Professional Documents
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Michael Pennock
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Glossary 287
Index 295
1
SEARCHING
FOR GOD
As the deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My being thirsts for God, the living God.
When can I go and see the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
as they ask daily, “Where is your God?”
—Psalm 42:2–3
True Happiness
Without God, true happiness is fleeting
if achievable at all.
“If you love what you are doing, you will be happy.”
True Happiness “Happiness if JOY:
Put Jesus first, then Others, finally Yourself.”
John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil
“Money can buy happiness.”
Company, was one of the world’s richest men. He
confessed that his great wealth brought him no hap- “The source of true happiness is a loving family.”
piness. He said that he would trade it all to go back “Happiness is a choice.”
to the time when he worked in an office for three
“If you want happiness for an hour—take a nap.
dollars a week. If you want happiness for a day—go fishing.
His contemporary was the fabulously wealthy If you want happiness for a month—get married.
industrialist Andrew Carnegie, famous for endow- If you want happiness for a year—inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime—help someone else.”
ing public libraries throughout the country. Carne- (Chinese proverb)
gie observed that millionaires seldom smile. He also
“Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good at-
said, “I would as soon leave my son a curse as the tained by man’s own will.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)
almighty dollar.”
Otto von Bismarck was instrumental in unifying
the many states of Germany in the nineteenth centu- For Reflection
ry. Known as the Iron Chancellor, he was one of the • Write your own definition of happiness.
most powerful and feared men of his day. However, Then describe a time when you were hap-
toward the end of his life, he said, “I have seldom piest. What ingredients went into your
been a happy man. If I reckon up the rare moments being happy?
of real happiness in my life, I do not believe they • “Holiness and happiness go together.”
would make more than twenty-four hours in all.”1 What does this statement mean to you?
What these men discovered is that money and
power cannot buy true happiness. Neither can pos-
sessions, popularity, physical beauty, athletic skill,
or intellectual achievement. God: The Source
A verse from the Psalms gives us a hint as to
the source of true happiness: “Happy the people so of True Happiness
blessed; happy the people whose God is the LORD”
We all want to be happy. In other words, we want to
(Ps 144:15). An important point in that verse is that
be joyful, content, and satisfied. We also associate
only God can make us truly happy since God cre-
happy people with a cheerful disposition. Yet why
ated us and made us with longing souls that only he
do so many people you meet seem to be sour and
can satisfy.
outright miserable? Why do so many people you
read about or see on television seem unsatisfied,
What Is Happiness? restless, looking for something else? Could it be that
they are pursuing happiness down the wrong path?
Read the following definitions of happiness. Which
What about you? Are you basically a happy per-
one resonates most closely with your own belief
son? Or do you need some cheering up?
about happiness?
One thing is true: We were made to be hap-
py. Yet we will only achieve true happiness if we
Searching for God 3
understand, accept, and live God’s plan for us. This ever be perfectly fulfilled. For example, no one can
makes sense since God made us. As the loving Cre- understand you perfectly. (You probably don’t even
ator, God has a plan for all of his creatures, and understand yourself perfectly.) Yet you want to be
especially for human beings, who are made in his understood.
image and likeness. The truth is that nothing in this life—no matter
And what is this plan? Simply put, out of God’s how good—can make us fully content or perfectly
sheer goodness, God created us to share in his own happy. Why is this? Simply, it is because God gave
blessed life. God is totally blessed in himself. He us an unquenchable hunger for happiness that only
does not need us. Yet because he is so good and so he himself can fulfill. We all have deep yearnings
generous, God wants to share his love. This is why for completeness, for satisfaction, for happiness that
he created humans—beings who can recognize and is implanted in us by God himself and is only satis-
respond to his love. Only when people come to un- fied by God.
derstand this truth will they achieve true happiness. The bottom line is that God wants you to be
The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this happy. But you won’t be perfectly happy until you
way: rest in him. This explains why even when you get
True happiness is not found in riches or what you want—say the recognition of a classmate,
well-being, in human fame or power, or in the victory in a soccer tournament, new clothes—
any human achievement—however benefi- the feeling of contentment does not last. No good
cial it may be—such as science, technology, thing—pleasure, fame, or possessions—can make
and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God you perfectly, fully happy. Only God can.
