@grannymh: I have a question: Is the following something all Catholics can (and should) conclude with a certitude of faith because it must follow from what the Church teaches authoritatively? Since we believe that Jesus Christ is True God and True man, and as God, the creator of all space and time, He can have only one, single, infinite, indivisible, always in the present tense thought in which He thinks about all that God IS, all that God (and everything in creation) wills and does in time, all at once in the present tense, therefore because God (Jesus Christ) once willed to honor St. Joseph as the head of the Family, God therefore is eternally willing to honor St. Joseph in such a way throughout all space and time, and we should also.
thank you.
Thank you for your good question. Please note that my philosophy background is limited so when I goof, please let me know. I finally stopped posting in the Philosophy Forum.
The Catholic Church teaches that Christ is True God and True Man. This logical truth follows from the study of the first three historical chapters at the beginning of Sacred Scripture. From those real events, we see the necessity of a fully-Divine Person Who can repair or reconcile the original shattered friendship relationship between the creature Adam and his Divine Creator.
Building on the above paragraph, we look toward a common description of our almighty God. God is three Persons in one nature. God is the Most Holy Trinity. God remains a Divine Trinity and Adam will always be a human person.
When we shift to the New Testament, we find the perfect relationship repair solution. John 3: 16-17.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
The practical understanding is that Jesus came to reinstate what Adam lost.
Thus, we arrive at this point in your post.
“Since we believe that Jesus Christ is True God and True man, and as God, the creator of all space and time, He can have only one, single, infinite, indivisible, always in the present tense thought …”
My apology for the truncation; however, it is important to consider a simple comprehension of God and Jesus Christ. God is three Persons in one nature. Jesus Christ is one Person with two natures. Precisely, because Jesus has both the Divine Nature and He has an assumed human nature, He can step into Adam’s sandals at the same time He can repair the divine relationship between Divinity and humanity.
My first thought regarding the point “God as Creator… He can only have one single …” is that Jesus, having assumed the second nature, can act as the Divine Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity and He can act as a true human because He assumed a human soul and will. Both soul and will are subject to His Divine nature. Both natures are in sync because He is one Person. Thus, I would eliminate the reasoning of the present tense, because all the events in the Garden are not solely in the present tense. And the human life of Jesus is not solely in the present tense.
We can say that God is eternally honoring St. Joseph because God is eternally honoring every human because of the truth in Genesis 1: 27 “God created mankind in His image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” This would be my reason for honoring St. Joseph.
God individually honored St. Joseph when He chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Sad but true, we can forget the living Joseph who taught and guided the living Jesus. Therefore, the message and purpose of your post is truly wonderful.
I have a couple of other thoughts, but first, I would like to know if I am on track or somewhere in the wild blue yonder.
What I think is happening in your post is that using probable, but not necessary, reasoning could possibly raise problems with the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity having two natures.