"You are merciful to all, for you can do all things"(Wisdom 11:23.)

"You are merciful to all, for you can do all things"_{(Wisdom 11:23.)}

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 40

Ave Maria series

40.  Can God do anything?  Is he almighty?

“For God nothing is impossible” (see Luke 1:37).  He is almighty. [268-278]

This new statue of Jesus Christ in Świebodzin, western Poland, was completed on November 6, 2010.  The figure is 108 feet tall, the crown is 9 point 8 feet tall and from the base of its mound it reaches 172 feet above the surrounding land. ....40

Anyone who calls on God in need believes that he is all-powerful.  God created the world out of nothing.  He is the Lord of history.  He guides all things and can do everything.  How he uses his omnipotence is of course a mystery.  Not infrequently people ask, Where was God then?  Through the prophet Isaiah he tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).  Often God’s omnipotence is displayed in a situation where men no longer expect anything from it.  The powerlessness of Good Friday was the prerequisite for the Resurrection.  51, 478, 506-507

“Father, all things are possible to you.”  Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Mark 14:36)

But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things.   (Wisdom 11:23)

268-278

"I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"

The Almighty

268 Of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it "is made perfect in weakness".(Compare Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Matthew 6:9; 2 Corinthians 12:9; compare 1 Cor 1:18.)¹⁰³ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

"He does whatever he pleases"(Psalm 115:3.)¹⁰⁴

269 The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the "Mighty One of Jacob", the "LORD of hosts", the "strong and mighty" one. If God is almighty "in heaven and on earth", it is because he made them.( Genesis 49:24; Isaiah 1:24 etc.; Psalm 24:8-10; Ps 135:6.)¹⁰⁵ Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will.( Compare Jeremiah 27:5; Jer 32:17; Luke 1:37.)¹⁰⁶ He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will: "It is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the strength of your arm?( Wisdom 11:21; compare Esther 4:17b; Proverbs 21:1; Tobit 13:2.)¹⁰⁷ –CCC

"You are merciful to all, for you can do all things"(Wisdom 11:23.)¹⁰⁸

270 God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our needs; by the filial adoption that he gives us "I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty"(2 Corinthians 6:18; compare Matthew 6:32.)¹⁰⁹ finally by his infinite mercy, for he displays his power at its height by freely forgiving sins. –CCC

271 God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: "In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect."( St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I,25,5, ad I.)¹¹⁰ –CCC

The mystery of God's apparent powerlessness

272 Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus "the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."( 1 Corinthians 1:24-25.)¹¹¹ It is in Christ's Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth "the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe".(Ephesians 1:19-22.)¹¹² –CCC

273 Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power.( Compare 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:13)¹¹³ The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that "nothing will be impossible with God", and was able to magnify the Lord: "For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."( Luke 1:37, 49.)¹¹⁴ –CCC

274 "Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe - even if they be great and marvelous things, far above the ordinary laws of nature."( Roman Catechism I,2,13.)¹¹⁵ –CCC

IN BRIEF

275 With Job, the just man, we confess: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). --CCC

276 Faithful to the witness of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the "almighty and eternal God" ("omnipotens sempiterne Deus. .."), believing firmly that "nothing will be impossible with God" (Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37; Matthew 19:26). –CCC

277 God shows forth his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace. "God, you show your almighty power above all in your mercy and forgiveness. . ." (Roman Missal, 26th Sunday, Opening Prayer). –CCC

278 If we do not believe that God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify us? --CCC