Collection: God Almighty Father

When we say that the Father is almighty we mean first of all that his power is absolute or unlimited. This means that he can do everything that is "do-able". The only thing that God cannot do is something that would involve an intrinsic contradiction. For example, God cannot make a square circle because it is a nothing. Likewise, he cannot create a man who does not have a rational soul. For being able to think and love are essential to the very idea of being a man.

"Almighty" is the same thing as "omnipotent", which means to have all power, and it is the English translation of the Latin word used in the Creed omnipotens. The omnipotence of God also presupposes his creative power. To create something means to produce it completely, without any preexisting material whatsoever. Whenever a man makes or "creates" something, he always has some material at hand to work with. One needs bricks, wood, nails, etc. in order to build a house. God's creative power is independent of all preexisting matter. He can produce things, as they say, "out of nothing"; "nothing" is not understood here as "something". When God makes something he produces its whole reality without the assistance of anyone or anything.

Thinking about the almighty power of God should lead us to thoughts of deep humility, especially when we consider how weak we are. All the hydrogen bombs in the world are as a spark when compared with God's power. And a certain ambiguity always seems to surround human power - it can be employed either to aid us or to destroy us. Such is not the case with the almighty power of God. Our God is a loving God who makes his sun shine on the just and the unjust. In the physical universe he uses his power for our benefit. But his power also extends to the realms of the spirit. Here we find the amazing world of the angels, the realities of heaven, hell and purgatory, and the life of divine grace that is poured out upon us through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the area of our own personal experience we have all come into contact with the power of God, whether it be a flaming sunset, a roaring ocean or the flutter of a yellow butterfly. But God's power is so vast that these are mere shadow reflections of the real thing. Since he loves us we glorify him and, with the psalmist, praise him for his almighty power.