Editorial
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PERTH. WA: December 22. 1988
Registered by Australia Post Publication o. WAR 0202
We wis you a happy and safe Christmas
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A Christmas message about G d The law of Moses strictly
forbade making any image
of God. The fear was that, I ike other cultures around them, the people would end up worshipping life. less idols. But people still needed some image of God, even if only a mental one. After all, the Israelites' relationship with God was deeply personal. And because it is next to impossible to have such a relationship with an abstract idea, the Bible is filled with images of God based on the people's experience of him in their lives. First
impressions are
the most lasting. The Israelites' first image or impression of God was that of a saviour who
intervened
to
rescue
thrm from bondage in Egypt. If thev latpr envisioned God .,� a la"gi,cr, they did nol c..1� him as. hearlle-e-. Rather, observ-
and love for all his kindness. Not a knee-jerk obedience to imposed obligations, it was a heartfelt response to the love God demonstrated for them. Even when the Israelites thought of God as a king it was as the ideal king who protects the interests of his subjects and shows special care for the helpless. Since the Israelites were a predominantly pastoral people, they were in daily contact with sheep and shepherds. Almost inevitably they pictured God as a shepherd. "Lile a shepherd, he feeds his flock. In his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in lus bosom and leading the ewes with care" (Isaiah 40:11). \fuch more intimate
was the image of God as a father, strong and protective but also gentle and kind. It is the voice of this father that echoes in the following words from the prophet Hosea: "When Israel was a child, I loved him. Out of Egypt I called my son ... It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms ... I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks" (Hosea 11:1-4). Hosea also gave us the boldly beautiful image of God as a husband wooing an unfaithful wife back to his arms. "So I will allure her. I will lear'
her into the desert and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:16). Since all those images of God were produced by men they have, a strong masculine ring to them, but it is not an exclusive ring. When the people in exile complained that God had forgotten them, they got this answer. "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should
she torget, 1 wilt never forget you" (Isaiah 49:15). All of these revealing images were summed up in a most impressive way in Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. He is the image of the Father manifesting in a visible, tangible, lovable way all God's winning attributes. Jesus' life, culminating
in his selfless death. was a revelation of a father's concern for his children, especially his children in distress. To see Jesus is to see the Father, the saviour, the king, the shepherd. the
••• who knows your name
By Fr John
CASTEL OT
lover.
Is-
this the tim to speak of the .1 ighty?
�-N� �, �� �
1ng the 1,1\\" \\'J� a way to e prec, thrir gratitud
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This child born on Christmas is someone we ought to get to know well. For in knowing him well we will know his Father, Jesus will later tell us. Jesus makes his Father known to us. But how?
Put your thoughts to work room at the inn? Will you fret that these
people - \fary. Joseph and the baby - are utterly unlike you? Will vou feel disappointed to hear that this is the story of the Lord's birth, disappointed that the event occurred in the context of sue h complete simplicity? no you think that vou, like the angels. will see all this JS n-ason
to rejoice? If you were to hear the story of the birth of Jesus for -the first time, you might find it astonishing and a little perplexing. After all, how would it fit with your expec tations of God, your idea of God? What do you think? What is your idea of God? To learn of God, to learn to speak of God. is not necessarily e.asy for people. We falter; we struggle for human words large enough to express
what
\\'C
want to sav,
And whilr we want to be able to say who God is, we need help if we arr to
do so,
It is frustrating to lack the words to tell dearly who Cod is. For God is the ultimate mystery of life. We sense not only
the wonder in knowing God, but also that in coming to know God we will discover ourselves. God wi II rev ea I us to ourselves. Actually, two things happen with the birth of Jesus. \Ve discover a new way to speak of humanity. For the dignity of all human life is made known when God's Word becomes ne,h. And we are helped to speak more clearly of God. For the story of Jesus' birth is the story of Emmanuel - God with
us.
This story is, literally, very revealing, So it is a welcome story. Now, little by little. we will come to know one in whom we recognise God.
THE RESOURCES ...
"Over and over again we
re tum to ( the incama· tion). It can be said as simply as the Christmas story can be said, but its implications go on and on and on. It is simply the most powerful image of
8
what human life is. became a man,"
··cro
writev
Falhr-r Robert Smith m his book "In the Image of God''.
, \t the heart of t hi' human " pcncnru nf
The Record, December 22. 1988
God there ts a paradox, Father Smith say». Whrn a person is most dl't,ply in the presence of c;ocJ. that pervm also i, most d1•Pph t onner led to ot hi-r people, "The searr h for God. although
For to know Jc,u, is to know his Father. he will tell us.