alone, the source of every good and of all You have a restless heart because God made
love. (CCC, 1723) you this way—to help you find him. St. Augustine
(354–430), in his famous Confessions, put it this
The Restless Human Heart way: “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.” We
are like carrier pigeons that God created with hom-
The desire for God is written in the human
heart, because man is created by God and for ing devices deep within us to guide us to our true
God. (CCC, 27) home—the source of true happiness, union with our
God.
Modern psychology claims you won’t be happy
until certain basic needs are met. Among these are Questioning Minds
the needs to be loved and understood, to be recog-
We not only have restless hearts, we also have ac-
nized and appreciated, and to be able to achieve a
tive, questioning minds. Have you ever looked up at
goal using the talents you have.
the sky on a star-filled night and questioned what is
But even if you are lucky enough to have all of
way out and beyond what you see? Have you won-
these needs met at one time or another, they won’t
dered why you live in the time and place that you
do? When close friends or relatives died, did you
question the meaning of life and wonder why they
had to die and where they are now? Do you ever
think about where your life is going? Do you won-
der what will happen to you after you die?
People have been asking these kinds of ques-
tions from the very beginning. Just like your heart
4 Jesus Christ: God’s Revelation to the World
religion yearns for love and happiness, you questions, simply because God made
The relationship between are searching for truth about human you with an inquiring mind to help
God and humans that re- existence. Like every thinking person you find him. God made you, and all
sults in a body of beliefs ever made, you want to know what is humans, in his image and likeness.
and a set of practices:
creed, cult, and code.
the meaning of life. Being made in God’s image endows
Religion expresses itself in Your questions help you search us with the abilities to choose and to
worship and service to God for the One who can help you discov- think. These powers enable us to love
and by extension to all peo- er the meaning of human existence . God, to satisfy our restless hearts, and
ple and all creation.
. . and why you are here. It is no ac- to know God, to satisfy our quest for
cident that you ask these kinds of truth.
secularism
33%
An indifference to religion
21%
and a belief that religion
0.22% Other
should be excluded from
civic affairs and public 0.36%
6%
education.
6%
6%
16%
monotheistic 14%
Religions that believe
there is only one God.
Christianity, Judaism,
and Islam are three great
monotheistic world
religions.
Christianity (including Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican,
Monophysite, AICs, Latter-day Saints, Evangelical, SDAs, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Quakers,
AOG, etc.)
Islam (Shiite, Sunni, etc.)
polytheistic
Nonreligious (including agnostic, atheist, secular humanist, people answering “none”
Religions that believe in the or “no religious preference.” Half of the group is “theistic, but not religious”)
existence of many gods and
Hinduism
goddesses.
Primal-Indigenous (including African traditional/diasporic)
Chinese Traditional
Buddhism
Sikhism
atheist
Judaism
A person who denies the
Other
existence of God.
Note: Total adds up to more than 100% due to rounding and because upper bound estimates were used for each group.
Searching for God 5
supreme model of goodness, truth, and beauty mathematical formula can prove that human life
is the perfect being we call God. appeared by chance. Take a deeper look at human
5. Grand Designer. The world contains beauty, history. For example, think only about the techno-
symmetry, order, and power that must have logical explosion of the past century. Does there not
been put in it by a grand designer. You can see seem to be a superior intelligence leading and guid-
this when you look at a leaf under a micro- ing us? It is logical to conclude that the mystery of
scope, marvel at a spider spinning its web, or how and why we are here is because God is at the
look at the beauty of a newborn child. Promi- heart of the universe.
