1. Trinity Relations:
Christ as the Son of God
within the Trinity.

2. Prayer:
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
St. Joseph, you know what it is like to hear the voice of God. Family members are distracted and don't hear God's voice. Guide them to hear God's voice and touch their hearts to hear the words of God. Amen.

3. Journal:
Read John 17:20-23 and Mark 12:1-12
Watch:

4. Objectives:
-Understand the relationship of God and Jesus within the Trinity.
-Discover the Attributes of God
-Appreciate the meaning of calling God “Father”
-Learn the significance of Titles
-Investigate the title of the Son of God
-Understand the relations of God to Jesus within the Trinity.

5. God created human beings in his image
God is a Loving Father
More than just the Creator, God established a relationship of love with us, his creation.
God directs creation through divine providence—his watchful guidance over us and all of creation.
God created human beings in his image
It tells us that like God human beings have an immortal soul and that we have been endowed with great dignity. We are capable of choosing and loving.

6. God’s traits shine forth in his creation
God’s traits shine forth in his creation. We can therefore look at the world and see the handiwork of God behind it all.
The Old Testament tells us that God is:
Infinite – extending endlessly;
having no limits.
Omnipotent – all powerful;
he can do everything.
Eternal – existing without beginning or end.

7. John 17:20-23
20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may [a]believe that You sent Me.
22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

8. God’s traits shine forth in his creation
God’s traits shine forth in his creation. We can therefore look at the world and see the handiwork of God behind it all.
The God who created us is also:
Pure Spirit – Not limited to space and time.
Unchangeable – His perfection and love
are unwavering.
Supremely Holy – Surpassing everything
and everyone.
Personal – Alive and the source of all life.
God loves and cares beyond limit.

9. [God] showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, and it was round as a ball. I thought, ‘What may this be?’
And it was answered thus: ‘It is all that is made . . .’
In this little thing I saw three properties.
The first is that God made it,
the second is that God loves it,
the third is that God keepeth it.
-Julian of Norwich
fourteenth-century mystic

10. What a piece of work is a man,
how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving
how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals

11. Jesus reveals to us that God is our loving Father.
As a personal being,
Father is who God is.
Jesus invites us to call God “Abba,” which means “Daddy,” because God created us out of his love and has adopted us as his children.
God is also the Father of Jesus in a unique way. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

12. While God is Father, the Scriptures also reveal to us that God shows the qualities of a loving mother as well.
The prophet Isaiah compares God’s constant love to that of a mother who comforts her children and will never forget them.
Jesus, too, sometimes used feminine imagery when speaking about God, comparing God to a woman who searches for a lost coin or a hen gathering her chicks under her protective wings.
As pure spirit, God is beyond sexual identity, but we should realize that God’s love can be compared to that of both fathers and mothers.

13. “God is Father, and even more he is Mother” – Pope John Paul I
“As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you” – Isaiah 66:13
“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” - Isaiah 49:15
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” – Matthew 23:37

14. We must be very clear about this
We must be very clear about this. Speech about God in female metaphors does not mean that God has a feminine dimension, revealed by Mary or other women. Nor does the use of male metaphors mean that God has a masculine dimension, revealed by Jesus or other men; or an animal dimension, revealed by lions or great mother birds; or a mineral dimension, which corresponds with naming God a rock. Images and names of God do not aim to identify merely “part” of the divine mystery, were that even possible. Rather, they intend to evoke the whole. Female imagery by itself points to God as such and has the capacity to represent God not only as nurturing, although certainly that, but as powerful, initiating, creating- redeeming-saving, and victorious over the powers of this world. If women are created in the image of God, then God can be spoken of in female metaphors in as full and a limited a way as God is imaged in male ones, without talk of feminine dimensions reducing the impact of this imagery. Understanding the Holy Spirit as the feminine dimension of the divine within a patriarchal framework is no solution.
Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992), 54. 

15. Revelation about God the Son
The Scriptures use the term “son of God” in a variety of ways.
How is Jesus, as the Son of God, different than any of the others?

16. In the Old Testament, “son of God” is used to refer to individuals or groups who have a special relationship with God, or an important role in God’s plan of salvation for his people.
In Exodus 4:22, for example, “son of God” refers to the people of Israel, whom God will
save from slavery
in Egypt.