With the birth of Jesus we are introduced to one who can tearh us to address God as our parent. Je,us intends to reveal how intimately present his Father is in our lives, a true Cod of love. In Jr,us. we will learn to recognise the way, of God - ., God who freed his people from Egypt and who still can free them from even oppressive spirit. This child of Christmas is someone to get to know well - one who points us toward his Father while also pointing out our responsibility for the concerns of this world and its people.
it takr-. pl,« P ti lone, i.1never lonclv because evun the lnnelievt struggll' to find Cod\ "ill and to do it hinds vou to other people." ht> w rites. (Yugant.r
Press,
Starn-
ford, Conn Oh!l05)
Finally a timid voice p1JX'd up. \Iv under-
\Vear."
Obviously what it means to have the kind of God who calls you "by name" had not yet grabbed the secondgraders' imagination. I recall that story at Christmas, when the concrete and powerful image of God-,vith-us is the cbild in the manger. Adulls can grasp the powerful incongruity of God's personal love enfleshed in a helpless infant, called simply Jesus, "one who saves". But while children greaUy enjoy celebrating the birth of the infant Jesus, they have more difficulty understanding the incarnation as the sign of God's personal love for each individual. Young children deal in concrete images. Until the seventh-grade or so, their images of C',od are
By Laura MEAGHER formed by their experiences of their parents and other authority figures. They see God as both lawgiver and loving parent. As the teen years approach. Jesus becomes more significant as the image of God, an understanding friend and brother. Images of an allpowerful God as parent, lawgiver and scorekeeper also are retained from childhood. During adulthood. disappointments and tragedies may lead to a loss of faith if- one's image of God resembles the Wizard of Oz - aweinspiring until he doesn't deliver what is asked of
Is Christmas any time 1D talk about God? This week the NC Religious Education Package poses that question as it discusses our images of God. Fat her HerlX>rt Weber tells a touching story about a college student distraught bernu.<e her
childhood image of God no longer fils her needs. Father Weber helps her see that our images of God may expand as circumslance:, in our lives change. Laura \teagher tells how a young man found
a more mature faith when he confronted his image of who God is following a motorcycle accident. Blessed Sacrament Father Eugene La\'erdiere points out that the Egyptians portrayed their gods in ways quite
Eugene La VERDIERE
God alc:.o i� immant.'nl, \\ithin u� as \\'CII as
Many students at the university like the fact that our chapel is never locked. Late one night I walked in for a few final moments with the Lord to find a young woman sitting in the last JX'W crying her eyes out. I sat down next to her, trying to calm her, In near hvsteria all she
could $3) O\'Cf and 0\'Cf
again \\JS. "He's not there anvmore," Our discussion continued quite l,ite that night. Eventually I learned that the absent
one she ,v as referring to was God. Indicating
that
God
there anymore was her attempt to say wasn't
that the wav she had perceived God as a child no longer fit with her more adult understand· ing of life. Yrt she didn't want to let � of her ini.,Re of God. Virtualh evervonr has an image of (;;,cl Some are dire,cth from S. rip-
ture: othr� tire nonons
that have rern.n ned sinm r.hildhood.
Although God doe, not change, people do and therefore so do their images of God. These images permit people to relate to God. Because Christmas celebrates the relationship between God and his people, it " a time for reviewing the images of God that people hold. In the frsti,ity of Christ·
mas, such image, can become a source for a
strengthened spiritual life Some people paint mental pictures of an awesome Creator who deigns to touch the earth in the person of an infant. Som!' think about thr pm. irmty of an everyday God who is as present in our world as he was in Bethlehem or ,a1.arcth. Some simplv relish Godlike qualities such as compassion and �ntleness that now a little more grneroush during this holv Christmas season, Whatever the case, there are benefit> for onev personal spiritual life m attempting to vpea], of God.
By Father
Herbert WEBER
There are potential pitfalls. of course. in trying to put a fan• on (',od. ,\ 19th-cl'nturv l·nmrh philosopher is· rreditrd with saying that in the beginning God c.n,atcd human� in hi, O\\'TI image and t'\l�r !tinre then pmph• have hc>t•n trying to n•tum the favour ,\ totallv subjective ,it'\\ of God could prove thl' Frenc.h wag c:orred. Surh a Vil'\\ is ha.,.,d on thl' assumption that wr are tho c.Pntn, of thr univer.e and thl'rcfore God srl', a, we do and l,i,h,ivc, a, wu do. \1.iking use of compariSCln, i ru� t•-. ....111 \\·hen '"' ,pe-ak of God hut. ult,matf'h. anv d=ription is s1n1ph. a \\3\ of '") mg •c;(){I is like . ." ,\nd a nH•t,1phor or wmparis.m that b h lp-
been easv to rclrr to God as Father b<'r.aU.SC rnv father is kind and loving,
father confessor or even spou.s,,.
