The Catechism Explained


PART I - FAITH. 
THE APOSTLES' CREED. 
FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, 
THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 
4. THE BLESSED TRINITY. 
At the baptism of Jesus Christ all the three persons of the Blessed 
Trinity manifested themselves; the Father by a voice from heaven, 
the Son through His baptism, and the Holy Ghost in the form of a 
dove (Matt. iii. 16). 
1. The Blessed Trinity is one God in three persons. 
The three persons are called Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
The number three is often found both in nature and in religion. 
There are three persons in the Holy Family ; three parts in the sacra- 
ments (intention, matter, and form) ; Our Lord hung for three hours 
on the cross, and remained three days in the grave. He taught on 
earth for three years, and has the triple office of Prophet, Priest, and 
King. So in time there are past, present, and future; three kingdoms 
in creation, the material, the vegetable, and the animal worlds. The 
number four is also of frequent occurrence; there are four gospels, 
four cardinal virtues, four seasons of the year, four thousand years 
from the Fall to the Incarnation, etc. The number seven is also com- 
mon ; there are seven days of the week, seven sacraments, seven works 
of mercy, seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, seven sacred orders ending 
in the priesthood, etc. Three is sometimes called the number of God, 
four the number of the world, by reason of the four continents, and 
seven represents the combination of the two. 
2. We cannot, with our feeble understanding, grasp the doc- 
trine of the Blessed Trinity, and it is therefore called a mystery. 
We are unable to comprehend that there are three persons in 
God, yet only one God. He who gazes at the sun is dazzled by it; 
if he continues to gaze at it he loses his sight. So is it with the 
Blessed Trinity; he who inquires into it is dazzled. He who refuses 
to believe in it because he does not understand it, is like a blind 
man, who will not believe in the existence of the sun because he can 
not see it. How many things there are in nature that we cannot un- 
derstand! We cannot understand the growth of plants, trees, and 
animals; we cannot understand the nature of electricity and mag- 
netism. We cannot understand how the color red is formed by the 
vibration of the ether at the rate of one hundred and thirty millions 
of vibrations in a second, or violet by double that number. To 
count the vibrations of the ether that take place in one second in 
the forming of the color violet, we should have to go on counting 
for more than ten thousand years without ceasing either day or night. 
Much less can we understand what belongs to God. Jeremias says, 
" Great art Thou, O Lord, in counsel, and incomprehensible in 
thought" (Jer. xxxii. 19). "No one understands what Thou art, O 
God, except Thou Thyself." We can, however, understand something 
of the nature of the Blessed Trinity by comparing it with certain 
facts of nature which in some way correspond to and illustrate it. 
The flames of three candles placed together form but one flame; 
the white light can be divided into red, yellow, and blue rays, which, 
however, together form but one light. The orb of the sun, its light, 
and its heat, are three different things, which are at the same time 
really one. The soul of man contains memory, understanding, and 
will, which are but different manifestations of the same spiritual 
substance. Yet all these are but imperfect analogies, and cannot 
carry us very far in attempting to understand something of the in- 
comprehensible mystery of the Blessed Trinity. Unbelievers some 
times say : " How is it possible that three can be one, and one three ?" 
They show that they do not know what the teaching of the Church 
really is. " They blaspheme those things that they know not " ( Jude 
10) . The Church does not say there are three persons and one person, 
but there are three persons, and one nature or essence. 
3. The nature, the attributes, and the works of the three per 
sons of the Blessed Trinity are common to all of them. 
There are therefore not three gods, but one God. 
The Father is therefore different from the Son, because He is 
a different person ; but He has not a different being, because He has 
the same nature. 
For this reason each of the three persons is, in exactly 
the same sense, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, and absolutely 
perfect, as are the other two. 
When Our Lord spoke of His return to the Father, He said, 
" My Father is greater than I " (John xiv. 28). Here He was speak- 
ing of Himself as man ; else He could not have spoken of His return 
to the Father. 
Hence the creation of the world, the redemption and the 
sanctification of men is wrought by all the three divine 
persons together. 
Yet we are accustomed to say : " The Father made the world, 
the Son redeemed it, and the Holy Ghost sanctifies it." 
4. The three divine persons are divided only in their origin. 
In a tree the trunk comes forth from the root, and from both 
comes the fruit. Such is the relation between the three divine per- 
sons. 
God the Father has no origin and proceeds from no other 
person; God the Son proceeds from the Father; God the Holy 
Ghost proceeds both from the Father and from the Son. 
In order to mark the order of procession, we name the Father 
first, the Son second, and the Holy Ghost third. But there is no 
succession in time; the Son proceeds from the Father from all 
eternity, and so does the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. 
The Son is begotten of the Father before all creation. The Father 
produced, by an act of divine knowledge, the Son as an image like 
to Himself in all things, just as we, when we think, produce an intel- 
lectual image in our minds. We may illustrate this by the relation 
existing between fire and light. Light proceeds from fire, but is 
contemporaneous with it. If there were an eternal fire, there would 
also be an eternal light. The Son is the brightness of God's glory 
(Heb. i. 3), the unspotted image of His majesty (Wisd. vii. 26). 
Just as one torch is kindled from another, without the first losing 
