Pastor's Corner
May 27, 2018
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
Matthew 28:19
The doctrine of the Trinity is the central mystery of the Catholic Christian faith. By mystery we mean a truth God has revealed to us that we cannot fully comprehend. It is the belief that God is one, a perfect unity, and, at the same time, expressed in three Persons. God the Father gives Himself completely to the Son in love. The Son receives the Father’s love and returns it completely, and this mutual gift of love isthe Holy Spirit. All three equally possess the fullness of the divine nature and so are equal, but their relationship to one another is different.
That God is one is revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah, speaking for God to his people who so often were tempted to call upon the false gods of their pagan neighbors says, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god" [Is. 44:6].
In the Christian Scriptures, the Gospel of John begins with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, who is both human and divine.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit is referred to frequently as divine (see Acts 5:3-4). Jesus himself promises us, “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever.”
One way we might think of the way God expresses Himself to us is to think us as God beyondus – the Father who creates us and is beyond our understanding. God the Son is God amongus – now particularly in the Eucharist. God is also withinus in the Spirit who helps us pray, who gives us spiritual gifts and guides us to the consolation of the Truth. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit! As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever – AMEN!