But such an image could turn awav a young man who recalls how his dad would rome home drunk and beat him and his sister. To put a face on God, it helps to hcgin with one's
ers what kind of relationship b desired with God. the task is to see if one's of God is image grounded in Scripture or in church teaching. The Bible presents a wide array of images of God. from Yahweh who walked in the garden with !\dam and Eve to thu mighty protector and liberator of \loses. to the shepherd of the ps.1lmist and the Gosp<'ls. to the infant in the n1anger. Such an arrav attesls to the fact that o�r modcmday groping for repre,,entations of (',od is not new. It also indic.ates that one or two images of God simply are not enough to contain C',od's totalitv or the human longing- for God. Thi' rnllege student in the1 hapel that night had to look for (',od b\ first looking at hcro\\11 iife. In th,• 1 nurse of seJf. disrown she learned that G�d trnh· was present all along - in w.1vs -.hp harl nevpr dnmmcd of.
own story. \!arty is a divorct,d
mother of two who is slowl\ and graduallv rebuilding hrr lifl'. She recalled that her prayer to God during rect,nl Years tool,, the form of talking to a wise grandmother who loved her unconditionally. At first \fartv apologised for the feminine charactrristit_\ \ho tttlrihuted to God. But then sho ru.11,.,.,d that her grandmother Was the mo,t Influential person in her o\\n faith story. Others also can lmd a
"•1 to relatr to God b,
looking at their own lives. The\ mav find that ful toonr p•r,on n1a� not what they most want to he soc lcar to ,mother. rel.itetois.i (:0.1 \\hoarn For rnn 1t ah\a,-s ha� be r"" h nr oost fricrnl or
Once �meone discov-
him. But mature faith also can be born of or disappointments tragedies when they force people to ask who God is. A young man I know faced this question honestly and reaped some unexpected rewards. Bill suffered brain damage in a motorcycle accident that left him disabled. One day he began rerninJSCing about the joys of riding the motorcycle. "Was it worth it?" I asked. "Oh, sure," he answered. "If I hadn't been hurt I would never have come to know Jesus."
•·0o you think God made your accident happen so that you'd grow in faith?" I asked, not knm,ing what to expe<.t this time.
Bill's eyes twinkled. "God didn't make that accident happen. Bill did." Bill's image was of a God who does not save us from the consequences of exercising free ,viii. At the same time marital symbolism abounds in the Bible as an image for God. speaking of God's fidelity even in the face of our infidelity. And the image of a recurs shepherd throughout Scripture, naming God as provider, trailblazer, tireless protector. Much of what happens to us will not be comprehensible. But we have the assurance that the shepherd will come after us when we are lost because he kno,\'S our names no matter \vhat \\·e're \\'earing.
This week in focus
By Father
Can vou think of an action or saying of Jesus in the Gospels that helps us to understand better who our God is? The kind of God we have? What is your favourite image of God? How has your image of God expanded over the years?
Put your imagination 1D work for a moment by picturing yourself hearing the story of Jesus' birth for the very first time. How will the story strike you? How will you react to it? Will you be shocked to hear what the c ircumstances of this birth were - in a stable. mind you? Will you empathise with the plight of \lary and lo-oph. who found no
The topic of the lesson was baptism and the theme was taken from Isaiah 43:1: "I ha� called you by name, you are mine." Twelve second-graders and I were discussing the uniqueness of each person, who is "called by name" to be God's child. "What special person has freckles and no front teeth and loves to talk?•• I asked. "Jason." "And what special person has curly brown hair and brow,.; eyes and sings the loudest?" "Karen." "And what is something special that evervone has that helps us io know them but no one can see it?" Silenr.e.
