life.  What is sin?  Many times sin exists because we leave off God from this and that part of our life.  God does not have a say when it comes to this part of my life, God does not have an influence with that area of my life.  There sin would enter in the same way when you take the light out of the room.  When you take away the light darkness takes over.  But when the light is brought back, darkness vanishes.

Today I would like to reflect on the world almighty in our creed – I believe in God the Father almighty.  Is God really almighty?  Many of us well meaning Christians have encountered this question at one time or the other in our life.  Is God really almighty?  Then why is he not doing enough?  Many people today have become atheists, and agnostics because of this existential question? (– atheists are people who do not believe in God, and agnostics believe that we can never know God we can never know if God exist or not.)

The Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI in his last speech tells of those times when he felt Jesus is asleep in the boat – so many problems, so many difficulties and yet Jesus seem to sleep in these occasions leaving him many times helpless and disoriented and perplexed in his faith.  Is God really almighty?  Do you believe in a God the Father almighty?

Many times it is difficult to believe, it is difficult to believe that nothing is impossible with God.  And yet this is a crucial belief, otherwise everything else in the creed crumbles to dust.  How will you say you believe in the resurrection of the dead, or in the forgiveness of sins, or in the Catholic church when you cannot bring yourself to believe that God is almighty, that God can do the impossible in our lives.

Lord help me to become like Mary to readily see that you are almighty, that you can do even the impossible.  Many times I cannot bring myself to believe.  Many times when I am placed in a situation of powerlessness and call upon you I am met by silence, your silence, as if you are asleep.  This is what Azariah in our first reading prays about – we are put to shame, we are brought low.  Then he said, “Deliver us Lord by your wonders”.  Azariah was also in search of the meaning almighty in the midst of what was then an already deafening silence of God in their sufferings. Help me to say with faith, I believe in God the Father almighty, almighty, for only faith can make us embrace the mysterious ways of God’s almighty power.