Why I love and accept God the Father

[uglygal]

Forgive me, UG, last I checked this was a public forum, not your private site where we can only operate according to your rules.

what rules am I asking everyone to operate under? to not squable with one another? to be gentle with one another? aren’t they the forum rules anyway

If we see something fundamentally flawed in you focusing on the Father to the exclusion of the Son whom He loves dearly, then we have every right to say so.

What is wrong with focusing on the Father? Jesus directed all attention to the Father

Same when we see you forming a false image of a grandfathery fuddy-duddy of a weak-willed God in whom mercy overrules justice. Yours is a fundamentally flawed notion of God altogether. His mercy and justice are perfectly balanced, so much so that there is no opposition or contradiction between the two, neither is His justice tyrannical in any way.

… your too funny

Despite what you say, it’s not a matter of “convert and conquer,” - rather, it’s about declaring and believing in the Truth.

** well despite being the one who started this thread and its focus on the goodness of God the Father - the thread’s been derailed … in the name of Jesus no doubt - for this reason, among others, I won’t participate in it anymore. I said all I wanted to in the OP #1. **

PS:these aren’t rules you must follow by order of UG.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Aquinas spent years, penning with his quill pen, a Summa - that would
contain reasoned expression of the entire corpus of Christian belief.

At age 48, Thomas Aquinas had a mystical expereince of God.
He never picked up his quill again, and died, shortly thereafter.
He said that he realized that all that he had written was “as straw,”
now that he had had this experience of God.
I think that there are those who have a hard time finding Jesus,
for the straw that surrounds Him in His creche.

reen12 :juggle:

Well said and most cleverly.
I think you make a good point, Reen…Some do have a hard time finding Jesus because of all the straw that can be packed around Him, including by those who claim to be followers of His and proclaiming His Gospel of whom I am one. I found Pope Benedict’s book “Jesus of Nazareth” of great interest and I continue to maintain real interest in reputable works that deal with Jesus and His times, searching for an understanding of the real Jesus insofar as we may be able to insight the man who walked this earth some 2000 years ago and His message to His times and also ours. I pray and hope that others will be able to overlook the faults and failings of we who strive to follow Jesus and search themselves for the real Jesus and His message. “If you hurt one of these, My little ones, it would be better that a milstone be tied around your neck and you be cast into the deepest ocean”. Jesus did have a habit of calling a spade a spade if it was called for…no mishy mashy wishy washy character - I commented to a nun I know that Jesus is not a person to mess around with and yet he could also show outstanding compassion and understanding and undoubtedly, if one considers him, because he thought simply that it was called for in a particular situation. Come Holy Spirit - send forth Your Spirit and You will be created and You will renew the face of the earth to the Glory of The Father through The Son.

Blessings…Barb

 

[bpbasilphx]

(6) He doesn’t make false promises about coming to give life to the full and happiness - He simply teaches me “I am who I am” and I know He is love and that is enough

Please give one false promise that Jesus made.

(7) He doesn’t confer special treatment or ranking to priests, religious and Popes - people are judged by their heart and their love**

**Then you’ve not read the Old Testament where special duties AND privileges AND treatment were given by the God of Israel to the Priests and Levites.

It sounds to me, ugly gal, that you’re just making up your own religion.**

 

[IsaacSheen]

quote: uglygal

Yes! You’ve made my day, uglygal.

To answer the question posed in your thread,
when I was 6, they placed a little First Communion
catechism on my school desk. The light shone in
through the old glass windows and the pages were
awash in sunlight.

Who made me? God made me.
Who is God? God is the Supreme Being who made all things.
Why did God make me? He made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him, in the next.

My heart flooded with His light and I loved Him.

Two years later, this ghastly “catechism” was given to me,
and I memorized, each school night, some part of this
*wretched *work. Who was this Jesus? And why did I need him?
By the time they finished with me, I was 12, and I no longer
had any interest in life. But I’ve lived another 50 years, this week.
I, too, found the God that you have found – and I rather
doubt that others will understand why we are so grateful to Him.

reen12

I think someone beat me to this point earlier, but I’ll raise it again. You and uglygal came onto a Catholic forum to post your beliefs. If you truly thought their was nothing to Christianity (Catholicism), then you wouldn’t have found this forum to post in. The reasoning for this would be the same as why I don’t go into a scientology forum to post. I think scientology is silly and completely baseless. But you are here, posting in a Catholic forum.

