God is\nAbsolute: which points to the greatest paradox of all; He is both infinite and\nfinite. Infinite in terms of; God is the sum of infinity, again another\nparadox, one that is true because there is nothing greater than God and there\nis no situation in which there is God and something more. Finite because as in\nany absolute there must be limitations, because if it is absolute it can\u2019t be\nsomething else, again another paradox and necessarily so. It\u2019s important that\nboth aspects of God, the infinite and finite be paradoxical, because both\ndescribe a condition which cannot be, but is. Now, we see on closer\nexamination, that when two elements in the same thought or sentence are\ncontradictory yet true, this is when paradox becomes analogy. G.K. Chesterton\nsaid, paradox is the truth standing on its head to get attention. I am saying this in response to Father Albert\u2019s\nhomily concerning summoning God\u2019s forgiveness after a confession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one\nhand, Father Albert is categorically correct, no one can invoke or provoke God\ninto doing anything. On the other hand, you are correct again, because you as a\npriest do give His blessings at the time of confession. This make sense; that\nyou can give something from God, when we just established you can\u2019t invoke\nanything from Him; if we agree, that God is absolute. Consider this: by His\nword, He made what is. He said it would be and it is. So, when Jesus proclaimed\nby His word, by His oath (as in Matthew 18: 15-20); He established a covenant;\ndefinitive in its manifestation and infinite in its mercy. If this points to\nthe truth and I think it does, then what follows are limitations God places on\nHimself, by His manifestation in this distinctive reality which He created.\nLet\u2019s consider several conditions; God cannot create a God greater than\nHimself, if He could He wouldn\u2019t be God. God cannot be evil; evil is the\nabsence of God. God can not punish. He can heal, He can cure, He can re-align,\nHe can rehabilitate, He can discipline, and He can put us through therapy\nhowever none of this is punishment. Our worldly father sent us to our room for\nwhat we did, our Heavenly Father sends us to our room for what we will become.\nGod cannot lie. There are no circumstances, no contingencies in which God would\nmisdirect or misinform us for our own good. Mercy, understanding and\nunconditional love demand honesty and sincerity. God did create a world where\ngreat tragedies both natural and manmade can and have occurred. Why He did this\nis another discussion, whether He intervenes during these times is His will. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
God is Absolute: which points to the greatest paradox of all; He is both infinite and finite. Infinite in terms of; God is the sum of infinity, again another paradox, one that is true because there is nothing greater than God and there is no situation in which there is God and something more. Finite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13,17,29],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","tag-catholic-faith","tag-god","tag-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}