God is the Creator, and we are the beloved work of God's hands. Catholics believe that God, our Creator, is not distant or uncaring - he is like a loving parent or friend who greatly desires to build a relationship with us. This relationship with God is the fundamental truth about who we, as humans are. The Bible tells us that after creating humanity, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Made "in God's image and likeness" (Genesis 1:27), we are called to grow more and more similar to the loving God who created us.
At times, men and women misuse the gift of free will. Through these choices, sin and evil have become part of our story. However, God's response is to continue to reach out to us to repair our relationship. Pope Benedict XVI taught that God's response is to remind us that we are "loved by God to the very dust, so loved by God that God pursues us to the uttermost toils of death."
Because God desires this relationship, he speaks to us through what is called "Divine Revelation". The Church teaches: "Through this revelation, the invisible God out of the abundance of His love speaks to men and women as friends" (Dei Verbum 2).
Divine Revelation consists of Sacred Scripture - the Bible - and Sacred Tradition - the guidance and way of life passed on in the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls these "two modes of transmission... with one common source (God)." Scripture and Tradition cannot exist independently: Scripture helps us ensure our Tradition remains rooted in God's word. Tradition helped to form Sacred Scripture and guides us in understanding and interpreting it.
Watch or listen to parish staff discuss God's revelation and Scripture here and their discussion about Sacred Tradition here.