Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
March 9, 2014
Spiritual Ponderings
Spiritual Randomness
Six Attributes of God

And now another random topic, I have always been fascinated in how numbers play a role in church architecture. For example the number eight can symbolize the eight beatitudes but also new creation because there were seven original days in creation and the early Church proclaimed the Resurrection to be on the 8 ^th day. Many of the things in the Church are designed to have three of something for the Blessed Trinity or four of something for the four Gospel writers. I recently came across something that gave power to the number six and then it pointed out that a lot of chalices are made with a base that has six sides. According to this book the number six represents the six attributes of God and they are the topic of this week's spiritual ponderings.

1. Power
I think that there are two important things that we must remember when it comes to thinking about God and His power. The first is that God's power is unmatched and this is scene in the creation story. There is no battle between gods as in other ancient religions. God simply spoke and the whole universe in all its complexity came into being. This is the same power that we rely on in the Sacraments and to safe guard the Church. The second thing is that God never uses His power in a forceful way. We see this most evidently when God invites the Blessed Virgin Mary to become a part of His plan. Many of us when we have power or tempted to use it to get our way even if it means forcing others to do things our way against their will. God though never forces Himself and He demonstrates His power more through restraint and self-control than by displays of wrath.

2. Majesty
The most important thing to remember when reflecting on God's majesty is that He exercise His leadership for the good of those who follow Him. It also show us how much God's love us when we like St. Paul ponder all that Jesus gave up in order to become one of us and save us. "Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11)."

3. Wisdom
When speaking of God's wisdom, I feel that it is important to remind myself that God has a plan. God?s creation of the world was not like a toddler dumping a box of Lego's on the floor hoping that it would form a castle. God created the world out of a love and a desire for us to participate in His divine life. This helps me to understand suffering in the world for there would be no suffering in the world if there was no free will but if there was no free will there could be no love and life would not be worth living without love. I also believe that God can bring good out of any evil and that He has complete picture in mind where I only have a piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

4. Love
St. John says it best in his letter: ?The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8)." So what does that mean? Let us look at St. Paul's letter to the Colossians: "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." So therefore it means God is not impatient, hostile, jealous, etc.

5. Mercy
Because God is love, His first inclination is not to punish but to save and restore. St. John in his Gospel says it best: "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. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:16-18). Once again notice the invitation to believe and not any hint of force.

6. Justice
Ultimately God is justice and when I think about how God's justice and mercy comes together I am drawn to this quote from a Msgr. Pope of the diocese of Washington D.C. "Respect.' God has made us free and respects our freedom to chose his Kingdom or not. Now the Kingdom of God is not a mere abstraction. It has some very specific values and these values are realized and experienced perfectly in heaven. The values of the Kingdom of God include: Love, kindness, forgiveness, justice to the poor, generosity, humility, mercy, chastity, love of Scripture, love of the truth, worship of God, God at the center and so forth. Now the fact is that there are many people in our world who do not want a thing to do with chastity, or forgiveness, or being generous and so forth. And God will not force them to adopt and live these values. While it is true that everyone may want to go to heaven, heaven is not merely what we want, it is what it is, as God has set it forth. Heaven is the Kingdom of God and the values thereof in all their fullness. Hence there are some (many?) who live in such a way that they consistently demonstrate that they are not interested in heaven, since they are not interested in one or many of the Kingdom values. Hell ?has to be? since God respects their freedom to live in this way. Since they demonstrate they do not want heaven, God respects their freedom to choose "other arrangements."