nent scientists marvel at the statistical impos-
sibility of human life forming in the universe Contemplating the Human
out of chance alone. For example, the ratio Person (CCC, 33)
of the weight of the proton to the electron is
Of course, when we think about God’s creation, we
balanced perfectly; if it were different, there
must also think about the human person. We have
would be no life here on earth. Someone must
already considered how the human heart longs for
have put the laws into nature that make human
happiness, love, and understanding. Nothing in this
life in a well-ordered universe possible. That
world can satisfy this thirst. Is this yearning and tug
someone is God!
of the heartstrings, which is felt by every human be-
If you were to combine all these arguments into ing, merely accidental? Might not a better explana-
one, you might simply ask, “How did I come into tion be that our Creator made us this way so we can
existence?” No scientist has yet been able to ex- find him? Additionally, don’t you sense that life has
plain how living beings evolved from matter. No meaning? You sense this because it is true: our lives
For Review
1. What does it mean to be made in God’s Knowing God through
image and likeness?
Divine Revelation
2. Discuss any three ways to demonstrate
the existence of God. By looking at creation and reflecting on the human
3. Why do some people not believe in God’s person, we can discover that God exists. We can
existence? even say some things about what God must be like
when we reflect on his creation, especially human
descendants apart as God’s People. God was as God’s special people, a priestly people, and
faithful to his covenant when he blessed the help them look to the day of the coming of the
aged Abraham with a son, Isaac. Isaac’s son, promised Savior.
Jacob, renamed Israel, fathered twelve sons • Kings and Prophets. God promised the Israelites
who became the ancestors of the tribes of Is- their own land in Canaan. They settled the land
rael. These descendants, the Chosen People, and eventually were governed by judges and
were “called to prepare for that day when God kings. The greatest Israelite king, David, made
would gather all his children into the unity of Jerusalem his capital city; his son Solomon built
the Church” (CCC, 60; see Rom 11:17–18, 24). the Temple in this city, where the Jewish priests
This was the family of Jesus. offered sacrifices and worshiped God.
• Covenant with Moses, the Sinai Covenant. After Solomon’s rule, the Chosen People
After the era of the patriarchs like Abraham, split into a northern kingdom and a south-
Isaac, and Jacob, God formed Israel as his ern kingdom. Because of the sinfulness of the
People. He did so by freeing the Israelites from people, including the worship of false gods,
slavery in Egypt at the time of the great event difficult times fell on the Israelites. During this
known as the Exodus. On Mt. Sinai in the des- period, God sent prophets to help form in his
ert, God revealed his name as YHWH (“I Am people the hope of Salvation. The prophets
Who Am”), showing that he is the source of warned against abuses like greed and failure
all that is. The word YHWH is written with- to follow God’s Law, but they also encouraged
God’s people when the Assyrians conquered
out vowels because there were no vowels in
the northern kingdom in 722 BC and the Baby-
the Hebrew alphabet. Also, because of the sa-
lonians conquered the Southern Kingdom in
credness of God’s name, the Jews did not say 586 BC. They never failed to mention that God
YHWH aloud. Rather, they substituted Adonai, would always be faithful to his promises. They
or “My Lord.” God also gave the Chosen continued to unveil God’s plan for humanity by
People his Law through Moses. The purpose of promising a new and everlasting covenant. The
the Law was to help people recognize God and New Covenant they described is to be written
serve him as the one, true, living God, a just on human hearts. The prophets—men like Eli-
judge. The Law would help form the Israelites jah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah—“proclaim a
Review Faith:
Questions Our Response to
1. Define Divine Revelation.
Divine Revelation
2. Why do humans need Divine
Revelation? When a friend congratulates you for
3. What are the terms of God’s a good test grade, you naturally say,
covenant with humankind? “Thank you.” It is natural and right to
20 Jesus Christ: God’s Revelation to the World
faith respond to good things that happen to Second Person of the Blessed
A gift from God; one of the us. Trinity.
three theological virtues.