17. In the Old Testament, “son of God” is used to refer to individuals or groups who have a special relationship with God, or an important role in God’s plan of salvation for his people.
In 2nd Samuel, “son of God” refers to a king, and in Job, it describes angels.

18. In the Old Testament, “son of God” is used to refer to individuals or groups who have a special relationship with God, or an important role in God’s plan of salvation for his people.
In 2nd Samuel, “son of God” refers to a king, and in Job, it describes angels.

19. Job 1:6-12
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

20. In many passages, the Bible reveals that Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way. Rather than being a son by adoption, as one of God’s creatures, he is the only begotten Son of the Living God.
Jesus said, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
This clearly establishes a
different kind of relationship between Jesus and God the Father.

21. “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” - Luke 2:49
“Father, into your hand I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46

22. In many passages, the Bible reveals that Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way. Rather than being a son by adoption, as one of God’s creatures, he is the only begotten Son of the Living God.
In the Parable of the Tenants, Jesus tells the story of a vineyard owner who sends servants and finally his own beloved son to receive his share of the crop. The tenants mistreat the servants, and finally kill the owner’s son.

23. 5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
Parable of the Vineyard
Isaiah 5: Let me sing now for my well-beloved. A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
6 “I will lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

24. 12 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
11 This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

25. The Parable of the Tenants becomes an allegory in which Jesus represents himself as the owner’s beloved son.
With this allegory, Jesus criticized his enemies for rejecting his authority. In it, he also predicted his own suffering and death. The leaders of the Jews realized that Jesus was claiming a unique relationship with God as his Father.

26. Recall that God revealed his name to Moses as “I AM who am.”
The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
Recall that God revealed
his name to Moses as
“I AM who am.”
When Jesus makes a collection of “I AM” statements about himself,
he is also making the connection between himself and God the Father.

27. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
Jesus said, “I AM the bread of life,” not only making the connection between himself and God the Father, who gave the Israelites bread (manna) in the desert to sustain their earthly lives, but also referring to the eternal life Jesus offers us in the Eucharist.

28. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
Jesus said, “I AM the light of the world.” Remember that it is God who is the author of light in the creation story in the Book of Genesis.

29. “The Lord is my shepherd …”
The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
When Jesus said, “I AM the good shepherd” and “I AM the gate for the sheep,” he reminds us of God’s promise to shepherd his people. It is through Jesus that the words of Psalm 23 are fulfilled:
“The Lord is my shepherd …”

30. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
The Old Testament makes it clear that God is the author of life, and it is God who will restore life—and Jesus says, “I AM the resurrection and the life,” so we can make no mistake about his relationship to the one living God.

31. The Psalms tell us that God is the way of life and truth.
The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
The Psalms tell us that God is the way
of life and truth.
Jesus tells us: “I AM the way and the truth and the life.”

32. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the second person of the Blessed Trinity with the “I AM” statements.
The prophets use the image of a vineyard owner to describe God, who planted the vine—an image for Israel.
Jesus tells us:
“I AM the true vine.”

33. Jesus is truly Emmanuel: “God with us.”
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells the apostles, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age,” promising never to abandon us.
Jesus is truly Emmanuel: “God with us.”

34. He was humble and never abused his power.
Part of being “God with us” is that Jesus provides us the perfect example of how to live our lives.
He was humble and never abused his power.
He even washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper to show us the importance of humility and service.

35. Jesus was also obedient to his heavenly Father.
Part of being “God with us” is that Jesus provides us the perfect example of how to live our lives.
Jesus was also obedient to his heavenly Father.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed
to be spared the suffering that was in store for him—but he added, “Thy will
be done,” and submitted
to his Father’s plan for
our salvation.

36. Part of being “God with us” is that Jesus provides us the perfect example of how to live our lives.
The same attitude of obedience to God’s will is what Jesus conveys to us in the Our Father when he tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”

37. Even though Jesus’ every word and deed were focused on showing us the way to the Father, his disciples did not fully understand how he was God with us.
It was not until they met him after his Resurrection that the apostles finally realized who and what Jesus really was.

38. For Review
Pg. 98 Q’s 1-3
Pg. 101 Q’s 1-6