31st May 2026 –
All Christians have a favourite image of God. When I was a boy many people had a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The picture and statue of the Sacred Heart consoled people and reminded them of God’s love and compassion. Often at a funeral, the image is that of Christ the Good Shepherd. Christ is our guardian and protector, especially as a person leaves the familiarity of this life. Different images help people to understand God at different times and in different ways.
Christian faith, however, takes us on a journey. Just as we develop and mature from child to adult, so as disciples of Christ we should be on a pilgrimage that allows us to grow in faith. As we progress in the Christian life our faith changes. Our understanding of matters spiritual and the way these affect our lives often causes us to let go of inadequate images of God and discover new ones. Asking ourselves which images of God are our favourites and why, may help us better understand the nature of our relationship with God. Clement of Alexandria, who lived in the third century AD, spoke of God as Father and Mother – Father as Creator and Mother as Compassion. For some people feminine images of God do help them understand the depth of God’s love for us.
The mystery of the Divine – of God, and the mystery of the human person are bound together, since each woman and man is created in the “image and likeness of God”. If we find it difficult to understand God, it is, of course, equally difficult to understand another person. How do we come to some sort of understanding of other human beings? Surely it is through ties of friendship and love. When two people really can say they love each other, they come to a place in their lives when if seems as if they even think each other’s thoughts. Saint John tells us God is love, therefore the key to understanding God is a loving relationship with him. Such a relationship is the basis of faith.
Of course we have to have an idea of what love is in the way that God is love. Through Jesus Christ we are given such an idea. Through Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, this fundamental idea is communicated to us. This divine idea is created anew in each human being. We know of its presence because it drives every human being to seek what is good. Sadly, when that urge turns in on itself we identify it as evil. Sinfulness leads us away from the goodness of God and so damages our relationships – whether human or divine.
Our journey to our proper fulfilment as human beings needs the action of God’s power. It is not possible alone. This action of God is his free gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus we see the perfect revelation of God’s love. By being one with Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we come to a share in God our Father’s life. The revelation of the Trinity allows us to grasp the wonder of our destiny. It allows us to see, through a fellow human being, Jesus of Nazareth, the true nature of love. Through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit we are able to grow in that sacrificial love revealed by Jesus Christ and be clothed in the mantle of divinity ourselves.
