Q52 What is heaven?
Heaven is God’s milieu, the dwelling place of the angels and saints, and the goal of creation. With the words “heaven and earth” we designate the whole of created reality. [325-327] Heaven is not a place in the universe. It is a condition in the next life. Heaven is whereContinue Reading
Q51 If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, why does he not prevent evil?
“God allows evil only so as to make something better result from it” (St Thomas Aquinas). [309-314, 324] Evil in the world is an obscure and painful mystery. Even the Crucified asked his Father, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). Much about it is incomprehensible. One thing,Continue Reading
Q50 What role does man play in God’s providence?
The completion of creation through divine providence is not something that happens above and beyond us. God invites us to collaborate in the completion of creation. [307-308] Man can reject God’s will. He does better, though, to become an instrument of God’s love. Mother Teresa during her lifetime strove toContinue Reading
Q49 Does God guide the world and my life?
Yes, but in a mysterious way; God guides everything along paths that only he knows, leading it to its perfection. At no point in time does something that he has created fall out of his hands. [302-305] God influences both the great events of history and alsost the little eventsContinue Reading
Crossing the Red Sea
A 16th-century illustration from a translation of the Bible by Martin Luther depicts Moses by the Red Sea. The book of Exodus describes how Moses stretched out his hand so the divided sea returned, drowning the Egyptians. Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord.Continue Reading
Creation
A good creation Genesis tells us that God’s act of creation occurred in and orderly fashion. On the first day, he spoke the words “Let there be light” (1:3), which separated the light from the darkness to from day and night. The events of the day then drew to aContinue Reading
Beginnings
Michelangelo’s freso on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Rome, was painted between 1508-12. It depicts the creation of man and the expulsion of Adam and Eve fromn Eden. In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Now the Earth was formless and empty, darknessContinue Reading
Q48 Why did God create the world?
“The world was made for the glory of God” (First Vatican Council). [293-294, 319] There is no other reason for creation than love. In it God’s glory and honor appears. To praise God, therefore, does not mean applauding the Creator. After all, man is not a spectator to the workContinue Reading
Q47 Why did God rest on the seventh day?
God’s rest from his work points towards the completion of creation, which is beyond all human efforts. [349] Although man in his work is the junior partner of his Creator (Gen 2:15), he can by no means redeem the world by his toil. The goal of creation is “new heavensContinue Reading
Q46 Why does the Book of Genesis depict creation as “the work of six days”?
The symbol of the work week, which is crowned by a day of rest (Gen 1:1-2:3), is an expression of how good, beautiful, and wisely ordered creation is. From the symbolism of “the work of six days” we can derive important principles: (1) Nothing exists that was not called intoContinue Reading
