12 Things to Know and Share About the Holy Trinity

Francesco Cairo (1607-1665), “The Holy Trinity”

12 Things to Know and Share About the Holy Trinity

The Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian Faith. Here are 12 things to know and share...

Jimmy Akin

The Church teaches that the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian Faith.
But how much do you know about this mystery?
What is its history?
What does it mean?
And how can it be proved?
Here are 12 things to know and share . . .

1. Where does the word “Trinity” come from?

It comes from the Latin word trinitas, which means “three” or “triad.” The Greek equivalent is triados.

2. When was it first used?

The first surviving use of the term (there may have been earlier uses that are now lost)  was around A.D. 170 by Theophilus of Antioch, who wrote:

In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity [Τριάδος], of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man [To Autolycus 2:15].

3. What is the Trinity?

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way:

The Church expresses her trinitarian faith by professing a belief in the oneness of God in whom there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The three divine Persons are only one God because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature.

They are really distinct from each other by reason of the relations which place them in correspondence to each other.

The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son [CCC 48].

4. Is the Trinity the central mystery of the Christian Faith?

Yes. The Compendium explains:

The central mystery of Christian faith and life is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [CCCC 44].

5. When did the Church infallibly define the Trinity?

The dogma of the Trinity was defined in two stages, at the First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) and the First Council of Constantinope (A.D. 381).
First Nicaea defined the divinity of the Son and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Son.
This council was called to deal with the heresy known as Arianism, which claimed that the Son was a supernatural being but not God.
First Constantinople defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit and wrote the part of the Creed that deals with the Spirit.
This council dealt with a heresy known as Macedonianism (because its advocates were from Macedonia) which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This heresy was also called Pneumatomachianism (from a Greek phrase meaning "fighting the Spirit").

6. How can the Trinity be proved?

The Trinity can only be proved through the divine revelation that Jesus brought us. It cannot be proved by natural reason or from the Old Testament alone. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

God has left some traces of his trinitarian being in creation and in the Old Testament but his inmost being as the Holy Trinity is a mystery which is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the Incarnation of the Son of God and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it is the source of all the other mysteries [CCC 45].

Although the vocabulary used to express the doctrine of the Trinity took time to develop, we can demonstrate the different aspects of the doctrine from Scripture.

7. How can we show from Scripture that there is only one God?

The fact that there is only one God was already made clear in the Old Testament. For example, the book of Isaiah proclaims:

“You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He.  Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me [Isaiah 43:10].

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" [Isaiah 44:6].

8. How can we show that the Father is God? 

The Father is proclaimed as God numerous times in the New Testament. For example, St. Paul declares:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort [2 Corinthians 1:3].

There is  . . . one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all [Ephesians 4:4-6].

9. How can we show that the Son is God?

This is proclaimed in a variety of places in the New Testament, including at the beginning of the Gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father [Jn. 1:1, 14].

And later:

Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.”

 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” [Jn. 20:27-28].

10. How can we show that the Holy Spirit is God?

In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a divine Person who speaks and who can be lied to:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” [Acts 13:2].

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? . . . You have not lied to men but to God” [Acts 5:3-4].

11. How can we show that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct Persons?

The distinction of the persons can be shown, for example, in the fact that Jesus speaks to his Father. This would make no sense if they were one and the same person.

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will" [Matthew 11:25-26].

The fact that Jesus is not the same Person as the Holy Spirit is revealed when Jesus--who has been functioning as the Counselor (Greek, Parakletos) of the disciples--says he will pray to the Father and the Father will given then "another Counselor," who is the Holy Spirit. This shows the distinction of all three Persons: Jesus who prays; the Father who sends; and the Spirit who comes:

And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you [John 14:16-17].

12. How can we show that the Son is generated by the Father and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son?

The fact that the Son is generated by the Father is indicated by the names of these Persons. Sons are generated by fathers. The Second Person of the Trinity would not be a Son if he were not generated by the First Person as his Father.
The fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son is reflected in another statement of Jesus:

But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me [John 15:26].

