Bishop Robert Barron on Finding God in All Things

"There is, to be sure, a stress within the Biblical tradition that God is radically other: 'Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.' (Isaiah 45:15) and 'No one shall see [God] and live' (Exodus 33:20). This speaks to the fact that the one who creates the entire universe from nothing cannot be, himself, an item within the universe, one being alongside of others. But at the same time, the Scriptures also attest to God's omnipresence: 'Your Wisdom reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well' (Wisdom 8:1) and 'Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; . . . If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast' (Psalm 139:7-12). This speaks to the fact that God sustains the universe in existence from moment to moment, the way a singer sustains a song.

"What is perhaps the defining feature of the spirituality associated with St. Ignatius of Loyola - 'finding God in all things' - flows from this second great biblical emphasis. Despite his transcendence, God should not be thought of as distant in any conventional sense of the term, certainly not in the Deist manner. Rather, as Thomas Aquinas taught, God is in all things, 'by essence, presence, and power.' . . ."

In a recent commentary, Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, reflected on God wants to share His life with us and on how He, indeed, can be found in all things.

To access Bishop Barron's complete post, please visit:

The Boston Pilot: Echoes. Finding God in all things (24 JUL 19)