The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Venerable Bede was one of the most fervent worshippers of the Blessed Trinity. It has been related that he would repeat many times during the day: "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and that indeed these were his dying words. Through this devotion, not only was he given the grace to resist all the attacks upon his soul and eternal salvation, but he was given great insight into the mysteries of the Trinity and the Faith, and still he remained truly humble.

We too must profoundly venerate, adore, praise and glorify the Blessed Trinity. To do this well we must strive to know ever more perfectly what the Church teaches us on this point.

There are three Persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This plurality of Persons in God has been spoken of in the Old Testament. "Let us make man to our image and likeness" Gen. 1:26. "Behold, Adam is become as one of us" Gen. 3: 22 "The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Ps. 2:7. "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established: and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth." Ps. 32:6 According to the Fathers there is mention made here of the three divine Persons. By "the Lord" we understand God the Father, by "the Word" God the Son, and by "the Spirit of His mouth" God the Holy Ghost. From these and other passages it is clear that God in the Old Law gave intimations of three Persons in the Godhead.

Christ clearly revealed this also. He very often spoke of God His Father and of Himself the Son, who is one with the Father, and whom we should honor as we do the Father. And He likewise spoke of the Holy Ghost whom He would send. In today's Gospel He commands His Apostles to teach and to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. At His baptism we see the Son being baptized, hear the voice of the Father, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", and we behold the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove resting on Him. Matt. 3:16 St. Paul says: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all" II Cor. 13:13.

All three are truly God. The Father is God (this no one questions). The Son is God, as He testifies: "I and the Father are One" John10:30 And the Holy Ghost is truly God as St. Peter makes clear in his words to Ananias: "Why hath Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst lie to the Holy Ghost . . . Thou hast not lied to men, but to God." Acts 5:3,4

All three Persons are only one God. The unity of God is laid down in the Sacred Scriptures so distinctly that it seems useless to quote passages to prove it. Jesus Christ plainly declares in the gospel today that the three Persons in the Godhead are one God only. He does not say: Baptize "in the names", which would indicate more than one. But, He clearly says: Baptize "in the name" indicating only one. "There are three who give testimony in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one." I John 5:7.

The faith teaches us that the three Persons have only one nature and essence. There is one Godhead, therefore all three are only one God. Each is truly God because each has the divine nature, but they are not three Gods, but only one God, because together they have not three Godheads but only one. Nothing is left for us but humbly to believe this mystery, and we can do this so much the easier, the more our faith is grounded on the infallible word of God.

These three differ from each other in their Persons but not in their essence. The Person of the Father is not that of the Son, and not that of the Holy Ghost. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are not merely three different names or ways of manifestation of the one Godhead, but three Persons really distinct from one another. The Father is of Himself, not made, not created, not begotten; The Son is of the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten; and the Holy Ghost is of the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

The Father is spoken of as the creator: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" Gen. 3:13. God the Son: "Christ hath redeemed us" Gal. 3: 13. God the Holy Ghost: "You are sanctified in the Spirit of our God" I Cor. 6:11. These works are attributed to each Person because they correspond to the peculiarity of each Person, but they all work together and are one in creating, redeeming, and sanctifying.

May this brief instruction on the Trinity be a spark to increase our knowledge and love of the Blessed Trinity, and in so doing increase our Faith, Hope and Charity.

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