YOUCAT Question n. 37 - Part II. Why is God “Father”?
(Youcat answer - repeated) We revere God as Father first
of all because he is the Creator and cares lovingly for his creatures. Jesus,
the Son of God, has taught us, furthermore, to regard his Father as our Father
and to address him as “our Father”.
A deepening through
CCC
(CCC 515) The Gospels were written by men who were among the
first to have the faith (Cf. Mk 1:1; Jn 21:24) and wanted to share it with
others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see
the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes
of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection,
everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery (Cf. Lk 2:7; Mt 27:48; Jn 20:7).
His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that "in him the whole fullness
of deity dwells bodily" (Col 2:9). His humanity appeared as
"sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of
the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the
invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission. (CCC 239 a) By
calling God "Father", the language of faith indicates two main
things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority;
and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children.
God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood (Cf.
Isa 66:13; Ps 131:2), which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between
Creator and creature.
Reflecting and
meditating
(Youcat comment)
Several pre-Christian religions had the
divine title “Father”. Even before Jesus, the Israelites addressed God as their
Father (Deut 32:6; Mal 2:10), realizing that he is also like a mother (Is
66:13). In human experience, father and mother stand for origin and authority,
for what is protective and supportive. Jesus Christ shows us what God the
Father is really like: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). In
the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus addresses the most profound human
longings for a merciful father.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 516) Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds,
his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say:
"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say:
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (Jn 14:9; Lk 9:35; cf. Mt
17:5; Mk 9:7, "my beloved Son"). Because our Lord became man in order
to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries
manifest "God's love… among us" (Jn 4:9). (CCC 517) Christ's whole
life is a mystery of redemption.
Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross (Cf. Eph 1:7;
Col 1:13-14; 2 Pt 1:18-19), but this
mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life: - already in his
Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty (Cf.
2 Cor 8:9); - in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our
disobedience (Cf. Lk 2:51); - in his word which purifies its hearers (Cf. Jn 15:3); - in his healings and
exorcisms by which "he took our infirmities and bore our diseases"
(Mt 8:17; cf. Isa 53:4); - and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us
(Cf. Rom 4:25).
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