I shouldn’t try to explain in ten minutes the greatest mystery that is present to us in our religious tradition. Ever since the Holy One revealed Himself to us as somehow three while being one, those who hate the Church have ridiculed our embrace of this mystery of the Trinity. Of old, great masters of theology such as S. Hilary of Poitiers, S. Augustine of Hippo and S. Thomas Aquinas have written long essays on the nature of God, but I’m going to mention instead a basic description of the Trinity which I have copied at the bottom of this post, and bring up some of the points it makes. I refer to what we call the Athanasian Creed, which most Catholics have now forgotten, but those of us who may have an Anglican or similar protestant tradition may remember. It is also called the Quicumque, which is its first word in the Latin. ‘Quicumque’ means whosoever, and the author of this creed declares that whosoever professes this ancient statement of belief may alone be saved. The summary is this: that the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are individual Persons, not in anyway mixed with each other, one in Their divine and eternal Essence, uncreated and beyond understanding, even on the part of the angels who live in Their presence. One God, one almighty God. But there is the Father, the Son Who is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. Only one Father, only one Son, only one Holy Spirit, each of them coequal in dignity to the other two.
The Athanasian Creed then continues in the manner of the other creeds we use regularly in describing the entry into time and history of the second Person of the Trinity as a human being, our eternal High-priest and LJC. So, we have a picture of the Ancient of Days, one in three and three in one, and we may look through our readings this weekend. In our first reading, from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses declares before the Israelites the astonishing fact that the Creator of all things has made Himself known personally to this assembled people, and adopted them as His own.
“‘Search the history of the days that went before thee, far back as the time when God made man on the earth, wide as earth’s end from earth’s end; is there any other record of such happenings? That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the heart of the flames, as thou didst, and live to tell of it? That God should intervene, and single out for Himself one nation above all the rest; that He should try men’s hearts with portent and with marvel, fight against them with constraining force, with open display of His strength, with plagues terrible to see? All this the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, and your own eyes have witnessed it; proof to you that this Lord is God, that no other can compare with Him.'”
Book of Deuteronomy, 4: 32-35
In fact, God had chosen for Himself that mixture of tribes and extracted it from the clutches of the Egyptians and so of the world, and contrived to marry Himself to this people in some extraordinary way. On the condition of their observing the commandments of God, they would belong to Him as no other people, and He would belong to them. And that election and marriage is the subject of our psalm response at Mass this weekend: happy the people God has chosen as His own. How much does God love that people? That question takes us to the second half of the Athanasian Creed. He loved them so much that He became one of them, He became a Jew, and obeying all the commandments that He Himself had given to them, He established His holy Church from them, and made it the principle of salvation, by which He would draw into His embrace all the tribes of the earth. The gospel reading tells us how that is accomplished: through baptism in the names of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and through instruction about God and about the commandments He had given first through Moses and then through Christ.
“Jesus came near and spoke to them; ‘All authority in heaven and on earth,’ He said, ‘has been given to Me; you, therefore, must go out, making disciples of all nations, and baptising them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all the commandments which I have given you. And behold I am with you all through the days that are coming, until the consummation of the world.'”
Gospel of S. Matthew, 28: 18-20
So, then, are we to observe these commandments by means of our own strength and determination? Perhaps, we could try to do that, but the rebellion in our hearts will always present obstacles. We feel this every time we are faced with temptations to say and do things we know can harm ourselves and other people somehow. And so, Christ promised us and delivered to us the gift of the Holy Spirit, as given in our second reading today. In the heart of the sinner (that is, you and me) the Holy Spirit of God cries Abba. Father, He calls from within us, hallowed be Your Name, may You be forever blessed, Your Will accomplished, give us the sustenance we need and forgive us our sins, for You are ours, and we are Yours, now and forever.
“Those who follow the leading of God’s Spirit are all God’s sons; the Spirit you have now received is not, as of old, a spirit of slavery, to govern you by fear; it is the Spirit of adoption, which makes us cry out, Abba, Father.”
Letter of S. Paul to the Romans, 8: 14-15
Athanasian Creed
Whosoever will be saved,
before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith;
which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled,
without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the catholic faith is this:
That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father,
another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
is all one,
the glory equal,
the majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
The Father incomprehensible,
the Son incomprehensible,
and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.
As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible,
but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity
to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;
So are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say,
There are three Gods or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son;
neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers;
one Son, not three Sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity none is afore or after another;
none is greater or less than another.
But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
So that in all things, as aforesaid,
the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation
that he also believe rightly
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the right faith is that we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds;
and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
Perfect God and perfect man,
of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead,
and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
Who, although He is God and man,
yet He is not two, but one Christ.
One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh,
but by taking of that manhood into God.
One altogether, not by confusion of substance,
but by unity of person.
For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man,
so God and man is one Christ;
Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell,
rose again the third day from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
and shall give account of their own works.
And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting
and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
This is the Catholic faith,
which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.
[text source]
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 