June 5 Mon
Seven essential points on the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. While preserving the mystery, in some way, these points help us to appreciate the gift.
1. With our human reason alone we can grasp only some attributes of God. For example, we can know with certainty that God exists, and what are his fundamental traits.
2. To grasp the other supernatural attributes of God, we need Him, and He has revealed himself to us.
3. There is only one God. Scripture is clear in this teaching, and in that Jesus Christ is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God.
4. Erroneous attempts to explain the mystery have drifted to two extremes.
The first is to speak of the Son and the Holy Spirit simply as 'other manifestations' of the one God, in the manner of a person who changes his dress according to circumstances. The second error is to present the Son and the Holy Spirit as lesser ones, subordinated to the Father, as his 'creatures'.
5. Fundamental concepts. First, nature, substance and essence. In God there is only one essence and one substance; there is one answer to the question, “What is He?” The answer is “He is God.”
6. Second, the concept of 'person' and the 'relations' between the Divine Persons. There are three distinct Persons in God, who answer the question “Who are you?”. The three answers are, “I am The Father,” “the Son,” “the Holy Spirit.”
7. There is no perfect similarity between the being of God and that of any creature. A certain parallel can be established when we think with St. Augustine that the three principal powers of the soul have some resemblance with the Divine Persons.
"Our memory recognizes the power of God the Father; our intelligence seeks to rest in the wisdom of God the Son, and our will tends to love and be loved as is possible only in Love by essence, which is the Holy Spirit".
Consider the Past. Strengthen your Faith: The Blessed Trinity chose to reveal his mystery to us.
Present. Live with charity: The Bl. Trinity lives inside us.
Future. Rejoice in Hope: The Trinity is the foundation of our hope, of returning to our Father, accompanied by the Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.