You went out of your way to find this forum, setup an account and post things that you knew would trigger a reaction. You have to ask yourself why.

It could be that you, whatever you call the theology you have developed, believe that you are both sound enough in your beliefs and educated enough to try and evangelize us wacky people. But, I believe that if you were truly that good and prepared you’d probably be debating heavier hitters than us. Maybe Tim Staples…

If that is not the case, then it would seem that your time would be better spent praying to God and conversing with Him to draw nearer to Him, then to waste time arguing with a bunch of people like us.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re here and I’ve enjoyed this thread very much. Again, I appreciate both of your love for God, but it would seem to me that you are here maybe because you were both raised Catholic. For whatever reason, the roots were never fully planted. If you were raised another faith, you would be in their forums posting your personal theology.

Just an observation and it could be way off.

Either way, there are many people here who can answer your questions you have had about the faith since you were younger. The ones you felt didn’t make sense while growing up.

A great resource is the front page of Catholic Answers, or the apologists forum. There you can always trust the answers. Also, if you look up the past “This Rock” issues, you’ll find many of your questions answered.

God bless!!

 

[TOP]

I’ve said this before a hundred times. Even when the Lord reveals Himself, He seems to leave room for faith. Tim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

From this past Sunday’s Gospel reading, John 14:1-12

Jesus said to him, (I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

You can not go to the Father, except through Jesus.

Jim

 

[reen12]

quote: BarbaraTherese

Well said and most cleverly.

Yes, I was rather satisfied with the last paragraph in my post.
As you say, it was “clever.” But clever is hardly kind, nor
is it in any way healing of self or others.

Of course, I had rather wished that you had not brought up
“…to whom much is given…,” in your earlier post. I found that annoying, as I
careened forward, in mode polysyllabic.

I have a Rolls Royce intellect, because God knew that I’d need one, as life rolled on.
Yet I have to say, Barb, that “those to whom much is given,”
often refers to capacity of intellect, a fine education," and so on.
Yet, last night, I wondered if those, "to whom much has been given,’
might not include, as well, health of mind, a loving family background,
as well as a lack of near constant shock and emotional trauma,
earlier in life.

These, too, are those “to whom much has been given.”
Are not those, blessed in this way, called, as well -
to have 'eyes to see 'and ‘ears to listen?’

Best,

reens

 

[BarbaraTherese]

quote: BarbaraTherese

Yes, I was rather satisfied with the last paragraph in my post.
As you say, it was “clever.” But clever is hardly kind, nor
is it in any way healing of self or others.

Of course, I had rather wished that you had not brought up
“…to whom much is given…,” in your earlier post. I found that annoying, as I
careened forward, in mode polysyllabic.

I have a Rolls Royce intellect, because God knew that I’d need one, as life rolled on.
Yet I have to say, Barb, that “those to whom much is given,”
often refers to capacity of intellect, a fine education," and so on.
Yet, last night, I wondered if those, "to whom much has been given,’
might not include, as well, health of mind, a loving family background,
as well as a lack of near constant shock and emotional trauma,
earlier in life.

These, too, are those “to whom much has been given.”
Are not those, blessed in this way, called, as well -
to have 'eyes to see 'and ‘ears to listen?’

Best,

reens

Hi Reen…When I stated “to whom much is given much will be expected” it was meant to be a sweeping statement not a confined one, nor a directed one. I think if each person looks into themselves, they will find where the “much” lay … and this we are called, I think, to share. It is a much given for the good of the all. To put it another way, every person has a particular talent.

might not include, as well, health of mind, a loving family background,

as well as a lack of near constant shock and emotional trauma,
earlier in life.

These, too, are those “to whom much has been given.”
Are not those, blessed in this way, called, as well -
to have 'eyes to see 'and ‘ears to listen?’

Absolutely! and well said!

Blessings … Barb

 

[JRKH]

From this past Sunday’s Gospel reading, John 14:1-12

Jesus said to him, (I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

And so Jesus taught us to pray … To Him? … Or to the Father whom we are to call “Our Father”.

On a different note, could you explain what “Through Me” means in this text?

