Normandt' Catholic Meditations

[Normandt]

47. God coexists with humans


Since the beginning of humanity, mankind has been trying to understand who God is.

Events in the world make us love God. But in a strange way, they can also dissuade us, make us doubt, then move us away from the Love of God.
Writers too, in the Bible, have given intentions to God that does not seem to suit him very well. We'll try to restore briefly the reality of God, who is Love.
We'll also try to detect the reality of the human being, too often inhuman, because of his faults and his sins, who thinks that God is like him. Or, just like us sometimes, writers imagine God as an avenger, a scary being, who keeps us in fear as well as other unattractive attributes.

There are two basic aspects that influence us in the Bible. First, we discover the Love of God, purer than a perfect diamond with all its facets of mercy, joy, hope, peace, life, etc.

The second point of view that we need to remember is that God is present in the history of humanity. Despite the fact that there are saints in the Bible, very often the story recalls inhuman gestures and words that intermingle with the Love of God, unfortunately.

The image we project on God is often tarnished. We place an opaque veil between us and him. It can become confusing to the point that the "god" we invent seems to betray us, make us suffer and kills us, according to his mood (We place a small "g" to "god" here, because we want to signify, right from the outset, that this "god", like an idol, is a pure invention of our misunderstanding of the reality of God).

Moreover, we observe that since the beginning of humanity, inhuman sins contradict the Love of God. Violence and evil caused by sin distorts reality.
God then becomes, through a false perception, guilty of the evils, the misery and the suffering of humanity. Even today, we blame God for evil and sin.
Now, inhuman acts and words cause harm and its horrors are found in the Bible. Evil becomes an agent of confusion that blurs the reality of God.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

48. Beauty of God in the Bible


But, thanks to God, goodness shines, forevermore, in the Bible. And it's in this goodness that the transparent Beauty of God is revealed.

The most extraordinary thing about the Bible is that humanity, with its weaknesses and sins, and God with his Love, live side by side.

God inspired writers to write the Bible. We repeat: God inspired writers to write the texts of the Bible.

The Bible could be considered as a one and only parable. What is of God and what is the misunderstanding of the human with respect to God?
It's up to us to understand the enormous difference, the chasm (gap) that too often exists between us and God. No inhuman gesture, thought or word can be given to God.

The great drama of the Bible is that God wants to convert his people and bring him back to his Love, and his children inhumanly sin and cause harm, then move away from God, pretexting it's his fault.

We will explore, with this reading guide, some texts of the Bible. We will discover how easy it is to think that God "allows" evil when he's not responsible for it.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

49. Who is like God?


Micah raises the lid on God:
"Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins." Micah, chapter 7, verses 18 to 19

In this opening passage from Micah, we discover that God is merciful. But Micah also tells us that God can "persist in anger". These are the two aspects that we will pursue now. We know that God is merciful. But, can he be angry too? Absolutely not.

Let's get the magnifying glass out of its holster and follow in God's footsteps.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

50. The Covenant


After the flood, God makes a Covenant with Noah and his family. God guarantees that he will always be present:
See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tames and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. Genesis, chapter 9, verses 9 to 10

God's Covenant is eternal. God never breaks it. We can conclude that his Covenant with humanity was already defined, already established from the creation of the world, even before he formed the universe.
God reassures the people:
"I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Genesis, chapter 9, verse 13

God's Covenant is the Love he offers us without limit, all the time and in which he wants to keep us. God reminds Abraham of it:
"I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." Genesis, chapter 17, verse 7

God is always in relation with the people, if the people want him. Him, he will never leave.

Are we, ourselves, in the Covenant of the caring Love of God?

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

51. The Heart of the ship


Theologians have seen in Noah's ark the salvation offered to us, the salvation that raises us above sin and death. God has consideration and he proposes a boat for his people, so that he may be saved from death.

The boat that is the Church is founded by Jesus on the Apostles. She teaches us his will. She administers his Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and the Word of Life for our salvation and fraternity among humans. The Church of Jesus offers us the means to move away from temptations and from evil.

God also entrusts Mary, Mother of Jesus, for to contemplate and to follow as an example of faith.

Christ is the Heart and he drives the ship, the ark. Jesus is the undeniable proof that God loves us forever. Peter understands it:
"For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit." 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 18

Jesus offers himself to save us. He did not condemn us to death. God does not condemn. He takes our flesh that is dying, to arise it in eternal life. He wants us alive in his Covenant. Jesus came into our history, to bring us back to the dignity of being, to the dignity of being human.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

Today's text

52. Jesus fights temptations


Jesus, when tempted in the desert, teaches us how to fight evil.

Evil takes us away from the Eucharist and the Word of God. Evil brings us down to become lost kings and queens, far from the world and from our Church. We risk thinking that we are the only ones who can handle everything. Evil degrades us to the point of thinking that we own the goods and the people. Evil diminishes us, it pulls us away from others and from God.
In the midst of temptations:
"The Spirit drives Jesus out into the desert." Mark, chapter 1, verse 12

The Spirit drives Jesus to the desert. Jesus goes freely because he is eager to fulfill his mission and to lead us on the road of life to Life everlasting. He shows us how to fight temptations:
"He remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him." Mark, chapter 1, verse 13

Jesus is tempted by evil, but not like us. He fights temptations for us; the temptation to move away from the Life and Love of God; the temptation of evil against God; the temptation of what distracts us from God and the temptation to possess what exists by repelling God.