This depicts the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son ("whom I shall send"). Here the outward operations of the Persons of the Trinity reflect their mutual relations with each other. It may also be said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.

Please STOP Leaving Mass Early Right After Communion!

Please STOP Leaving Mass Early Right After Communion!

by Brantly Millegan

You’ve almost certainly seen it. It’s a problem at virtually all Catholic parishes I’ve been to: some Catholics will attend Mass, receive communion… and then immediately leave Mass before it’s finished.

Please stop doing this!

The Mass is the “source and summit of the Christian life.” (CCC 1324) It is the re-presentation of the one holy sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ.The Eucharist is Jesus Christ himself, really, truly, and substantially present. Mass is the most important thing we do every week!

Especially relevant, the Mass is one thing. It is one big long prayer. Yes, there are parts, but they all go together, and “going to Mass” means going to all of it. We’re not called to simply “get communion” and leave. Thanking Jesus after receiving communion, the final prayers, and the dismissal are all essential parts of Mass!

“But what if I have a really good reason to leave early?” Of course, if you have a good reason you’re leaving early, you can leave early. Maybe an emergency just came up.

But that’s not why the vast majority of Catholics who leave Mass early are doing it. They are leaving early because it’s become their habit. They get the Eucharist, they think they’re done, and they can beat the traffic if they leave early. They’ve never been corrected or told otherwise… so why would they stop?

We need to stop tolerating this kind of spiritual mediocrity. Mass is important, and if you want to be Catholic the Church requires us to attend Mass every Sunday (or Saturday evening) and Holy Day of Obligation. This means, barring a really good reason, being there on time and staying until the very end. If you aren’t willing to do this, then you simply aren’t a practicing Catholic (in which case, repent!).

“But I was taught that we only have to be there from the Gospel reading through communion (or some other similar rule)?” Canonist Ed Peters has a great explanation on this very topic. He basically says that all such rules are local customs or rules of thumb, but aren’t in canon law. In reality, we’re obligated to attend Mass, which means all of Mass, unless we have a good reason otherwise.

The bottom line is this: when we go to Mass, that means staying until the very end. If you’ve been in the habit of leaving early, let’s intentionally stop that and stay for the whole thing. Because God is worth it!

Nearer my God to thee...Very. Creative video

Mother's side... Father's side... Video

Gethsemane ...video

Angelic Intercession is Totally Biblical

Angelic Intercession is Totally Biblical

It is a manifest fact, thoroughly established in the Bible, that angels can be prayed to and answer prayers

Dave Armstrong

Many non-Catholic Christians believe that we can pray to no one but God, and ask no one to fulfill an intercessory prayer request but God. But what does the Bible teach?

In the Old Testament, Lot makes such a request of two angels, who were sent by God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:13):

Genesis 19:20 (RSV) “Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there . . . and my life will be saved!”

One of them grants his “prayer” (19:21): “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.” Someone might say, “but the angel wasn't in heaven.” Location makes no difference: the angel still fulfilled an intercessory request.

Angels can talk to us from heaven. For example:

Genesis 21:17-18 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. [18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation.”

And we know that angels pray to God for us:

Zechariah 1:12-13 Then the angel of the LORD said, `O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?' [13] And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.

Revelation 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; [4] and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.

When Jacob wrestled with the angel (Gen 32:24-29), he asked him to bless him (32:26), and the angel did so (32:29). Moreover, when Jacob (Israel) blessed his sons Joseph and Manasseh, he not only asked God to bless them, but also an angel (“the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads”: Gen 48:16).

One common response to arguments like this is to note that the “angel of the Lord” is actually God Himself, or Jesus in a pre-incarnate manifestation or “theophany”: as suggested by many passages (Gen 22:10-18; 31:11-13; Ex 3:2-6, 14-16 [Moses and the burning bush]; 13:21 cf. 14:19; Jud 2:1; 6:12-14; Josh 5:14-15; Zech 12:8; Acts 8:26, 29). This is a quite respectable harmonization of the scriptural data: held by many Eastern Church fathers.

