Why I Believe, or, How I Know that God Exists

(Originally posted September 11, 2007)

I believe in Truth, in Reason, and in Love. I believe that there is truth, not only physical truth, but transcendent moral truth -– right and wrong, good and evil -– and that this morality is not relative, otherwise, it would not be truth. In a world without God, any evil thing is possible. But in a world with God, love and salvation and freedom are possible; life is possible.

Indeed, Christ has already saved the world in a very tangible way. He has redeemed the world. Without Christian love and forgiveness and reconciliation, the world would have destroyed itself long ago. One wrong would lead to retaliation, which would lead only to retaliation for that act, in never-ending cycles of wars of vengeance, on both a personal and national level. We only need to look at some non-Christian cultures in the world today to see that they differ from Christian values and morality.

Yet, although I believe, I am also a sinner. My sins are great and many, and I am greatly in need of a savior to pay my debts, to ransom me. Maybe others believe that they can live well without Christ, and that they can have eternal life without Him. Maybe they don’t need Him. But I do need Him. I do need, not only His forgiveness, but His grace –- the power to do things that I could never do or accomplish on my own, things like love and forgiveness and perseverance and peace of heart and hope.

If it were just me, I’d probably want to nuke the entire Muslim world as payback for the bastards that do things like fly planes into buildings and set off car bombs and suicide bombs, killing thousands of innocent people. But Christ commands me to love my enemies, and He gives me the grace to do the impossible -- to let go of hate, to let go of the thirst for vengeance. He gives me the grace to do things like love and forgive such people.

Yes, forgive. I forgive those who did this evil thing. He gives me the grace to be able, when we hopefully have peace, to live together with them as children of God. Left to myself, I would not want to accomplish any of these things, and I could not do any of these things myself. It is only because God does exist, that such things are possible. We do not have peace now, and because peace requires both sides to set aside their arms, it may still be necessary to implement the tragic tools of war, but we should do so, not out of hate and vengeance, but only in order to gain that peace.

So, pray for true peace. Pray for our enemy, that God grant them grace and wisdom to choose peace. Pray for us, that, as we must necessarily destroy that enemy to obtain the peace, that God grant us grace and strength to not hate those He commands us to love, that we kill not for vengeance, but to end the violence and the capacity and will of the enemy to make war on us, until the day we again may live in peace with these children of God.

Eternal and Merciful God, at times of tragedy our intellects seek understanding, our hearts seek healing, and our souls turn to You: our source of hope and solace. Heal our troubled nation as our nation turns its eyes to You and comfort those whose lives are changed forever: those who have perished, those who have lost family, friends or loved ones, and those who now live in the aftermath of these acts of terror. May God bless our national leadership, may God bless our servicemen and women, and may God bless America. Amen

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, let thy protection be upon all those who are in the service of our country; guard them from all harm and danger of body and soul; sustain and comfort those at home, especially in their hours of loneliness, anxiety, and sorrow; prepare the dying for death and the living for your service; give success to our arms on land and sea and in the air; and grant unto us and all nations a speedy, just and lasting peace. Amen.

"Rise, let us leave this place"

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the Cross, the weapon that had won him the victory.

At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.”

Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

"I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

"For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

"See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

"I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

"Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

"The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."

Judas and the Killing of God

A commenter says, "It is impossible to come up with a worse sin than the one Judas commits. Killing God. There is nothing worse."

In reading the Passion account from the Gospel in the Good Friday liturgy in Catholic churches, often instead of just one person reading it, many people take various parts. One part that the faithful in the pews take is to yell out, "Crucify him, crucify him!"

The fact is that we all betray the Lord, we all call for his death, we all hammer the nails into his hands and feet. How? By the sins we commit, that is, by what we think and do and fail to think and do that separates us from God. It is only because of our own infidelities and transgressions that Jesus is on the Cross in the first place. We are all Judas -- and the whole reason the Lord became man was to save people like Judas.

Yes, there ARE worse sins than betraying the Lord and killing God. There are far worse sins. After all, even killing God in the flesh can be forgiven.