The worst and most subtle temptation is to think that God is not Love.
Jesus doesn't need to fight temptations for himself. Jesus is already victorious. He fights temptations for us and to show us how to be free. Every time we are tempted, Jesus fights with us, if we allow him to intervene in our life.

There are not many fruits growing in the desert, there is not much water. The desert certainly means death for a person. Let's perceive that the desert contrasts with paradise, which was promised to us before the fall, before the original sin, the sin that only Baptism can wash out.

Jesus overcame the desert of temptations that leads to death and he turns it into a fertile land. Jesus comes to tell us not to fear because he has conquered death by leading us into his life. He invites us to walk behind him, to walk on the path of real life. It's now the time of the great cleansing of our person, to empty it of all that is useless and to let it fill up with the Love of God.

May all the shady areas of our existence be purified in the Love of God. Let's enjoy it! We will then avoid running into evil.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

53. God cannot curse


Abraham has the impression that God says:
"I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." Genesis chapter 12, verse 3

If one person despises another, will he be happy? Is it possible to be happy when he hurts a person? Let's read it again: "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." We know that God cannot reprove, condemn, curse: this is absolutely not in his nature. Yet it is written, some will say.

Would it be better said that the person who despises the other could go so far as to curse himself? It's possible. So, if someone curses someone, he commits to cursing himself.

Because the evil that he ventures on the other is the evil with which he's contaminated. God doesn't curse. He doesn't need God to condemn and condemn himself. He curses and then he curses himself. He's able to condemn himself alone.

This text is, therefore, in itself an affirmation that can put God at wrongdoing. The "I will curse" placed in the mouth of God is very possibly the understanding of the writer, in his living time, about God. To reprove, to exclude a person from his face for eternity is absolutely not in the way of God's action, it isn't in God's plan.

For the author of Genesis, by this biblical passage, God seems to be responsible for both good and evil in the world. The author had not yet learned to distinguish between evil that doesn't concern God and good that represents God.

The final answer would be more likely: "The person who will curse, he will condemn himself. He risks being excluded from eternity if he curses others; even worse, if he curses God." The boomerang effect.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

54. God does not harden the heart


However, the people of Israel, with Moses as guide, managed to flee Pharaoh and Egypt. God seems to say, by Moses:
"Thus will I make Pharaoh so obstinate that he will pursue them." Exodus, chapter 14, verse 4

God cannot harden the heart of anyone, even Pharaoh's, and lead him to persevere, so that he catches fugitives and takes them back into captivity. It's not realistic to portray God this way.

This passage is an example of people at the time who do not know God. God is not complicit in "Pharaoh's stubbornness", so to "harden Pharaoh's heart". It's Pharaoh who persists and hardens his heart.

It's the human being who hardens the heart and becomes inhuman through gestures and words against humanity.

We need discernment from the wisdom of God. God can only be Love. Let's remember that in the Love of God are included the following manifestations: peace, joy, prayer, wisdom, life, liberty, mercy, etc. The remains, especially the negative words about God, are nothing but a wrong and incorrect way of perceiving him.

God's Heart is filled with Love and he cannot encourage people to harden their hearts, to become obstinate. We ourselves do not encourage it, since the person would become dangerous for himself and his environment.

So, we appreciate God by placing all the writings of the Bible under the magnifying glass of his infinite and luminous Love. God saves his people, but he's no friend of the evil caused by Pharaoh.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

55. Rebuke against God


The people of Israel still rebuke against Moses:
"Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?" Exodus, chapter 17, verse 3

It's classic. When we do not have what we want, we often accuse others, the government, and then recriminate directly or indirectly against God. Why does God seem to cover us with misfortune?

As for families in Israel, we are used to living in an environment that can lead us to maximum security, to habits that are no longer to be dismantled. And we go around in circles, instead of bouncing our way back to God.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

56.Too heavy


After an interesting internal journey, surprisingly, Moses becomes free and lucid enough to ask God for help:
Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers?

Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, 'Give us meat for our food.'
I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. Numbers, chapter 11, verses 12 to 14

What Moses understands is invaluable: "Was it I who conceived all this people?" He understands that the people of Israel are the people of God: "I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me."

Yes, Moses is a wanted guide of God for his people ... and his mission is to lead him to God. Moses recognizes God as the one who leads his people. He hands the people over to God, since he is responsible for this people.
We cannot do anything without God. Let's give him back all people and all groups.

Despite the weight of the moment, Moses clings to his relationship with God. He has always worked with God. But there are people who are never happy, never satisfied. They will demonstrate to Moses that they do not want freedom. Nevertheless, Moses wishes to take them out of their bad experience lived in Egypt and bring them back to freedom, in God.