Yet in other passages this angel is distinguishedfrom God. (Zech 1:12-13 above, and the following:

2 Samuel 24:16 And when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented of the evil, and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Arau'nah the Jeb'usite. 

This ambiguity (seeming equation with God in many places, and distinction from Him in others) is explained by St. Augustine, as cited in the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Angels”:

St. Augustine (Sermo vii, de Scripturis, P.G. V) when treating of the burning bush (Exodus 3) . . . points out: “Elsewhere in the Bible when a prophet speaks it is yet said to be the Lord who speaks, not of course because the prophet is the Lord but because the Lord is in the prophet; and so in the same way when the Lord condescends to speak through the mouth of a prophet or an angel, it is the same as when he speaks by a prophet or apostle, and the angel is correctly termed an angel if we consider him himself, but equally correctly is he termed 'the Lord' because God dwells in him. . . . It is the name of the indweller, not of the temple. . . .” 

Scripture also clarifies how the angel of the Lord is a unique representative of God:

Exodus 23:20-22 “Behold,I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. [21] Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him. [22] But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. [23] When my angelgoes before you, . . .” (cf. 33:14)

Angels delegated to pardon transgressions is an interesting precursor or forerunner of priestly absolution and “binding and loosing.”

Therefore, given the above Scripture and analysis we may also, I submit, plausibly interpret the “angel of the Lord” as a created angel who nevertheless profoundly “carries” God's name and presence. Such intermediaries between men and God should not surprise us since even the Law was mediated to men by angels:

Acts 7:53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.

Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary.

Hebrews 2:2 For if the message declared by angels was valid. . . 

Angels even help distribute His grace:

Revelation 1:4 . . . Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne....

Thus, it is a manifest fact, thoroughly established in the Bible, that angels can be prayed to and answer prayers, as a mediatorial angelic function.

10 Ways to Prepare Well for Christmas

10 Ways to Prepare Well for Christmas

How to ready one’s heart to welcome the Christ Child.

by Joseph Pronechen

“Advent is a time of waiting, conversion and of hope,” the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments reminds us.

Furthermore, popular piety “can contribute effectively to the conservation of many of the values of Advent, which are not infrequently threatened by the commercialization of Christmas and consumer superficiality.”

To counteract the commercialism, the Catholic Register offers 10 ways to prepare for Christmas.

Cultivate silence and reflection. “Given the busyness of the season and the many demands placed upon us to distract us to the real purpose — that we’re about to prepare for the Lord’s second coming and to welcome grace into our hearts to commemorate his coming to us in Bethlehem — we need to carve out time to be silent and reflect,” said Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut. It’s necessary “to save ourselves from busyness. Consciously set some time aside simply to rest in the Lord’s presence in prayer and to reflect.”

Return to reconciliation. “Make a good confession during the month of December,” recommended Father Gerald Murray, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Manhattan and a frequent guest on EWTN. “Bring the children.”

Read Scripture. Bishop Caggiano said he finds it “spiritually rewarding” in Advent when “setting aside time to read the prophets of the Old Testament like Isaiah and Micah, to meditate on them as the forbears, the harbingers of the Good News that would be realized in Christ.”

Rethink gifts. When selecting presents, Lisa Hendey, an author and founder of CatholicMom.com, said, “Our gifts at Christmastime traditionally reflect those gifts given to the Christ Child by the Magi. In presenting tokens of love to our family and friends, we recall not only our affection for them, but also the ‘Reason for the Season.’

To prepare for a peaceful, joy-filled Christmas, members of the Hendey family “thoughtfully select gifts which will not only bless our loved ones, but will bless those in need around the world,” she explained. “This sometimes means making donations to charitable organizations in the name of our loved ones or purchasing fair-trade gifts, or, more often, gifting an experience to be shared together, or a service or even the gift of time spent with a loved one — creating a special memory together.”

