Advent reminds us how much God is interested in our lives

By Fr Luke Fong

It always puzzles me to read about how one of the most common arguments that atheists have is that we Christians have created a God who is a control freak and is an ultimate moral police hovering over our every action. Preaching about the contrary each time I ascend the Ambo at Mass to tell my congregation that this is a toxic and very erroneous view of God doesn’t quite reach the ears of those who need to hear the message, largely because if you are an angry atheist who believes in such a toxic narrative of God, the last place I would find you at is in a pew at Mass. Sometimes, I must confess, it does seem like I am preaching to the choir.

The very act of creation attests strongly to how much God is interested in us. Why else would he create if he did not care? Of course, we have some anthropomorphism going on here when we say this, but given the limitations that we human beings have, it is the best we can do. When we humanly create, be it with our artistic talents or creative skills, we do it for a multitude of reasons. Our ego could want our names to be immortalized, or it could just be that inherent need to see something of ours lasting beyond our own physical years. But because God is love, he has no ego as such. All he does stems from what and who he is. In Thomistic philosophy, there is no distinction between what he is and the things he does, unlike us. His essence is his act, and his act is his essence. So, if he is love, then all that he does is predicated on this fact. No ego needs, no hidden agendas.Read More »