Cathal BarryCathal Barry explores the Catechism of the Catholic Church
We begin our profession of faith by saying: ìI believeî or ìwe believeî. Before expounding the Churchís faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebratedin the liturgy and lived in observance of Godís commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what ìto believeî means.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that ìFaith is manís response to Godî. God reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time providing man light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life.
Humanity’s capacity
The Catechism deals with certain elements of that search, beginning with humanityís capacity for God. According to the Catechism, the desire for God ìis written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himselfî.
ìOnly in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for,î it says.
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes deals with this point further. It states the dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is ìcalled to communion with Godî. ìThis invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being,î the constitution states.
ìFor if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.î
Quest for God
The Catechism notes that men and women throughout history have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour in several ways: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, etc. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, ìare so universal that one may well call man a religious being,î according to the Catechism.
Acts 17:26-28 notes that from ìone man [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ëFor in him we live and move and have our beingí.î
However, this ìintimate and vital bond of man to God,î as Gaudium et Spes puts it, can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by humanity, the Catechism notes. It states such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; and currents of thought hostile to religion, among others.
In one of the most powerful lines of this opening section, the Catechism declares ìalthough man can forget God or reject himî, God ìnever ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happinessî.
Humanityís search for God is never easy. It demands every effort of intellect, a sound will, an upright heart, and the witness of others.