Here’s a question for you: What does
“Revelation” mean?
Yes, Revelation is the name of the last
book of the Bible, that confusing and mysterious book that few people
understand. But I mean in a more general sense. Revelation means that something
is revealed; something is made known; some bit of information is communicated
from one person to another.
As Catholic Christians, we believe in
what is called “revealed religion.” The dictionary defines this as: “Religion
based on the revelation by God to humankind of ideas that would not have been
arrived at by natural reason alone.”
We believe that God revealed Himself to
Adam and Eve; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses and David and all the prophets.
We believe God inspired the authors of the Bible. Most of all, we believe God
revealed Himself to us most fully in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
If God had been completely silent and
never bothered to communicate with human beings, we never would have come up
with Judeo-Christian beliefs on our own. Nowadays, a lot of people have drifted
away from the “faith of their fathers.” And for many, the primary reason
they’ve drifted away is because they no longer believe in revelation. They
believe that God has never communicated with us, and therefore all religions,
by definition, were invented by human beings alone.
If this is true, then the obvious
question is: why should I follow a particular religion—even if my ancestors
sincerely believed it—if is was just made up long ago by human beings? And the
obvious answer to this question is: there is no reason why you should believe
it. If all religions are merely man-made, and God did not tell humanity what He
really wants from us, then everybody is on their own to figure out what works
best for him or her.
Based on the way many people are living
their lives these days, what works best seems to be a combination of sleeping
late on Sundays, never attending church, and going through life with a rather
self-centered attitude.
But if you really think about it, a
silent God makes no sense. Let’s review what we know for sure: God created
mankind, and He created mankind with distinct personalities and with the ability
to communicate. (And if you’ve ever stood in line at Dunkin Donuts behind a
group of high school girls, you’d say the compulsion to communicate.)
We know by logic and reason that the
created being cannot be greater than its Creator. In other words, if we humans
have the ability to think and to use words, then it’s impossible for our
Creator not to have these same abilities. So, we can reasonably deduce that God
has a personality and He has the ability to communicate.
Now, here’s the question we have to ask:
What are the odds that God, after going to all the trouble of creating beings
with the ability to communicate—the same ability He possesses—would then choose
NOT to communicate with these creatures?
To quote Mr. Spock, “It is simply illogical,
Captain.”
So, the claim that God has never
revealed Himself to humankind actually has a gaping hole in its logic.
The only thing that makes sense it that
the God of all Creation, who made the heavens and the earth, did NOT create human
beings and then go off on a permanent vacation. He made us because of His love,
and He loves us too much to abandon us.
This is revelation. God has revealed who
He is. He has revealed who we are. And He has revealed what He wants from us.
And what He wants is very simple: He wants our love. He wants us to trust in
Him and be filled with His spirit of joy.
The best way to do this is to get out of
bed on Sunday mornings, go to church, and think about the needs of others once
in a while rather than yourself.
Revelation is actually very simple, and
it is very logical. Please don’t fall for the popular notion that God is
silent. People who are in love talk to each other all the time. And God is in
love with us.
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