“Identify a charity that helps mothers and children and give them a Christmas gift,” suggested Father Murray. “In our parish, we help Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. They have a foundation in America” (BirthplaceofHope.org).

He pointed out other possibilities, too, such as aiding local crisis-pregnancy centers. “They are always in need of help for mothers and their babies.” Another option is to “find an overseas orphanage run by the Catholic Church in places like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Peru.”

He also said that, in his previous parish, “we collected toys for a halfway house for prisoners in the Bronx. These toys were for gifts for the families of the prisoners, and we got together with their families on Christmas.”

Hendey added, “Less time spent shopping means more time to savor all of the wonders of the Advent season and helps to prepare our hearts to remember the birth of our Savior.”

Light a Mary candle. Often forgotten is the custom of a “Mary candle.” Our Lady teaches us to patiently prepare for the birth of Jesus like she did. As Pope Francis said in his Dec. 8, 2013, homily, “Mary sustains our journey toward Christmas, for she teaches us how to live this Advent season in expectation of the Lord.”

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a good day to place a white candle decorated with a “mantle” of white silk or cloth tied with a blue ribbon before a statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, explains Helen McLoughlin in Family Advent Customs.

“It serves as an eloquent reminder of Mary’s eager expectation of the ‘Light of the World’ and helps members of the family keep their own light of grace burning brightly as the best preparation for his coming.”

Around the candle, the family can pray the Magnificat and sing Marian hymns.

Create a family shrine. In The Year of the Lord in the Christian Home, Jesuit Father Francis Weiser recommends creating a family shrine that can serve as a focal point for preparing for Christmas and be “an appropriate symbol to all members that their lives belong to God; that religion and prayer are not merely a Sunday affair (and) that the Christian home is a holy place.”

The shrine can have an Advent wreath or statue or pictures connected with Christmas. Father Weiser suggests an Advent Crib, but without the Infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Shepherds tending sheep can be a little distance from the crib in the stable with the empty manger.

“It is amazing how well children will enter into the spirit and true understanding of such a visual representation of Advent,” the priest explains. “It teaches them to look forward to the arrival of the Savior, to prepare their hearts, and prayerfully to desire his great feast day. Now these thoughts are exactly what the Church expresses in her Advent liturgy.”

Be kind for Christ. McLoughlin recommends, at the beginning of Advent, each child in the family receive an empty manger. At day’s end, each gets a straw for every kind deed they performed in honor of Infant Jesus. They place the straw in their mangers daily to make sure that when the Infant Jesus arrives, he has a soft bed made of their gifts of virtue and devotion.

Explains McLoughlin, “It is amazing how much love a child can put into Advent when he or she is preparing for his Redeemer’s coming in grace.”

Pick up the phone. “Make a Christmas resolution to give a call to relatives you don’t see because they live far away,” said Father Murray. “‘I was thinking of you at Christmas and wondering how you’re doing?’ shows you don’t forget about them.”

Invite someone to Mass. As Christmas Eve and Day approaches, Hendey recommends inviting someone to “the birthday party.”

“We endeavor to plan the rest of our holiday events around Christmas Mass,” she said. “We find this a wonderful time to invite friends, more distant family and others who have been away from the Church for any reason or who may never have experienced Mass to join us for this special time of prayer.

“It offers us the chance to share with them the beautiful reason for our hope: our faith in Jesus Christ.”

Gather around the table. “I’m a big believer in the power of the table,” said Bishop Caggiano. “I think the season of Advent and Christmas is the ideal time to make a conscious decision to spend it with family and friends, to spend it around the table. Take the time to share a meal, a luncheon, a cup of coffee. Enjoy each other’s company and be grateful for the ones you love and spend time with them around the table. It’s a beautiful way to celebrate Advent and Christmas.”