Elizabeth,

It's wonderful that God is leading you into the fullness of the Christian faith found only in the Catholic Church. Now to your question.

The word Elohim is actually a plural noun with what would normally be a female, not male, ending.
Nevertheless, that is simply a quirk of ancient Hebrew.

The word for Lord in the Old Testament is actually Yahweh, which means:

I am That Am or I Am Because I Am

The word can't be pinned down in English, but it implies self-existent and self-sustaining as well as:

• the principal cause and reason, and
• the end.

It is the covenant word for God. However, since reverent Jews dared not take the Lord's name in vain, they never dared speak it, hence, they used the word Adonai or even HaShem, which means, The Name.

The New Testament was written in Greek, although some of the Gospels might have been originally written in Hebrew, but those texts did not survive. The Greek word for Lord is Kurios, in the nominative case. This is a male noun.

In the Godhead, God transcends gender. Indeed, the Old Testament texts ascribe both maternal and paternal qualities to God but there is more to it. The late John Paul II put it this way.

God in His inner most being is Family; the relationship between the Father who eternally begets the Son in the love of the Holy Spirit. Christian marriage is a covenant because it is intended to mirror the relationship of the Trinity.

Jesus Christ, through the Incarnation, revealed God, not just to be Father, rather to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, of course, is a mystery which rational thinking Westerners, like us, don't particularly like to deal with. Nevertheless, it is a revealed mystery which we accept. There is one God: Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4), yet there are three distinct persons who are consubstantial, meaning of one substance.

I hope this Helps,

John DiMascio

Dear friend,

Thanks for your question, it is a good one.

There is much to this, but I will condense my answer as best as possible. Hopefully you will find an answer to your specific question through some foundational principles. Let me give you a theological concept that may help: transcendence.

In many religions, God is viewed as part of the cosmos: a consciousness or energy therein.
In these systems, which are called pantheistic, God is not distinct from the created universe.

Since the duality of masculine and feminine principles are already recognized in creation
(e.g., man, woman, earth, sky), therefore, God is ascribed the same duality. This is especially prevalent amongst the eastern philosophies and religions.

In the Hebrew religion, however, God is viewed as distinct from creation and transcendent of it. While He permeates all of creation, it cannot be identified with Him. I know I'm using masculine language. This is a critical distinction in religious understanding. Because God transcends nature, He is in relationship to nature, as one who imbues, or impregnates it with life, that He alone possesses and can generate. Of course, these are very graphic physical symbols to describe a cosmic reality.

Therefore, God takes on a masculine principle by impregnating nature from without, and likewise, nature takes on a feminine character by opening herself to the fertility of God. While we do recognize that God, indeed, nurtures us, (which we identify with a feminine character, hence the often maternal language to describe God's caring attributes), still His ontological relationship to us remains essentially transcendent, or masculine in its symbology.

So, while the Jews may have used feminine analogies to talk about God's maternal qualities and even pseudo-feminine titles, they did not make the leap to characterizing God as feminine in the ontological, pantheistic, or Eastern sense.

Finally, this masculine designation (Father) was expressed and utilized by Jesus, who is the architect and founder of our faith. The language of the New Testament affirms the Bridegroom and Bride character of both God and his people who are being prepared for a wedding feast with their Creator. We, the men and women of our kind, are the feminine principle in this cosmic duality, not God. He is transcendent, and therefore recognized as Father, the principle symbol that reifies our understanding of his nature and our relationship.

Accordingly, there is no better human person that typifies our feminine nature that Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her Yes to God is the ultimate symbol of our collective openness to God's grace and fecundity to bring us new life. Thus, we are called to imitate her as the most profound representative of our kind.

Since these principles permeate Jewish and Catholic thought, you will find, (in the Scriptures that are not adapted to gender neutering), a rich poetic play in the Psalms between the masculine and feminine terms to identify God and his people.  Catholic theologians identifying the Church and the soul as She.

I know this may seem to be painfully cerebral, but there is much more that is very rich. I believe there is a book by Peter Kreeft, as well as Alice Von Hilderbrand on this subject. The titles elude me.

Many years ago I attended a conference dedicated to this subject and found a wealth of good insights. Keep digging and you will find a real treasure of wisdom from both your Jewish roots and the Christian tradition.

Peace,

Bob Kirby