What can possibly be worse?? The worse sin, the ONLY "unforgivable" sin is what Judas did afterward. And what was that? Despite his feelings of guilt, Judas did not turn back to the Lord. He did not seek reconciliation, the prodigal son never came home. By not seeking the forgiveness that was there waiting for him, by not opening up his heart to God's mercy, by continuing to turn his back on God by instead hanging himself, Judas could not be forgiven.

It was the gift never opened. It was the delivery returned to sender. He was impervious to redemption. THAT is the greatest sin. And, sadly, it too is a sin that others commit.

Living Jesus' Fasting in the Desert and His Passion

With the public celebration of Mass suspended during this time of the coronavirus public health crisis, how else might we and our families keep the mysteries of Holy Week and joy of Easter alive given these social distancing restrictions and the call by public leaders that we stay at home as much as possible?

Well, our Lenten journey is meant to draw us closer to the Lord in a special way as we approach Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. This year is no exception. While this Holy Week we are unable to come together to celebrate Mass, still this time has offered us a couple of particular ways to join with Jesus precisely in that pain and distress we feel. It is the Gospel of redemptive sacrifice.

At the beginning of Lent, we fasted and recalled how before He began His ministry, He went out into the desert for 40 days, fasting and praying in that emptiness of the wilderness. This recalls too how the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until that blessed day that they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. At the end of Lent on Good Friday, we again fast as we meditate upon the suffering and crucifixion of our Lord, followed by the still emptiness in the world as His dead body lies in the tomb on Holy Saturday.

This year, we have not only remembered Jesus’ 40 days in the desert and the Passion, we have in a sense lived them with a fast far greater than going without a meal or two. As we endured with Christ His deprivation in the wilderness – His “quarantine,” for that word is derived from the Latin meaning “forty” – so too this Holy Week, perhaps we might join our sufferings to those of Jesus in His Passion: taking upon ourselves the feeling of being abandoned as the Apostles ran away, taking upon ourselves this Cross of social distancing imposed on us like Simon the Cyrenian, feeling the agony of the nails and thorns that Jesus endured and are now being experienced by those afflicted by this horrible disease, and thirsting on the Cross.

In this way, by offering up our miseries to the Lord, in giving to Him our suffering as we take upon ourselves His suffering in our very own personal lives, even from our homes, this Holy Week takes on a whole new meaning – by joining with Him, we participate in the work of salvation.

“Every man has his own share in the Redemption,” wrote St. John Paul II. “In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ” (Salvifici Doloris, 19). Indeed, St. Paul rejoiced in his own sufferings, saying, “In my flesh, I complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body, which is the Church” (Colossians. 1:24).

These past weeks have been a trial and tribulation for the Christian faithful and the whole world unlike any we have experienced in our memory. It is the fervent hope and prayer of us all that we can return to our lives and jobs and the public celebration of the liturgy as quickly as possible. But this much we can be certain about – the Easter of our personal and social life will come. It might not coincide precisely with the calendar this year, but dawn will break. A new day in the rising of the glorious Son in the world cannot be denied.

We who have walked in darkness will see a great light; and we are children of that light (Isaiah 9:1; Ephesians 5:8).

Heaven and Belief in Christ the Savior

Over at the Althouse blog, the question is posed --

Do you think you need to believe in Jesus to go to Heaven when you die?

And, of course, that depends on what one means by "believe."

Is it necessary to believe intellectually, with one's mind, to have an affirmative knowledge that you believe?

Well, intellectual belief certainly helps. For one thing, the intellectual believer will presumably then go and be baptized, which provides the grace of not only redeeming one from Original Sin, which is absolutely necessary for salvation, but it provides other graces as well to grow in the faith and grow closer to the Lord, if only one accepts those graces in the heart.

