About the Mysteries

The “mysteries” are those things that are usually found in orthodox teachings where what is contained in the scriptures does not make sense. The term is used frequently in the Catholic faith in relation to many of their ceremonies and the apparent contradictions contained in the Bible. Personally, I believe that the “mysteries” are there to encourage us to seek an answer to them. They should not be accepted as part of a proof of faith, nor should it be supposed that we are incapable of understanding them.

For better or worse, we have a tendency to want to believe that a religion must contain some mysterious aspect to it which more or less demonstrates that God knows more than we do. Or, that if there are not miracles or some other happenings that appear to be divinely inspired God is not involved. In fact the “truth” is a kind of scary proposition. And like the proverb about the “Truth” coming in a brightly colored robe, only to be met with sticks and stones, so it seems that it is much easier to live in delusion than in reality.

The usual answer to the unanswerable questions is that you must have “faith.” In other words, the things of God are beyond our understanding so we must just accept these quandaries as a fact of life. This however begs the question; if they were not meant to be understood why did those like Jesus even bother to try to present them to mankind? So, let’s explore some of the “mysteries” and see if we can find some answers that make sense.