 

[reen12]

quote: BarbaraTherese

I think if each person looks into themselves, they will find where the “much” lay …

Well said, Barb. I think, too, that one of the obligations of those who love God,
is to help others to find this “much” in their lives.

I continue to work under the illusion that those who desiginate themselves Christian,
invariably conduct themselves as same. A most foolish assumption, on my part,
looking at my own career in outright sinfulness.

As the years have rolled on, I have come to the tentative conclusion that what
may be lacking is the simple capacity for imagination.
The abiltity to place oneself in another’s shoes, hearing the cry of pain behind the anger.
Like a street urchin, calling out to those well-cared for kids, walking down the street -
“My piece of bread is better than your stupid candy.” They look not, into the eyes of such a one, as they continue down the street toward Church, and the Bread of Life. That other child is doubly deprived.

reen

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting Reen:
Well said, Barb. I think, too, that one of the obligations of those who love God,
is to help others to find this “much” in their lives.

I have a great deal of admiration for those who, in answering Posts, focus on what the other person has said. This is not my gift, too much focused on what **I **have to say.

I continue to work under the illusion that those who desiginate themselves Christian,
invariably conduct themselves as same. A most foolish assumption, on my part,
looking at my own career in outright sinfulness.

Sadly, The Church will be judged mostly by those within Her…as the validity of Christ and His Message will be measured by those who follow Him. As to a career in outright sinfulness, I am a distinguished graduate with honours in this career.

As the years have rolled on, I have come to the tentative conclusion that what
may be lacking is the simple capacity for imagination.
The abiltity to place oneself in another’s shoes, hearing the cry of pain behind the anger.

Empathy and that ability to imagine being in the other’s shoes.

Like a street urchin, calling out to those well-cared for kids, walking down the street -
“My piece of bread is better than your stupid candy.” They look not, into the eyes of such a one, as they continue down the street toward Church, and the Bread of Life. That other child is doubly deprived.

Beautifully stated, Reen…and a very sad understanding and insight. Very very sad!
It reminds me : “Not all who say Lord, Lord, shall enter into my kingdom”…and if a someone like St. Faustina can shake in fear of her own salvation - then surely I can for sure and sometimes do and wish that there was no need to do so - but wishing gets nowhere. I hope that Mercy will take me to Somewhere.

Blessings and regards…Barb

 

[JimR-OCDS]

And so Jesus taught us to pray … To Him? … Or to the Father whom we are to call “Our Father”.

On a different note, could you explain what “Through Me” means in this text?

Well, based on Jesus words, that when you look at him, you see the Father, praying to the Father is praying to Jesus as well.

Jim

 

[reen12]

quote: BarbaraTherese

This is not my gift, too much focused on what **I **

have to say.

So many of us do this, including moi. I’m thinking of starting a new self-help group.

Words Anonymous :coffeeread:

I rummaged around - in the bottom of the paper sack, filled with natural gifts, hoping to find humility of intellect.
I came up empty. Lord, have mercy.

reens

 

[JRKH]

Well, based on Jesus words, that when you look at him, you see the Father, praying to the Father is praying to Jesus as well.

Jim

So if one prays to the father they are praying to the Son as well since they are one. If the Father, and by extension the Son, chooses to reveal His Mercy and Love differently to one of His troubled children, why do some feel it necessary to charge right in with all rightiousness blazing?

Then why, when one says here that they pray to the Father, and Love the Father, but have problems with the Son (or, more precisely, how the son was presented to them), are they made to feel like they must choose both or neither?
I would much rather work supportively with a person believing in the one Christian God to overcome the negative past images than to try and shove Jesus at them and only increase the negative image of Christ and christians.

Honestly to me it sometimes seems as though people are treating the trinity as three gods instead of one God with three persons.

Just food for thought.

Peace
James

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting Reen

So many of us do this, including moi.

I’m thinking of starting a new self-help group.

Words Anonymous :coffeeread:
…I call it ‘verbal diarroeah’ …

I rummaged around - in the bottom of the paper sack, filled with natural gifts, hoping to find humility of intellect.

I came up empty. Lord, have mercy.
Always stay in that mansion of self-knowledge said St. Teresa of Avila. Other than that, what a humble statement, Reen…

Blessings - Barb