The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1955-06-03
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Ineonsidersis

The Feast OF the Most Blessed Trinity, celebfat-
ed the octave day Of Pentecost presents for our
consideration and alteration the Infinite and Eternal
God subsistng in three distinct Divine Persons.
This is the most amazing md the most sublime OF
all the truths OF holy faith.
That God exists and that there is only one God,
are truths revealed, but they are also truths that
be known by mans reason, that is by the
human thinking mind. For the world and ourselves
in the world, require ultimate explanation. No
such explanation can be had,--even by the crudest
materialist and the most of mechanisc eyolu-
tionsts,-wthout First Being, existing by It's own
supreme and unbounded excellence, which is the
Cause and the Goal of all creatures.
But human reason could not know, unless the
truth had been divnely revealed, that the First In
finite Being is One God in Three Persons To be
sure, be aware Of this truth, re.
yeaIed as inevitably included in other truths: for
reason can know that God exists; that God is one;
that God is Truth; that Christ is God and therefore
Chrst's teaching is infalliby true that Christ'S
teaching includes the truth Of the Trinity. Hence,
belief in the Blessed Trinity is wholly in accord
with reason, though cannot take up
and inspect this great truth in itself
Belief in the Trinity is no blind or credulous be
lief. 1t is belief that rests securely upon the word
of God, movable and known such. II is wholly
supernatural belief in what is itself a completely
supernatural truth Reason alone is powerless to in
vestigate the Trinity either to prove disprove
And yet we have just noted belief in the Trim
ity is an entirely reasonable belief
Holy Scripture speaks Of the mysterious "pro.
ceedings in the Godhead II speaks Of the begetting
Of the Son. of the procession Of the Holy Ghost That
Is, Scripture speaks of Beoetter and Begotten. of
the Spirit eternally breathed forth Tor spiroted)
by Begeter and Begotten as the single principle of
His proceeding In a word Scripture speaks of
TntL1z IIaT.. r.
God, subsisting eternsy in Three Distinct Persons
There is in God proceeding likened TO our
knowing; this proceeding is called Generation. AS
the word of knowledge dhe idea, the concepD is
to speak generated by the knowing mind so is
the Eternal Word, the Son, eternally generated by
the Knowing Father Knower and Known are dis
tinct but not separate they are essentially One.
And there is In God proceeding likened to our
willing or loving KnOwer and Known in eternal
and apprecative unity breathe forth the Spirit Of
Love which is distinct from Them but not separate
which is One with Them in essence and nature.
All this, OF course is crude and analogous rea-
soning. II is attempt at explanation of the
mystery which cannot be explained in human speech
or thought. But ii is richly suggestive consider
alton, and it indicates the fact that there is no con
tradicton conflict in the concept of Three Dis
tinct Persons in One God
The word distinct does not mean different nor
does IT mean separate sepdrdble. Things are dis
tinct and really distinct, when they are contrasted
as thing and thing, and not merely as various as
poets of the same thing These things are really
distinct though they are neither separate
nor separabe Hence to say that the Persons in God
really distinct is not to say that They are diff
ferent Beings or that They are separate or Separ-
able. Indeed, the Three Divine Persons are not sep
arate, and not separable They are the undivided
Godhead One and Inseparabe, and yet they are
truly distinct Persons.
The word Person is the most perfect word we
have for perfectly existing reality dhat is for
subssttno reality, for it indicates substantial being
In the intellectual orderwhich is he order of un-
derstanding and free-will And hence we rightly
use this most perfect word to express the infinite
reality OF God in Trinity
All the works of God proceed alike from the
Three Persons that is, they proceed from God in
Unity. We human creatures, finite beings with finite
minds find il helpful to appropriate divers works to
each OF the Persons, Thus we may say that the Fa-
ther creates, the Son redeems, the Holy Ghost sane
tliles Yet actually the works of creation redemp-
ton, and sanctfication come from the Undivided
Godhead.
From the One Undivided God comes the eternal
decree and accomplishment of the Incarnation in
stantially the nature Tor working essence0 of man
The Father did not become man nor did the Holy
Ghost; yet the one Divine viii effected the Hypo
static Union
And there is perfect indwelling of Person in
Person. SO that wherever One Of the Divine Per
sons is, there also the other Two The undivided
Divine Nature is the One Nature OF all Three Per-
sons; yet the Persons not mere aspects of this
One Nature; the Persons while nseparable are
really distinct That the Persons are inseparable is
indicated by the word of Our Lord to ST. Philip
who had asked to see the Father Philip, he that
seeth Me, seeth the Father also" Yet Our Lord
makes Il very plain that the Father and the Holy
Ghost are Persons distinct from Himself.
Neither confusing the Persons nor dividing
The Substance" This is The formula for our super
natural faith in the Most Blessed Trinity Accept
ing with unwaverng certude the truth Of this great
mystery We experience in our souls some sense of
that blessedness which is the part of those who
have not seen and have believed
In the Name of the Blessed Trinity we are bap
tlzed. In that Name we are made children of God
In that Name united with the sign of Redemption
we begin and end each prayer each holy action