Overview

Catholic Christians believe the Creator of all that exists is a God of Love, Wisdom and Truth. All goodness and love is from God. From creation we can learn much about God who is beyond all our words, images or imagining. The wonder and beauty of the natural world, and the goodness and love of human beings help us to ‘know’ God. Human beings are created in God’s image. Deep within human hearts there are God-given longings for goodness, love, beauty, peace, truth and much more. These longings give hints of God’s dream for us, our true identity and destiny as people beloved by God. Every person is invited into a unique, personal, relationship with the God of Love, a relationship destined for eternity.

 “Our hearts are restless O God, until they rest in you” (St Augustine, ‘Confessions’ Ch 1).

More Information

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth… God saw that it was good“  (Genesis 1:1, 3)

 “Lord, you have made so many things.  How wisely you made them all” (Psalm 104:24)

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

“Blessed be God the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us...before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ...for his own kind purposes...claimed as God’s own...”  (Ephesians 1:3-14)

“I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole of creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his children...creation still retains the hope of being freed like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.  From the beginning until now, the entire creation, as we know has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation but all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit....”  (Romans 8:18-25)

“God is a mystery, a beckoning word, and he calls us out beyond our narrowness...Because we are made in God’s image, therefore we share in his mystery. If we all have different finger–prints, it is not so surprising that we should also have our own unique way of knowing and understanding God. We are all making the same journey, but the route is different for each and we have to discover it in freedom. There are guidelines given to us within the Christian Church through Scripture above all, and through the teaching tradition of the Church, but ultimately we must find our own way and we are responsible for our own journey. God is the destination of our journey, but God is a mystery… if we turn to him, he will lead us. All that we have to do is trust that he will do so. (Gerard Hughes SJ, God of Surprises, 33)

Catechism of the Catholic Church

(Paragraph numbers for the Catechism are shown - Click the Nos section to view)

GOD THE FATHER  Nos 185-197
“BELIEF IN GOD " No 198,  Nos 199-231
THE FATHER Nos 232-267
THE CREATOR Nos 279-324
HEAVEN AND EARTH Nos 325-354
Ways of Coming to Know God  Nos 31-35
Desire for God   Nos 27-30
How Can We Speak about God?  Nos 39-43
IN BRIEF  Nos 44-49
HUMAN BEINGS  CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE  Nos 355-384