If a god is love....?

[Elena321]

If God is love and some people who are non Christians such as Muslims or simply people who are agnostic etc sometimes do acts out of love does that mean they know God. (If that makes sense )?
For example,sometimes people who don’t believe in God have laid down their lives to save another person or have saved a woman from harm by protecting her at their own detriment.

 

[Hawkmaid]

If God is love and some people who are non Christians such as Muslims or simply people who are agnostic etc sometimes do acts out of love does that mean they know God. (If that makes sense )?
For example,sometimes people who don’t believe in God have laid down their lives to save another person or have saved a woman from harm by protecting her at their own detriment.

I think that does make sense. I would say (novice theologian that I am!) that to some degree, yes, they do “know” God. But depending on who they are, that can be a “elbow bump in the aisle” knowledge or a “whoa, this was awesome, I need to learn more about Him” knowledge. Does this help?

 

[fhansen]

If God is love and some people who are non Christians such as Muslims or simply people who are agnostic etc sometimes do acts out of love does that mean they know God. (If that makes sense )?
For example,sometimes people who don’t believe in God have laid down their lives to save another person or have saved a woman from harm by protecting her at their own detriment.

Through Christ we know God as love, undeniably. That’s how He’s been revealed. Being made in His image, people can certainly reflect that love at times. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they know the Creator who made them that way-it just means they’re more obedient, even if only for moments at a time, to the “law” He’s written in all men’s hearts.

 

[Monica4316]

Any person on earth is capable of acts of natural virtue and natural charity. Those actions are good but not supernaturally meritorious. However God made us for a supernatural not just a natural life, and that happens by living in a state of grace. It is in that state that we can know God in the way that He lives within us and we partake of His own life, and through that state we can also go to Heaven. That is what I was taught in my parish catechism class… Hope that helps knowing God is something specific and we need to live in sanctifying grace for Him to indwell our souls. This is a different indwelling than God being everywhere.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

There is a parable of Jesus about this.

31*“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. 34Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ 46*And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46

Note that it says that Jesus will judge all nations, not just His followers; also, note that those being judged do not know about Him or His teachings.

 

[edlinked]

Hello,
I liked how someone (a catholic) explained something related, so I will try to put what I understood:

Love is of God for God is love, like scripture states. Now, God is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega, this is what catholics believe. God is the creator, God is what’s good, as God is love, therefore if we are made in His image and created by Him, we come from goodness and love.

So from this sense, man can love and do good, for the essence of our being has it. We can “give good things to our kids”, we have compassion, a bad man for example, can be good to the people that has his back. So, the problem comes when there is no connection through our will, by our decision, between what is true love (the love of God) and what we think is love. There could be things that are similar, but we will have key things that will not be the same, therefore the line that it will make us follow, is not going to be the same (referring to the understandings of what is love and how to act it fully).
For example, in Catholicism, Jesus is our teacher and master, and showed us the way of the cross (and self denial) as the way of love. Love is for goodness, as love does no harm, as scripture states. But love (His way of love) is also for our sanctification, purification, so that’s why the way to follow love, is not in a definition from man but from the One that created all.

The formula for Catholics and most Christians to love and to do goodness is to follow the commandments, love God first, love others as yourself and love like Jesus loves (very important distinction). Only by following the first one, to love God first, and loving like Jesus loves, we will follow the rule of self denial and to carry the cross, as we understand that love gets you out of yourself, and is the opposite of egoism. So, we understand that the way to save our life is by following God, and that we shouldn’t look to win the world, for this will bring our demise, as we can’t have two masters. Love and goodness are kind of synonyms when talking about Gods way.

