God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created [man and woman] to make [them] share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to [them]. He calls [them] to seek him, to know him, to love him with all [their] strength. He calls together all [people], scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites [all] to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1
To me, these words are beautiful. They express the “good news” in a deep and rich way I don’t often hear. They tell of a God who is good and seeks to share goodness with the likes of me. They acknowledge how broken and scattered we are. They invite us to seek God, to know him, and to love him. To be family with him and with each other.
The words can also be jarring. I’m sure you noticed I replaced all the references to man and men with more inclusive words. I’m sure this will offend some. But leaving the original words may offend more. More importantly, they may be a barrier to someone who needs to know there is a God and that God loves them.
The word Church can be jarring. It’s easy to think that if the Church is indeed God’s family, we might not want anything to do with either him or his family. Sadly, the church deserves most of the bad reputation it has. I hope we can put aside whatever bad experiences or associations we have and try to hear the bigger message about God’s intentions and actions.
Grace and peace to you…
dw
p.s. I’ve written about this paragraph before, here.
becoming flame 