So it is with the Good News of • requires free acceptance. God
Faith refers to personal
knowledge of God; as- our Salvation in Jesus Christ. We are does not force his love on us. He
sent of the mind to truths privileged to hear it and have been in- invites us to respond to him freely
God has revealed, made vited to live it with a community of with our minds and hearts. Our
with the help of his grace believers. Our response to God’s invi- own free will cooperates with the
and on the authority and grace of God’s invitation.
trustworthiness of his re-
tation, which comes to us through the
Church, is faith. • opens up the gates of Heaven to
vealing them; the truths
themselves (the content of Faith is a virtue, one of the three us. Faith is necessary for our Sal-
vation. When we use the gift of
faith); and the lived witness theological virtues; hope and charity
of a Christian life (living faith and live Christlike lives, we
are the other two. These virtues are are on the path to eternal life—a
faith).
known as theological because they life of union with God.
virtues relate us to God (theos is the Greek
Divine Revelation is God’s gift to
“Firm attitudes, stable dis- word for God). The Holy Spirit be-
positions, habitual perfec- us. By responding to this gift through
stows these gifts on us to help us live
tions of intellect and will faith in Jesus Christ, we position our-
that govern our actions,
in relationship to God, the Blessed
selves for happiness both in this life
order our passions, and Trinity. In fact, the Blessed Trinity is
and forever in eternity.
guide our conduct accord- the origin, motive, and object of all
ing to reason and faith” the theological virtues.
(CCC, 1804).
What does this gift of faith, which For Review
has been given to us by the Holy Spir-
1. What is a virtue?
theological virtues it, enable us to do? Simply, it enables
Three foundational vir-
us to respond “yes” to Divine Rev- 2. What does the gift of faith
tues that are infused by enable us to do?
God into the souls of the elation, God’s free gift of self-com-
faithful: faith (belief in and munication. It enables us to believe
personal knowledge of in God and all that he has revealed For Reflection
God), hope (trust in God’s to us. Faith also helps us to accept
Salvation and his bestowal
Church teaching. Faith enables us to • Describe a person of faith you
of the graces needed to at-
commit ourselves totally to God, both know. How does that person
tain it), and charity (love of
manifest the gift of faith?
God and love of neighbor as our intellects and our wills. The gift
one loves oneself). of faith:
• makes it possible for us to accept
Jesus Christ as our Lord. It helps
us imitate him and put his teach-
ings into practice.
• enables us to partake of the life
of the Holy Spirit who enlight-
ens us as to who Jesus is—the
Searching for God 21
But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, 1. Psalm 104 praises God for his creation.
or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty Create a PowerPoint presentation to illus-
water, or the luminaries of Heaven, the trate this Psalm. Choose appropriate back-
governors of the world, they considered ground music to accompany the text and
gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty pictures.
they thought them gods, let them know 2. In your journal, create a list of the Twelve
how far more excellent is the Lord than Apostles (see Matthew 10:1–4, Mark 3:13–
these; for the original source of beauty
19, or Luke 6:12–16). Then, consult one of
fashioned them.
the following Web sites to read a biogra-
—Wisdom 13:1–3
phy of one of the Apostles. Write a one-
Finding the Lord in Creation page report. Download an image from the
When we see the beauty of creation and Internet for an illustration of the Apostle or
recognize the goodness present there, it one of his symbols.
is impossible not to believe in God and
• American Catholic.org–Saints: www.
to experience his saving and reassuring
americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/
presence. If we came to see all the good byname.asp
that exists in the world—and moreover,
experience the good that comes from • Catholic Information Network: www.
cin.org/saints.html
God himself—we would never cease to
approach him, praise him, and thank him. • Catholic Online Saints: www.catholic.
He continually fills us with joy and good org/saints/stindex.php
things. His joy is our strength. • Patron Saints: www.catholic-
—Pope Benedict XVI forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm
• Theology Library: www.shc.edu/
God is not what you imagine or what you theolibrary/saints2.htm
think you understand. If you understand,
you have failed. 3. Identify four of the happiest people you
—St. Augustine know, including at least two adults. Record
Chapter 1 Quick View
Prayer
Make it a habit to recite this hymn of praise to
begin each day:
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
cry out to the rock of our Salvation.
Let us greet him with a song of praise,
joyfully sing out our psalms.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great king over all gods,