The problem is that to keep loving (true love) and doing goodness (true goodness) we need Him in us, for He is the spark of life, as He is life. That’s why He is truth the way and life. But as we got free will we can say no to God. If you couldn’t say no to God you would not have free will (in a sense). Even if God knows He is your best option as His goodness and His love is divine and no man can get there alone (no one can get to His way (holiness, perfection), by their own strength, only by His Spirit), only through Him by Him. And He will not impose on you, but He will warn you, that your way will not end in eternal life, and that your way will probably be able to “disappoint” others (as you put your pleasures as north) and state that, that is goodness. The problem gets more complicated when we believe than in our flashes of goodness and flashes of love, we are doing goodness and loving (because maybe that is not enough). (Gods way is not just about morality, it is also about humility (acknowledging we are not pure), about loving with all our strength our God, and following the way, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit in us). We get to God by having God in us, by accepting Him with our decision, our free will, in other words choosing His way against our way. (This is part of the self denial and our carrying the cross, because of Him, for Him)

It is another problem that we (believers) can be bad examples of some teachings (but that’s why we don’t “follow” each other, we follow God through His Church), because our way always wants to be first, our hearts sometimes are bricks and we can lose ourselves, and choose “detours”)

So as we wrote before, this understanding about doing good and being able to lay our lives for others, is in our being, to some extent (from the beginning), the difference is what is the basic principle and who is The Beginning and the End for each one, which will make all the difference in our line of thought and understandings.

So, we are all able to do “good”, and we know that we want “goodness”, but to another sense, this depends on what we believe and motivates us (as this will define what is good and love). Love is divine only if it is of God, therefore, love to a non-believer or a believer of something else, will not be the same understanding as the Catholic understanding.

Continuing some understandings of the Catholic faith, we believe that goodness (and love) comes from accepting and acting the will of the Father, and only by this humility (accepting God as true justice, true goodness, and true love), we will not look for our benefits as our north, therefore we are willing to move our own “I”, for the will of God, which is pure, righteous, and good. So goodness will never or should never reside in our benefits, our pleasures, in what our own “I” wants and desires, but on truly what is truly good and righteous, for it includes love, as it is of God. And again, this will be defined on how willing we are to follow self denial and to carry the cross (the way of Christ), which will bring certain sufferings, but one that believes in eternal life and divinity, cannot act any other way, because His north is God, so they are willing to suffer because of Him (for His way is the only true good and loving way).

 

[edlinked]

So to some sense man can have a glimpse of God, but they will not know God, because for knowing God they need the way to really know Him, and of course, to be open to Him firstly. And in fact, there, is where people want to define their own meaning of love, of God, thinking God is define by what we think, therefore we limit God to our own “definition”. God and therefore love and goodness are not defined by us, because we exist because He is, therefore we need to seek “objectively” His way and be open through Truth to Him, and not by our profit and benefits that satisfactions and pleasures with our desires can gives us.

Love does not end or conclude in God, if it is not opened to faith. And for faith you will need humility. So love will not be what it really is, it will not be what it should be, because you are not including its creator, which in fact is the Creator of all.

We got to say though that God works in mysterious ways, and that He can show Himself to us in unique ways, for He really knows each of us. Therefore our lives are a journey, where we can get glimpses of God any way He wants, though that is just a start. And it will depend only on our decision to decide to try to truly know Him. And I would say, understanding divinity from humanity is not an easy thing, and I would say, we will need all the guidance we can need, for even then, His mysteries can only be taken by faith.

“1 Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11

I will put this answer from another thread which says a lot in my opinion:

{“
Question by rianepaige:
Is one allowed to miss Mass for works of mercy?
I have a question about missing Mass on Sunday. I opened a charity last year that goes out into the community and provides a meal, clothing and hygiene to the homeless in the streets. I never miss Mass unless its due to children being sick. The tentative schedule for my upcoming events are on Sundays and finding a mass time before or after I am done is somewhat difficult.

If I cannot make Mass on a Sunday due to feeding the homeless am I committing a sin? Is it not permissible? I have gotten mixed answers. Thanks in advance.
Reply:
Dear friend,

It is of utmost importance to keep your priorities straight. Since you are the leader of this ministry, it is your responsibility to put Mass first. Design the schedule accordingly. Certainly, with Saturday evening Vigil Masses and Sunday night Masses, you should be able to do this. Can you see Mother Teresa skipping Sunday Mass for her work with the poor? As the Psalm goes: “If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor.” That being said, God does not expect the impossible. If it is impossible to attend Mass on a particular Sunday, this is not a sin. May God bless you and your ministry’

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.
“}