Page 183 - Built For God Handbook (Annotated and Explained Edition) - The Christian Edition of the Tao Te Ching - The New Evangelization - Pope John Paul II

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When, as human beings, we are trying to understand the deeper questions
and more profound mysteries of faith and life, all of which are beyond our
human capacity to grasp, we are drawn into the realm of wonder, awe, and
paradox. The latter has been mentioned often in this commentary so far,
and now we very fittingly have a chapter dedicated to it directly.

Two mysteries of our faith can serve as prime examples – the Incarnation
and the Crucifixion. That our all-powerful, omnipotent, Creator God would
choose to be so humble as to enter into his own creation as a weak,
powerless infant through the faith and willingness of a young maiden in
Nazareth is one paradox.

That this same all-powerful Son of God, through whom all things were
made, would be willing to selflessly -- without any resistance, bitterness or
resentment -- give himself over to unspeakable torture and crucifixion as a
way to make all things new, boggles the mind and is another compelling
paradox.

In the scriptures, parables are designed to coax the hearer out of a narrow,
rigid view of reality into a broader, newer way of viewing and thinking about
that same reality. The nature of paradox moves in the same direction – to
lead us into seeing how reality might be the opposite of how our limited
culture and imperfect upbringing have trained us to think.

Thus, the wise reserve judgment on how a ruler governs, how events unfold
propitiously or not, and who is right or wrong. In the end they can, as the
text points out, be righteous without condemning, confront without
dominating, be direct without being rude, and enlighten without
overwhelming.

b
c
a John 13:12-17; Matthew 23:2-3; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 19:30;
d
Job 8:7; Revelation 22:13; Matthew 24:3-12; Matthew 24:36-37;
e Isaiah 5:20; Romans 3:21-26; Matthew 24:24; Matthew 12:34;
f 2 Corinthians 6:1-13.