Moses is in a listening attitude with God:
To the people, however, you shall say: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, when you shall have meat to eat. For in the hearing of the Lord you have cried, "Would that we had meat for food! Oh, how well off we were in Egypt!" Therefore the Lord will give you meat for food, and you will eat it. Numbers, chapter 11, verses 18 to 19

God is always listening. As soon as Moses is released from the complaint of the people, he gets his answer.

May the leaders of a people, a nation, a country, a church remain in God, like Moses. May they continue, in spite of everything and even in what seems impossible to comprehend, to return to God.

Moses relies on God. Let's trust Jesus. Let's receive what we need and the needs for others. It's never necessary to complain, since God is there and he hears us very well. Although, to complain is often the reaction which precedes a serious reflection.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

57. No consequences for sin?


Are there no consequences for sin? Absolutely not. Because sin is lacking, separating from the Love of God. Sin is an action and evil is its consequence.

Through sin, the person hurts himself and can destroy himself. The only decision of the person to turn to sin causes him evil.

This is being unfaithful to the Love of God. Leaving God, which will cause us evil, leads to suffering. Without the love of God, we sink into the mud of evil.

Let's continue with the next passage of the Exodus, which is not easy to understand, since it seems to contradict the message of Jesus:
"Love your enemies." Matthew, chapter 5, verse 44

Let's continue immediately with what is written in the Book of Exodus:
"I will be an enemy to your enemies." Exodus, chapter 23, verse 22

For a people who are often at war, we can assume that he did not understand the message that God is transmitting to him. How can God be an "enemy" since he is Love?

It's easy to conclude that God would hurt someone. But Jesus sets the clock back on time. He confirms that God loves even enemies.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

60. John, the beloved


John, Jesus's Apostle and evangelist lives a relationship close to perfection with Jesus.

He's not perfect, but John seems to have found the way to surrender to the Heart of God. He reveals to us the truth. John is the only one who sums up the Heart of God and the core message of the Bible, in three words:
"God is Love." 1 John, chapter 4, verse 16b

And John wrote just before:
"We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us." 1 John, chapter 4, verse 16a

John speaks to "us" in this last statement, but is he aware of what this implies: "We have come to know and to believe in the Love God has for us." However, to have written it, John must have experienced the Love of God in the depths of his being.

John is near God. It is therefore possible to believe in God and to know his Love. But are we aware of it? How do we determine that we know his Love?

Some texts in the Bible give the impression that God isn't Love. How many of our contemporaries like to rebel against God and say that with all that is happening in our world, God cannot be Love? It just keeps on going.
Let's add this excerpt:
"Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him." 1 John, Chapter 4, verse 16b
John's powerful words remind us to remain in Love to know God.

So why do we deny God's truth? What are the reasons for being opposed to John's words? Consciously or unconsciously, in many ways and words we assume that God isn't Love. Why does attraction to evil lead us so far?

It's crucial to update our database. "God is Love" and God can only be Love. Maybe we underestimate the Love of God, but we can never overestimate the Love of God.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

61. Jesus respects the people


Jesus is very respectful of people. He cannot reach us if we don't want to welcome him. Yet he could force us to receive his Love, but patiently he prefers to wait on us.

Jesus says to them:
"A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. Mark, chapter 6, verses 4 to 6

Jesus leaves, he goes to the neighbouring villages. In fact, it is us, we are leaving and keeping Jesus away. It's us who reject him because we're not interested in his message. Jesus is always with us, but we are not always with him. Jesus goes so far as to be surprised at the lack of faith.

Jesus saves us, he heals us from evil, he shows us the only way to be joyful and to embark with him if we want.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let's reveal God, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

62. Conscious refusal


The extent of a fulfilling life is to receive the Love of God and cling to him. The opposite of hosting and living God's Love is to let oneself fall into evil.

The abyss of evil is the conscious total refusal to receive God's Love.
The prophet trumpets:
"Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins." Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 1 to 2

The guilt of skipping away from Love is forgiven by God. But it's always tempting to move away from him, to lurk into evil, from which emerge the denials, the fears, the crimes.

The double punishment is to get away from the Love of God and slip toward evil. It is a double fault, a double distress, a double distance. That's why in the text, the person receives double from God, accepting Love after having turned away from evil.

As a person seeks to identify the name of his illness to better be treated and heal, let's dare to observe the evil that causes sin.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Refusing sin, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

63. Whoever believes


It is written in the Gospel:
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." John, chapter 3, verse 36

The key phrase is: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." We receive eternal life by believing in Jesus. Jesus enlightens the journey to the Kingdom of Heaven as soon as we allow him to.

This is more troubling: "Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life." It's honest: "Whoever disobeys (refuses to believe)". Not the one who does not believe, but the one who refuses, who will not believe.

A person may not seem to believe and walk with Jesus without noticing it. But the person who refuses to believe in Jesus sets out. He goes on without him.
The last part of the sentence is difficult to read: "Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."

From a dehumanized point of view, God may seem angry, vengeful (wrath) but from God's point of view, he is Love. What seems to be God's anger is rather our lack of love and our rejection of Love.

To refuse God intentionally is to place ourselves before evil and let it make fun of who we are. Then, we think wrongly that God is the reflection of this evil.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Refusing sin, Normand Thomas