MONTHLY CATHOLIC EDUCATION SERIES FOR ADULTS

Parish of the Holy

The Triune God And The Creed

November 5, 2015 MONTHLY CATHOLIC EDUCATION SERIES FOR ADULTS 2015-2016 SERIES

Parish of the Holy Eucharist Schedule November 5, – Triune God and the Creed December 3 – Praying my Faith January 7 – Treasures in the Catholic Storehouse February 4 – Living my Faith, Morality March 3 – : an Encounter with Jesus 4 Pillars of the Faith

Morality Doctrine

Worship Prayer Creeds or Professions of Faith What are they? • From the beginning, the Church handed on brief formulae that contained essential elements of its faith. • The are called Professions of faith summarizes the faith that Christians profess • The are called Creeds because of the first word in , “” or “I believe” • Written to clarify the Christian faith during time of heresy. (Arianism – Did not believe in the divinity of Christ) • To not believe sets one outside the Christian faith BAPTISM AND PROFESSION OF FAITH The first profession of faith is made during baptism. • Adults make a profession of faith at their baptism. • Parents profess the creed in the name of the child. • This is renewed each Easter and professed every week.

Matthew (28:18-20) Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” CCC 197 –To say the creed with faith is to enter into with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also the whole church …. The Creed is the spiritual seal, our hearts’ meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of the soul (St. Ambrose). THE CREED AND THE The creed is divided into three parts

1. The First Divine Person and the wonderful work of creation. I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. 2. The Second Divine Person and the mystery of his redemption of people. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. 3. The Third Divine Person and the origin and source of our sanctification. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen THE CREEDS There have been many creeds throughout history but two have a special place in the Church

The Apostle’s Creed

The Nicene- Constantinople Creed THE APOSTLES’ CREED It is considered to be a faithful summary of the Apostles’ faith.

Used in Ancient Baptisms in the Church of Rome.

Called the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter.

Too early to address Christological issues defined later.

The creed as we have it now, can only be traced back to the 8 century but statements found it are found in writings as early as the second century. THE APOSTLES’ CREED Tradition speaks of 12 articles in which the 12 apostles each contributed one phrase.

1. I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 4. Under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified, died, and was buried. 5. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. 6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 9. the holy , the communion of saints, 10. the forgiveness of sins, 11. the resurrection of the body, 12. and the life everlasting. THE NICEO- CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED

It stems from two ecumenical councils (325 Nicaea and extended in 381 at Constantinople)

Common to all the Churches in both the East and the West to this day

The true non-negotiable of the faith THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRINITY FOR FAITH CCC 232 – The Faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.

CCC 233 – We are baptized in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, not in their names. CCC234 –The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God himself. It is the source of all other mysteries of faith. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith”.

Why would Karl Rahner say that if the Church changed its teaching on the Trinity, most people’s faith would not change? THE TRINITY I believe in one God, the Father almighty,

I believe in One God…. – talking about God and all three persons of the Trinity.

The Father Almighty…. – talking about a person of the Trinity. THE TRINITY Calling God, “Father” 1. God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority 2. Loving care for all his children.

CCC 239 – God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: He is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard. No one is father as God is Father.

He is father in terms of creation But he is eternally father in relationship to his Son

Why could we would say “God our Mother” but not “Mother, Son, and Holy Spirit”? THE TRINITY maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. Maker – Out of nothing

Heaven and earth is a scripture expression that means all that exists, creation in its entirety

Heaven, “the Place” of the spiritual creatures, angels, and saints who surround God.

Seen and unseen – Angels, saints and the visible world, body and soul of the human being THE TRINITY I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God,

Calling God, “the Son” 1. The Israelites called God, “Father” as creator, of Israel, of the poor, orphaned, widowed. 2. Jesus revealed that God is HIS Father. Jesus uses relational terms in using “Father” and “Son”

No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father, except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Mt. 11:27) THE TRINITY born of the Father before all ages.

Creation of the work of God, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”

The Son existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit before the time of creation. All of creation was created through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.

The Son is the Word of the Father In beginning was the Word and the Word was with God And the Word was God (John 1:1). THE TRINITY God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.

CCC 252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. THE TRINITY God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.