Most of us learned as little children that God is our Father in heaven. We learned also that God was greater than anyone or anything we knew. Later we learned that God wa., t hr Creator of all things. the One who can" for ab.,olutelv everyonP. including u�. ,\nd later still we Jparnrcl to speak of God in philosophir.al terms: God is tran"cndpnt. the sourc.e of all hemg and the ground of our 0\\11 being. At this point. thu simple statement ahout our Father in heaven had devplop<'d into something wr\· c.omplP, for us. Tht• mon• we thought allOul "ho (:0.1 wa,. the morti rpmotr. God ""'ml'CI to get. It is h,ird to imagint• gl'tting I'" ited ahout a pl'rsonal rt•lationship \\:ith thfl ''gn1unrl of lX'ing ... It j.., not th,tt our ph1losopl111:al mljuir) led uc, a�tr11\. (;od < r.rtai nly is a trnnSf r.dr•nnt lx•1ng. Rut
beyond us. God is immanent in all of creation. That ts why creation. the work of art, reveals the Creator, the artist. to us. But God is most immanent in people, in the men and \\·omen made in his image and likeness. As Creator. God is present especially in the creali\ity of peoplr - in the parent's smile, in the potter's hands and in the gardener's green thumb. God is personal. ovcr00\,ing "ith life and love. Sower.an rxpc<.t to see the image of God more clearlv in a human being who overflows with life and love. The vrrv best image of God is. Jesus, who reached out to all human beings with life and love. He did not \>it h hold love from anvonc. cvr.n fmn1 those "ho tried to destroy him. Who r.an forget Jesus' dying prayer forgiving those \\ho crucified him: "Father, forgive thrm.
thev kno\\ not what they do'' (Luke 23: 34). Evervone needs an imagp -of God. We realise this when we take a walk through antiquity, on a tour of ancient Egypt. for example. or even on a visit to one of our wonderful museums. The great stone statues of Egypt's gods are a\vesome. But ho\v silent and faceless they are. Their form usuallv is that of an animal. Thr,e statues \\'ere not gods lor the Egyptians, ol course. They \vere images of God: expressing and emphasising God's strength. cunning, majesty or fertilit\ in male and female form. But it is hard for a Christian to take an image of a falcon or a crocodile, let alone a hippopotamus or a monkey, very seriously as an image of God. None speaks of (',od's life. love and personal relationship to us. Their eyes may stare.
different from Christians, for instance as a crocodile or falcon. The Christian God takes a ,varm and personal interest in eaLh person, Father La Verdiere says. Father John Castelo! tells of some bibliral
;mages of God which help people understand who God is. For instance, Hosea's portrait of God as a lo,ing husband who takes his unfaithful wife to the desert to woo her back. Father Castelo! is a Scripture scholar author and lecturer.
To Illake the word flesh but thev do not see. :-Sor do they hear. The,· just stand there in stone. motionle,s and silPnl. Not one of them extends a hand to anyone to say "Do not be afraid .. or .. Peace be with you" For Christians an image of God must be able to see, hear. touch and
speak.
All of us try to be such image., of God. \\'r want to be like Jrsu.s and we want to allow Jesus. our ri.<en Lord and Saviour. to sce ,vith our eyes. hear with our ears, touch with our hands and SJX'.ak \\ilh our lips. We want Jrsus to be made flesh over and over again in our love, so that God s image ;,, alwavs visible cvel)·whrre. ·
Jesus in the Go,,pels or when we refle<.t on those who really were great images ot God in Christ, people liJ..e St Therese of I..isieux and St Francis of Assisi, it can be overwhelming_
But then we need to look at how Jesus was the image of God. not only in the perfection of his adult person but even as a little child. a helpless infant. needing the c.are of and parents grandparenls. Everyone. including those "ho struggle and the helpless, ran find hope in the infant Jesus, God's image in a little child.
0
What a challenge. When we read about
The Record. December 22, 1988
9
Well I've only
four
weeks to live ...
THE LACE WHERE CH LDRE U DE GOI G CA CER REAT E T HAVE THEIR FU
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YOUTH FORUM
esurrection Shuffle CATHOLIC ORIE TA 10 CA PS February 19-21 February 21-23 First year students at UWA can meet fellow Catholics, make friends & learn about Uni life fmm students
For deta i s, write to: Fa er Step en Astill, SJ University C ap aincy UWA Ne lands 6009 or r· g 380 2405
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Catholic Youth Council vision weekend is scheduled for arch l7, 18, 19. It is the annual gathering of some 30 young people and their chaplains from the various youth organi ations and movements in W stern Australia. It is fir tly an o portunity to meet he new pea le for 1989. It's a chance to reflect ac on the previou 12 man hs and make concrete plan for he months ahead. ovement , organi ations and dioce e hould appoint their respective delegates as soon a possible.
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