CONCERNING OBJECTIONS TO CHURCH'S TEACHING ON RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION BY DIVORCED AND REMARRIED

Are you saying that tongue in cheek?
I am implying no such thing.
My statement was simple and factual and in no way contradicts the Catechism quote you cited here.

 

If you're saying that the Father, as a Spirit, is strictly male, it would imply that women can't be justified without becoming 'more male'...I think...I'm not a theologian!

Also, see my follow up post above if you missed it, I didn't mean to be ad hominem.

 

There wouldn't be an argument about what God is if Anthony hadn't decided that using the pronoun "he" in reference to God the Father reduces the Father to an old man with a beard. The fact is that Jesus used the masculine "father" and "he" when teaching the disciples how to pray to the Father. If Anthony has a problem with that he can take it up with Jesus on judgement day. Nobody here is saying that God the father has a penis but Anthony has decided that we must believe God the father to have a human anatomy because we accept that Jesus meant what he said when he told us to pray the Our Father.

If Anthony has a hang-up about calling God "Father", that's Anthony's problem. He can pray "Our Mother/Uncle/Aunt/First Cousin twice removed" if he wants and explain himself to Jesus when the time comes. Meanwhile, those of us who prefer to be safe than sorry should be able to call God "Father" without having to add on "Father who isn't really father with a penis" just to please people like Anthony who believe themselves to be more in tune with God than the rest of us.

 

I never said God was a male. I said Jesus Christ was a Man and He told us to pray to God as the Father. I don't know why. I hold women in high esteem and so I do not want to come across as misogynistic in any way. It wouldn't bother me one bit if God wished to be known as "mother" and incarnated as a woman, but that wasn't the case.

 

I love your straight shooting style Dolours

 

I am replying to my own post here for the sake of clarity. In the post I wrote above, I capitalized Man and Masculine. I do not want anyone misunderstanding my intent there. It was not to be chauvinistic, but to be reverential towards any aspect of God.

It is my understanding that when we are writing about any aspect of God we are to capitalize them out of respect. Hence if I said "The Hand of God" I would capitalize Hand. Or if I was saying the "Divine Will" I would capitalize both since both are aspects of Him.

I do this all the time, but in this particular instance I could see that perhaps it was misinterpreted by at least one person and might be by others as well. I just want to clarify so everyone understands the way I wrote what I did.

 

I must apologise to anyone who might find my post offensive. I just got tired of Anthony insisting that we have the wrong concept of God because we refer to the Father as "Father" and "He". I don't see how calling the Father "it", "they" or "him/her" would deepen our understanding. God is God. Without a photo or DNA test, we will have to rely on what has been revealed to us. That the Father is pure spirit isn't in dispute although the way this discussion has been dragging on, I wouldn't be surprised if someone chimed in accusing us of reducing God to a white sheet with holes for eyes.

 

The holey ghost!

 

Kinda old school around my place.
The P word is not really used in public here .
I mean saying Praetorian is allowed,just not the other word.

 

There it is again. Good old fashioned common sense.

 

How splendid is Our Lord's revelation that God is Our Father!

He did this because a father represents Love!
Jesus revealed God as the father to us, and it might be helpful for you to imagine your own earthly father and examine what comes to your mind when you do this!


When I think of my earthly father [May he Rest in peace] I remember the protection and comfort he gave me as a child, the provision of food, shelter, clothing, holidays and the sacrifices he made for our family.

I know even as a child I never equated his love with his sexual anatomy, nor did I think of his male genitalia! And whether he had a beard or was clean shaven never enters my mind, because it is neither here nor there.

Instead I think of his love and goodness and remember him carrying me as a child when I was tired. Our Lord Jesus never said we are to think of sexual genitalia when he described God as Our Heavenly Father, nor when He gave us Mary as Our Mother.

God as pure spirit has the qualities of a Father!
Our Heavenly Father is pure Fatherly love.

I hope that the above has not confused you further. I think you should speak to a priest regarding how you see God the Father.

God Bless

 

Thank you, Josephine, well said.

 

I would not speak to any priest or any other person concerning how I see God the Father.
My relationship with God the Father is between God and I alone.

I will however discuss the nature of God with anybody who cares to discuss the matter.

I'm afraid you misunderstand my position.
However you do seem to be on the right track concerning the fact that the Triune God is pure spirit.
It appears to me that some people, not all, seem to think there is physical substance in the Holy Trinity.
That is simply not possible.
That is the point I'm trying to get across.

 

The mind of God is partially revealed in the doctrinal truths proposed by the one holy Catholic Church.

Have you heard of the Hypostatic Union?

It,s the church teaching on how an infinite spirit such as God can unite itself with a physical object such as a human being in the Incarnation and still retain its integrity and separate identity.

It has follow on repercussions on Catholic persons who receive the Holy Eucharist

Normally any action of that kind would utterly obliterate a human being.

 

Of course gender is ontological.
It is also anthropological so to ascribe male gender to God the Father runs the risk of seeing this infinite spiritual being as an exclusively masculine construct.
In my opinion therefore one has to go beyond all human gender concepts to try understand the nature of the First Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Human gender concepts are mere tools and rather inadequate ones at that.

 

Our Father who art in Heaven.

Do you pray this prayer?

 

Yes I do.
Why?

 

Because saying the Our Father is sufficient for us.

The Holy Trinity is a mystery that you will never fathom.

By continually posting the same thing Ad nauseam you are in danger of becoming that bore in the bar no one wants to sit beside.

 

Frankly, this thread has been usurped by a discussion that if anyone is interested in starting a conversation on the nature of God the Father then by all means do so. For anyone confused on this issue, I suggest get the Catholic Catechism out and do a bunch of reading. Trying to reinvent the nature of God the Father is a waste of time. To many more concerning events taking place, so let this thread assume it's title once again.