CCC 252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. THE TRINITY God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. 253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity". The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God." In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature.“ THE TRINITY God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. 254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary."

"Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son.“

They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds." The divine Unity is Triune. THE TRINITY God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. 255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: "In the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance.” Indeed "everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship.“

"Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son." THE TRINITY 2 ways to look at the Trinity

Immanent Trinity – Speaks of the interior life of the Trinity The relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit without reference to God’s relationship with creation.

Economic Trinity – Speaks of the life of the Trinity in relation to Creation. Each person in the Trinity has a role within the Godhead, however, these roles overlap. The Father sent the Son into the world for its redemption and the Father and Son sent in Holy Spirit in the world to be its advocate. THE TRINITY

Immanent Trinity - Philosophical Economic Trinity – Experiential A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.

Which approach appeals to you? Is there one better than the other? THE TRINITY 258 The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle.“

However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are". It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

259 Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence 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. GOD THE SON – THE INCARNATION For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. The Incarnation means that the Son of God assumed human nature Belief in the incarnation is the distinctive sign of Christian faith (463)

Catechism speaks of 4 reason the Son of God became Man 1. In order to save us by reconciling us with God 2. That we might know God’s love 3. To be our model of holiness 4. Partakers of divine nature GOD THE SON – TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN The Incarnation does not mean that Jesus is part God and part man does not mean that there is a confused mixture It means that Jesus is true God and true man

CCC465-469 Denied Christ’s humanity – Gnostic Docetism Said Jesus was divine by adoption – Paul of Samosata Denied Christ’s Divinity – Arius Christ was human person joined to divine person – Nestorian Human nature ceased to exist with divine was present – Monophysites The divine replaced the soul or spirit of the human - Apollinarius

Mary as the mother of God is a statement of Christ more than Mary. GOD THE SON – TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN The Son of God assumed a human nature (did not absorb it) . Christ has two natures, divine and human, not confused but united in the person fo God’s Son.

The Son of God… work with human hands; the thought with a human mind He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved (470).

By 681, the Church believed that Christ had two wills and tow natural operations, divine and human.

Christ’s human will does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will. GOD THE SON – SUFFERED, DIED, BURIED AND ROSE AGAIN For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. It is the Son of God who died and was buried. God died and took on death, something he is not, to conquer it.

Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there. Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.“ Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him. 636 By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" (Heb 2:14).

637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him. GOD THE SON – THE RESURRECTION IS A WORK OF THE TRINITY and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

The Father’s power raised up Christ his Son.

In doing so, the Father introduced his Son’s humanity, including his body into the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit gave life to Jesus’ dead humanity

Jesus effects his own resurrection by virtue of his Divine Power GOD THE SON – HE SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER, UNTIL HE RETURNS FOR THE FINAL JUDGMENT He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead

There are two judgments – 1. Particular judgment after death 2. Final judgment at the end of time. 1051 Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.

1054 Those who die in God's grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.

1056 Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality of eternal death" (GCD 69), also called "hell."

1057 Hell's principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1059 "The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ's tribunal to render an account of their own deeds" (Council of Lyons II [1274]:DS 859; cf. DS 1549).

1060 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe itself will be transformed. God will then be "all in all" (1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning of time to its completion. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit No one can cry “Abba” except in the Spirit. The Spirit teaches us to pray.

The Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us.

The Holy Spirit is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity’s communion with human beings. THE TRINITY IN PRAYER AT MASS Almighty and merciful God, by whose gift your faithful offer you right and praiseworthy service, grant, we pray, that we may hasten without stumbling to receive the things you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. It is truly right THE TRINITY IN PRAYER AT MASS and just, our duty and our You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness. salvation, Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, always and everywhere to by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, give you thanks, so that they may become for us Father most the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. holy, At the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his Passion, through your he took bread and, giving thanks, broke it, beloved Son, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Jesus Christ, TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, your Word FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. through whom In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the you made all things, and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying: whom you sent TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, as our Savior FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, and Redeemer, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, incarnate by the WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY Holy Spirit and FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. born of the Virgin. THE TRINITY IN PRAYER AT MASS Mystery of Faith ():

Priest: The mystery of faith: All: A – We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

or B – When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.

or C – Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.