However, Jesus says that it is not necessarily the case that the intellectual believer will be automatically saved, that there are many who fed Him even without realizing they were doing so. (Mt. 25:34-40) Meanwhile, Jesus also says that there are plenty who proclaim, "Lord, Lord," to whom He will say "I don't know you because you never really took me into your heart." (cf. Mt. 7:21-23) And Paul notes that the people of Athens worship God unknowingly with their altar to an unknown God. (Acts 17:22-23)

So, what is important that you "know" Jesus and "believe" in your heart, i.e., you have a sincere thirst for love and hunger for truth in your heart. (Mt. 5:3-10) That is enough to be "blessed," to at least open the door to possible salvation, even if you do not intellectually realize that you know Jesus in your heart, for the God of Divine Mercy seeks to save, not to condemn, so He will help you the rest of the way. God is not bound by the requirement of sacramental baptism by water, He is perfectly free to provide the effects of baptism by alternate means. (For example, neither Mary nor Joseph nor any of the righteous people of the Old Testament ever received sacramental baptism by water, but the Church recognizes them to be in heaven.)

At the same time, this "belief in the heart" is made more difficult if one intellectually affirmatively rejects Jesus and/or God and/or everything about Him. And sincere belief in the heart is -- or at least should be -- easier if one intellectually believes.

As for going to Heaven without Jesus -- can anyone tell me "where" Heaven is, or how one can get there without Him taking us there? Can anyone describe to me the process of transferring one's spiritual being from this present physical reality to any other? Or how one goes about resurrecting your dead body and transforming it to a glorified state?

And since Heaven is, by definition, eternal union with God, why would anyone want to be in Heaven later if he does not want to have a relationship with Him now or during this life?

Make no mistake here, though. Heaven is not some exclusive club. God is offering free memberships to anyone who wants them. And Jesus is eager to give tickets for the trip there to anyone who wants them.

Accepting such tickets to heaven does not restrict our freedom or otherwise burden us. All it does is open us to love and truth. All it does is open us to what is truly good. All it requires is that we be the person that we were made to be.

Note also that the idea that you can be a god unto yourself, that you can be your own savior, that you have no real need of God and are capable of being self-actualizing into heaven is the very first error, the very first sin, it is the original sin and such error is ultimately the origin of every other sin committed since then.

Even if you knew "where" heaven was, you do not have the ability to transcend this existence yourself, especially after you are dead.

Heaven being a "place," a state of being of perfection in truth (and love), for one to persist in error, any error but especially the error of self-salvation, is to prevent your very entry into heaven. Error and imperfection cannot exist in a place of truth and perfection.

That error and imperfection must be removed, it must be purged from you, you must be purified before you are capable of uniting with that which is all true and perfect.

If you are incapable of perfection now, you certainly won't be able to do it yourself after you are dead. You need help.

Thankfully, the Lord is a God of Divine Mercy who gives countless opportunities for people to accept His outstretched arms of love.

The Passover in Egypt is a prime example.

God gave Pharaoh chance after chance after chance to do the right thing, to do the good thing, to simply allow people to follow Him.

God did not obliterate Egypt at the first sign of rejection. Rather, He gave Pharaoh a modest rebuke (the first plague) and gave him another chance. And then another, and another, and another.

Ten times God asked Pharaoh to let His people go (the number ten has symbolic meaning, it means completeness). God gave Pharoah a complete number of opportunities to turn to truth and justice.

But eventually death comes. Death comes to us all, and when it comes there are no more chances, no more opportunities. God remains ever merciful, but being dead, you no longer have the ability to accept. Your future (your first born) is no more.

You need to accept His love and truth in your heart while there is still time, while you still live, so that death might "pass over" you. And, again, such acceptance of love and truth does not burden us, it frees us from bondage, it allows us to walk out of slavery to freedom and the Promised Land.

God's Justice

"The mercy of Christ is not a cheap grace; it does not presume a trivialization of evil. Christ carries in His body and on His soul all the weight of evil, and all its destructive force. He burns and transforms evil through suffering, in the fire of His suffering love.
"The day of vindication and the year of favor meet in the paschal mystery, in Christ died and risen. This is the vindication of God: He Himself, in the person of the Son, suffers for us.
"The more we are touched by the mercy of the Lord, the more we draw closer in solidarity with His suffering and become willing to bear in our flesh 'what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ' (Col 1, 24)."

--Joseph Card. Ratzinger, April 18, 2005