any of its light, so the Son is begotten of the Father, without taking 
anything away from Him. The Son is called the Word of the Father 
(John i. 1). Just as the word formed in our minds (the thought) 
is made manifest by the external or spoken word, so the Word of God, 
dwelling in the bosom of the Father, was made manifest to the world 
when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John i. 14). As 
the Son has His origin in the knowledge of God, so the Holy Ghost 
has His origin in the love of God. The Holy Ghost is none other 
than the mutual love of the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit 
of love, who engenders in our hearts the love of God and of each 
other. The word spirit is well chosen, because by it we express the 
attractiveness and the force of love: The Holy Ghost proceeds from 
the Father and the Son, as warmth proceeds from the sun and its 
light. 
On account of the difference in their origin we appropriate 
to the Father the works of omnipotence, to the Son the works of 
wisdom, and to the Holy Ghost the works of love. 
These various works have a certain correspondence with the 
attributes of the persons, that are connected with their origin. The 
Father begets the Son ; for this reason there is appropriated to Him 
the bringing of perishable things also, out of nothing, i.e., of crea- 
tion. He is therefore called the almighty Father. He is also called 
the God of compassion, because He is ever ready to receive the sinner 
who comes back to Him in a true spirit of penance. The Son is the 
eternal wisdom of the Father. To Him therefore is appropriated the 
beautiful arrangement of the world. As the artist, through the work- 
ing of his reflective mind designs the plan of his work, so the Father, 
through His Son, produced order in the world. To the Son, too, is 
ascribed the restoration of order, as for this end He took upon Him 
self the nature of man. To the Holy Ghost, as the mutual love of 
the Father and the Son, are ascribed all the benefits of God to man; 
especially the bestowal upon him of his natural life in creation (the 
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters), and of his spiritual 
life by his sanctification through grace. To Him, as the finger of 
God's right hand, are ascribed all miracles, and above all the work of 
the Incarnation, as being of all miracles the greatest. The love of 
God has ever occupied itself with men, but the Incarnation of the 
Son of God by the operation of the Holy Ghost surpassed all other 
benefits wrought by Him. It brought mercy to sinners, truth to the 
erring, life to those who were dead, and hope and faith to the whole 
world. 
5. We are taught the mystery of the Blessed Trinity by Christ 
Himself, but it was partly known in the time of the Old Testament. 
We know, from the fact of creation, the infinite power, wisdom, 
and goodness of God, but it does not reveal to us the mystery of the 
Blessed Trinity. Nor is there any proof of this doctrine to be found 
in nature, though we may find certain analogies to it, some of which 
we have given. But the mystery itself can only be made known to us 
by revelation. " The Father no man knoweth but the Son, and he 
to whom the Son shall reveal Him" (Matt. xi. 27). Our Lord re- 
vealed this mystery to His Church when He said to His apostles be 
fore His ascension, " Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost " (Matt, 
xxviii. 19). In the time of the Old Testament the Jewish priests, 
when they blessed the people, had to repeat the name of God three 
times (Numb. vi. 23). Isaias tells us that the seraphim in heaven 
cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts" (Is. vi. 3). Before the 
creation, God said, "Let us make man" (Gen. i. 26). David says, 
" The Lord said to My Lord, sit on My right hand." But before the 
Incarnation the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was veiled in a cloud 
which was only dispelled under the New Law. " The Church," says 
St. Hilary, "knows this mystery. The Synagogue believed it not. 
Philosophy understood it not." 
6. The belief in the Blessed Trinity is expressed in the 
Apostles Creed, in Baptism, and in the other sacraments, in all 
consecrations and blessings, and in the feast of the Most Holy 
Trinity. 
The mystery of the Blessed Trinity is the foundation of our 
religion. Without a knowledge of this truth we cannot understand 
our redemption by the Son of God. We ought frequently to make an 
act of faith in this mystery, especially by the repetition of the Gloria 
Patri We should repeat it whenever we receive any benefit from 
God, and also when He sends us any cross or trial.

Let me give you a quick example here...

The number three is often found both in nature and in religion.
There are three persons in the Holy Family ; three parts in the sacra- ments (intention, matter, and form) ;
Our Lord hung for three hours on the cross,
and remained three days in the grave.

That last statement is not accurate and misleading...Jesus even told the good thief that he would be with Jesus on that day...

Act_2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Act_2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

He taught on earth for three years, and has the triple office of Prophet, Priest, and King.

Jesus did not exercise the office of King since that kingdom did not show up at that time...It was available but was rejected...When Jesus does show up as the King in his Kingdom, no one on Earth will miss it...

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Like Jesus said, if he was the king, his servants would have protected him and he wouldn't have been crucified...

Joh 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Jesus is NOT that king yet...

Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

In this prophecy, the kingdom has not yet been set up...There is no king yet...

Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

As with this...The king and his kingdom are not yet here...

So like I said, the material put out by you religion is no more than a commentary but a very poor one...If you want the rest of the story, you have to go to the scriptures...

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PART I - FAITH.

INTRODUCTION

PART I - FAITH.