Omnipotence and Mercy

Omnipotence and Mercy | Fr. James V. Schall, S. J. | August 21, 2009 | Ignatius Insight

"Since God himself is now near us, we can know him; he shows us his Face and enters our world. There is no longer any need to make do with those other powers, because he is the true power, the Omnipotent." -- Benedict XVI, Aosta Cathedral, July 24, 2009.

I.

While in the Italian mountains, the Holy Father officiated at Vespers in the Cathedral at Aosta, during which he gave a brief, but incisive homily. He began by citing a Vesper prayer, itself based on Paul's Letter to the Romans. The pope noted that the Italian text of the prayer begins simply: "Merciful Father." Then he amusingly chides the Italian bishops responsible for this translation. The Latin text, the pope pointed out, is a little "fuller." It says: "Almighty and Merciful God." He added, that, in Caritas in veritate, he tried to show the importance of God both in one's private sphere and in "the life of society, of the world, of history."

One's relationship to God is a profoundly personal matter. Each person has a relation to other persons. If the relation to God is not a living one, then no other relation to anything else "can find its right form." This remark means that a disordered relation to God will also result in a disordered relation to others. The same principle holds for society and for humanity as a whole. Without God in the right place, with His power, we have nothing by which to guide ourselves. We lack a compass.

Thus, "we must bring the reality of God back into our world." Yet, "how can we know God?" Benedict recalled that he regularly meets bishops from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, so their concerns are vivid to him. These bishops differ in many ways, but they have one thing in common. "They all know that God exists, one God, that 'god' is a singular noun, that the gods are not God, that God exists, God." Yet, God seems "absent." He "hides, we do not know his Face."

Most religions thus deal not with God but with "objects. They are aware of nearer "powers." These are spirits, ancestors or, I suppose, even demons. People thus "make do" with the nearer powers. What Christianity is about is the closing of the distance to God. God takes the initiative to make Himself "truly known." He shows "his Face." We can see His Face. No veil covers Him any longer. "There is no longer any need to make do with those other powers, because he is the true power, the Omnipotent."

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