Week 5: Passages 232- 289

This week’s assignment: passages 232-289, or days 29-35 on the CHN guide.

This week’s readings may have been too much for the mommy brain. Particularly the first section on the Trinity, already a difficult to impossible concept to grasp, which is not made any simpler by the Catechism authors insistence on using words like “consubstantial”, “hypostasis”, and “spiration”. My brain is accustomed to working below a third grade level, most of my daily conversations revolve around beanie babies, whether I prefer ponies or tigers, and who can sit where in the car.
I had to read sections 238-263 over and over, and afterwards I was left with the following impression of the mystery of the blessed Trinity.

This…

…makes about as much sense to me as this…
…or this, how many legs does that elephant have?
My brain hurts.

But despite my hazy understanding of the subject matter I will still attempt to summarize and discuss it. Hey, I’ve never let a little thing like a complete lack of comprehension stand in my way before!

Part One, Section Two, Chapter One, Article 1
Paragraph 2. The Father
I. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity, as we profess in baptism.

“The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the
means by which the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reveals himself
to men ‘and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin’”.
(CCC 234)

In this paragraph (Paragraph 2. The Father) we will learn (I.) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II.) How the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith regarding this mystery, and (III.) how through the divine missions of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity God fulfils his plan of loving goodness.
The Church Fathers give us two terms:
· Theology- the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity
· Economy – all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life
These two aspects work together, God’s works tell us about who he is and the mystery of his inmost being sheds light on his works, just as knowing the reason for a person’s actions reveals more about his actions.
The Trinity is “a mystery of faith in the strict sense” (CCC 237) and can never be known unless God reveals it.

II. The Revelation of God as Trinity
We call God, Father. The language tells us two things about God: he is the first origin of the world and everything in it, and he cares for us with the paternal love of a father. The image of motherhood can also be used to describe God’s tenderness and loving care.

“The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are
the first representatives of God for man.” (CCC 239)

We as parents are given a great responsibility, to represent God to our children!
The Catechism goes on to remind us that of course human parents are not perfect, and that God transcends the difference between the sexes. No one is father as God is Father.
Besides his role as Creator, God is eternally Father in another way: in relation to his Son.
The Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that the Father and the Son are only one God.
And then we get the Holy Spirit! Before his Passover Jesus announced the sending of a Paraclete (advocate), the Holy Spirit, thus revealing a third divine person.
The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit revealed by his mission in time, the Spirit is sent to the Church both by the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is of one substance and equal to the Father and the Son. The Latin tradition of the Creed states that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son”, not just the Father. The Father is the origin of the whole divinity, but since the Father has given his Son everything except being Father, the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son.

III. The Holy Trinity in the Teaching of the Faith
The revealed truth of the Holy Trinity was at the root of the Church’s faith from the beginning. During the first centuries the Church clarified the Trinitarian Faith, through the first Church Councils. In order to make the dogma of the Trinity more clear, the Church developed some new terminology to aid us in understanding this “ineffable mystery.” (CCC 251)
· Substance- designates the divine being in its unity
· Person or hypostasis – designates the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the distinctions among them
· Relation – designates that their distinction lies in their relationship to each other

The dogma of the Holy Trinity

• The Trinity is One


• The divine persons are really distinct from one another


• The divine persons are relative to one another
  

The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. However, each person accomplishes this work through his unique properties. Hence the work is both common and personal.

“The whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons,
without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so
through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because
the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.” (CCC 259)

And the goal of this divine economy is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish
myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.
May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging
God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul
peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest.
May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely
vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative
action.” (CCC 260)

Paragraph 3. The Almighty
Of all the attributes of God, only his omnipotence is mentioned in the Creed. This means it is important for us! God’s power is universal, loving and mysterious. God can do all things, in the Scriptures he is called “Mighty One of Jacob”, “LORD of hosts”, the “strong and mighty” one (CCC 269). He is master of the universe and Lord of history. But God is also a Father Almighty, so his power is used to display his mercy, he adopts us as his own children.
Faith in God the Almighty can be put to the test by all the evil and suffering in the world. But the most mysterious way that God reveals his almighty power is through the suffering, death, and Resurrection of his Son.

“Christ crucified is thus ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men.’”(CCC 272)

“Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God’s almighty power. This
faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw itself to Christ’s power.
The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that
‘nothing will be impossible with God,’ and was able to magnify the Lord: ‘For he
who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.’” (CCC 273)

Paragraph 4. The Creator
Creation is the foundation of “all God’s saving plans” (CCC 280). Thus catechesis on creation is of major importance. It is the Christian response to the basic human questions: “Where do we come from?”, “Where are we going?”, “What is our origin?”, “What is our end?”, and “Where does everything that exists come from and where is it going?”
The Christian faith has always been challenged with different responses to the question of the origins. Here are some examples of non-Christian beliefs:

• Pantheism – Everything is God, the world is God, the development of the world is the development of God.
• Dualism, Manichaeism – The world is a necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. There are two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked in permanent conflict.
• Gnosticism – The world is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind.
• Deism – God is like a watchmaker, who created the world and then abandoned it to itself.
• Materialism – A rejection of the transcendent origin for the world. The world is merely an interplay of matter that has always existed.

All these different attempts bear witness to the universality of the question of origins, a distinctly human trait.
While it is possible for man to know the Creator by reason alone, the truth of creation is so important, that God is his tenderness revealed it to his chosen people. Creation is revealed as the first step of the covenant, “the first and universal witness to God’s all-powerful love” (CCC 288).
The first three chapters of the book of Genesis are the primary source for learning about the mysteries of creation, the fall, and the promise of salvation. From these chapters we learn the truths of creation: its origin and end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

• CCC 239 reminds us that as parents we our "the first representatives of God for man." What are some ways we can act as representatives of God for our children?
• Does the Trinity confuse you as much as it confuses me? Or am I just hopeless?
• CCC 279-289 discuss the importance of catechesis on creation. What are some ways we can share the truths of creation found in Genesis with out children?

So...how is everyone doing? Who is still with me? Don't worry if you fall behind, just catch up with my blog and join us where we are!