Tenets of the Faith: The Trinity

Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Matt. 28:18-20 

This is perhaps the the clearest expression in the New Testament of Trinitarian belief. Yet, before this doctrine could be fully developed, heresy arose.

How can we truly worship the “One true God” if we don’t know who “He” is?

The God of the Bible is a Trinity, as defined by the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.(Anno Domini – Latin for The Year Of Our Lord).

“The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life,” CCC 261. The “mystery” of God is not a puzzle to be solved, as in a detective novel. It is a truth to be reverenced for He is beyond all human comprehension. The doctrine of the Trinity includes three truths of faith:

1. The Trinity is One. Not three gods but One God. A unity of Persons in One Divine nature.
2. The Divine Persons are distinct from one another. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three appearances of modes of God, but three identifiable Persons, each fully God, yet distinct from the others.
3. The Divine Persons are in relation to each other. Their distinction is understood only in reference to the others. The Father cannot be the Father without the Son, nor can the Son be the Son without the Father. The Holy Spirit is related to the Father and the Son who both send Him forth.

All three Persons work together in the works of Creation, Redemption and Sanctification.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened (for him), and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove (and) coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matt. 3:13-17 

St. Augustine in his Sermon II [LII. BEN] concerning the Trinity, says this in these excerpts from paragraphs one and two;

“For we behold and see as it were in a Divine spectacle exhibited to us. The notice of our God in Trinity, conveyed to us at the river Jordan… when He was baptized then, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in the form of a Dove: and then a voice from on High followed, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Here then we have the Trinity in a certain sort distinguished. The Father in the Voice,- the Son in the Man,- the Holy Spirit in the Dove. It was only needful just to mention this, for most obvious is it to see. For the notice of the Trinity is here conveyed to us plainly and without leaving room for doubt or hesitation.”

“But one may say to me, “Show the Trinity to be inseparable rather. Remember that thou who art speaking art a Catholic, and to Catholics art thou speaking.” For thus doth our faith teach, that is, the true, the right, Catholic faith, gathered not by the opinion of private judgement, but by the witness of the scriptures, not subject to the fluctuations of heretical rashness, but grounded on Apostolic truth: this we know, this we believe. This though we see it not with our eyes, nor as yet with the heart, so long as we are being purified by faith, yet by this faith we most rightly and most strenuously maintain- that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are a trinity inseparable; One God, not Three Gods. But yet so One God, as that the Son is not the Father, and the Father is not the Son, and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. This ineffable Divinity, abiding ever in itself, making all thins new, creating, creating anew, sending, recalling, judging, delivering, this Trinity, I say, we know to be at once ineffable and inseparable.”

So as we see through Sacred Scripture, the teaching of St. Augustine and the Catechism of the Catholic Church the proclamation of the truth of the doctrine of the Trinity. Defined by the Church as doctrine, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit,  in A.D. 325 it still stands true today.

Glory to God who has given His Church His authority to teach the faith!

                                         Act of Faith  

O my God, I firmly believe that You are one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that Your Divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe that these and all truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen.

Thanks to “a Catholic”….

In the post I submitted, Jesus appoints a Pope Part II, I didn’t reference Isaiah 22:20-24 as a key text to understanding this teaching on the papacy. And as suggested by my good friend a Catholic, I share this link from Catholic Apologetics Network.

Since the Catholic Church is the fulfilment of Judaism, I truly should have referenced this passage. The two shall forever be linked and I apologize for leaving the previous post incomplete.

This article does a wonderful job presenting this teaching, so I wanted to share it with you.

Also, check out the new blog by our friend, a Catholic! Let us praise and thank God, for those who are willing to teach truth!

Jesus Hears His Mother

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever He tells you.”   John 2:1-5  

In this final installment of Mary as our Mother, I wanted to look at her interaction with her Son, Jesus.

First we notice, Mary is told of, or at least sees a need. She takes that need to Jesus, and He meets that need. This is the prime example that we, as Catholics, use to teach Mary’s intersession for us. Of course there is the Old testament example as well.

Without getting “to” historical, here’s  a brief history of what is known as “the Queen Mother”.

In the ancient near East, most nations were monarchies ruled by a king; most of these cultures practiced polygamy, so a king may have had several wives. Problems arose from this like, who should be honored as queen, and whose son should recieve the right succession to the throne? So in most of these cultures, these two birds were killed by one stone. The woman ordinarily honored as queen was not the kings wife, but the kings mother!

Israel begged Samuel to give them a king “that we may be like all the nations” (I Sam. 8:19-20). God grants their request, making Israel’s monarchy a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of God.

We see the Queen Mother from David’s first successor Solomon, and his mother Bathsheba through the fall of Jerusalem to the Babyloian empire with King Jehoiachin and his mother Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8-15, Jer.13:18).

Read the story in I Kings 2:12-22, of Solomon and Bathsheba. This example is how we understand the mystery of the miracle at Cana. Mary approaches Jesus her son to intercede for the people-like Bathsheba intercedes for Adonijah to Solomon-Mary brings Jesus the need and tells the servers,”Do whatever He tells you.” She looks for obedience to Him, not herself. Jesus speaks to His mother as her superior, yet deferring to her request.

I hope this has helped in your understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history. If I’ve missed anything, let me know and I’ll do my best to find it! It’s very helpful to know that we are not alone in this world. It is also very helpful to know that on the other side, in heaven, there is a “cloud of witnesses” praying for us and cheering us on to victory, to finish the race. Our spiritual Queen Mother Mary, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and Christ Jesus Himself. Waiting to say to us, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”

The Magnificat: Mary Praises God

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For He has look upon His handmaids lowliness; behold, from now on will all generations call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear Him. He has shown might with His arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry He has filled with good things; the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped Israel His servant, remembering His mercy, according to His promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Mary remained with her [Elizabeth] about three months and then returned to her home.   Luke 1:46-56 

I include Mary’s song here for a simple reason. For us to see her humility. She knew exactly who she was before God. She magnifies (proclaims) the Lord’s greatness, rejoicing in God as her Savior. How He’s done great things for her. His mercy, His might, dispersing the arrogant. Throwing down rulers, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry and sending the rich away empty. And lastly; remembering His promises.

She does say something interesting toward the beginning though; behold, from now on will all generations call me blessed.

When and why did we stop honoring this part of scripture? Isn’t this the infallible, inerrant Word of God? Yet we treat (at least I used to) this part, like it doesn’t exist.

The Jews referred to Abraham as their father and Jesus didn’t say, “You can’t say that, you can’t honor Abraham in that way, that’s idolatry!” What He actually said was, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham.” (John 8:39)

If we are God’s children, shouldn’t we be doing God’s work? Doing the work of Jesus? How many times have I copped out on that by saying, “Well, I ain’t Jesus.” Because we know that even though Jesus was man, He was God,too. But Mary, she was all human, and submitted perfectly to the will of God, from the beginning.

Go to Jesus in prayer and ask Him yourself how to honor His mother, our mother. That’s what I did.