Going to Heaven by the power of the Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Sunday | June 2020
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The Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate as Holy Trinity Sunday. In the past I thought it was strange that Holy Trinity Sunday should fall during Ordinary Time rather than the Easter season. The Easter Season ends with Pentecost Sunday. After all with the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity is celebrated to express the fullness of Revelation. The relations between Father and Son, 1st ,2nd, and 3rd Persons of the Trinity are already present in the readings leading up to the Ascension and Pentecost. We could extend the Easter season by one week and so Trinity Sunday would fall within the Easter season, rather than Ordinary Time. But Holy Trinity Sunday is the fruit of the reflection of the Church at work guided by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is what makes our faith distinctly Christian.

We are not Jews or Muslims or Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. We are Christians. To be a Christian means to believe in the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are baptised in the name of the Trinitarian God, and each time we make the sign of the Cross, we do so, in the name of the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are a Trinitarian people. What does that even mean? I have been told many times “this” or “that” is not stated in the Bible. And it’s the same list. Some gullable Catholics fall for the “it’s not in the Bible” tactic. Unfortunately, people either do not know Church history or the development of Church doctrine, and so, they do not have a proper understanding of the Scriptures. Maybe they should read the Church Fathers. Or perhaps St. John Henry Newman, the convert form Calvinism, Anglicanism and to Catholicism who synthesises Church teachings in his Development of Christian Doctrine. One of these, “Where does it say in the Bible?” includes the Holy Trinity. So much of what we take for granted as Christians including including -- Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and the numerous offshoots that mushroomed after the Reformation, are indebted to the Roman Catholic Church for Christian doctrine as we know it today, including the Holy Trinity, precisely because these beliefs are not explicitly stated in the Scriptures.

Our understanding of Jesus in relation to the Father, in relation to the Holy Spirit, these relations of Persons, what we call the Holy Trinity, while based on Scriptures, our understanding is the result of the Holy Spirit guiding the Church in Truth. But which truth? We can already see in the New Testament letters endless controversies: Jewish Christians who thought Pagan converts to Christianity needed to observe Jewish practises (Gal 2:14); those who did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh and whom St. John calls “deceivers” (2 John); those who thought they could be Christians and still continue with their pagan sexual practises (1 Cor 6:9-11); the disaster in the Corinthian community that Pope Clement of Rome (Pope from 88-99) needed to address where the Corinthian community got rid of their Bishops; and finally, the theological difficulty in understanding the relationship between Jesus and his the Father. Was Jesus Son the way we are all children of of God? In baptism we do become children of one heavenly Father. How do we understand sonship? This was the first serious doctrinal problem that plagued the early Church and needed to be resolved: Arianism.
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Theological controversies emerged in the eastern Church for two reasons: Greek philosophy contained philosophical nuances that needed to be addressed in the east, like “nature” and “substance”; the Roman pontiff in the west assured a centralised authority which was lacking in the east where bishops argued amongst themselves. Arius was from Alexandria and advanced the view that Jesus was created; so, Jesus is not the “begotten” son of God. A very serious error to say Jesus was “created” -- in other words, a heretical claim! If anyone teaches Jesus is “created” that person is not a Christian. This heresy, Arianism, spread very rapidly.

There is the possibility that we could have been Arians today had it not been for Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373) who vehemently opposed Arius. In one of his exiles, Athanasius took refuge in Rome where he was received by Pope Julian I. Pope Julian called a council meetings where the orthodoxy of Athanasius had been defended as well as his legitimacy as Bishop of Alexandria. We need to be grateful for both Athanasius in persevering the truth in the midst of heresy, and Pope Julius I who asserted that Athanasius was not teaching any errors, reinstating him as Bishop of Alexandria.

At this time -- 3rd-4th centuries AD the centre of the eastern Church was Constantinople, and the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This part of Christianity in south eastern Europe would eventually be crushed by Islam including the city Constantinople which is today Istanbul. Greece succeeded in liberating itself from Ottoman/Turkish domination in 1828. The divisions among the eastern bishops did not help the credibility of the Christian message. Jesus prayed intensely for unity among His disciples (John 17). If we are not united in what we believe, if our message is one of confusion, when a forceful religion makes advances or a charismatic figure, why not leave the confusion behind for something that offers clarity with conviction and principles. Arianism and Islam are not that far apart. In Islam Jesus is a prophet, not the Son of God. This is similar language to that of the heretics that St. Athanasius fought against in the eastern Church. At the southeast periphery of the eastern Church is the Arabian peninsula, and derivatives of Arianism in the form of Nestorianism. In the case of the 4th-5th century heresy, Jesus had two separate natures, human and divine, while in Catholicism we know that the substance/Person of Jesus is divine (2nd Person of the Trinity) which is why we say “one in being with the Father” or “same substance as the Father.” Nestorianism added to the theological confusion, while Bishops claimed authority and autonomy in governing their local Church. To exacerbate the problem, interference from the eastern Emperor who took theological sides -- known as Caesaropapsim -- hoping to bring peace in these religious disputes, led to further tension between the Emperor of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome.

In the climate of heresy, the theological solution to clarify the divinity of Christ was settled at the Council of Ephesus in 431 by recognising the role of Mary. Saying she was a pretty pious Jew whom God had chosen does not give the full picture. God chose someone whom he had prepared fittingly to bring His Son into the world. Virgin before conception, virgin after conception, without original sin, she received the Holy Spirit by whom she gave birth to Jesus Christ. The Council of Ephesus was clearly anti-Arian by formulating the title of Theotokos, “God-bearer.” Receiving God’s Spirit means Mary is the human/flesh mother of Jesus, and her conception by the Holy Spirit means the 2nd Person of the Trinity is a divine Person. These three Persons share One divine Substance. While we distinguish them, they are NOT separate Persons. If they were separate, then, we would be what the Muslims accuse us of being: tri-theists. Having three gods. But they are One. But this is the difficulty with the Scriptures which is why it’s annoying when people expect the Scriptures to explain everything. What we need to know is in the Scriptures, but understanding the Scriptures is another matter. God has given us intelligence, the Holy Spirit and the Church to help us understand.

The fact that Jesus is enflsehd by a pure and holy woman who completely united herself to the will of God is why Catholics have such great love and devotion to Mary: Jesus’ humanity comes from His Mother. And Mary perfectly co-operated with God’s plan for our salvation. Some people think, “Well if she was chosen, and perfect, and pure… of course, she said, ‘yes,’ to everything God asked of her.” This is where the Catholic Church contrasts Mary to Eve: the first woman was also pure, and holy, and in perfect communion with God, but also free to choose. The first woman chose to listen to Satan. And brought sin into the world with the wimpish man who did nothing. Adam simply stood, watched, and ate the fruit. God created the man to set boundaries, to protect, and to be a guardian. The first man failed -- big time! So, Mary, the New Eve, and Jesus the New Adam, co-operate, to bring salvation to the world that has been lost, Jesus as the Son of God, Mary as Mother of the Saviour.

We experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, the 3rd person of the Trinity: the love between the Father and the Son who is begotten, this this “breathing,” is the Holy Spirit. Trinitarian relations of one divine substance, distinguished by each of the three Persons are what make possible our salvation. It is not about a man who is a great teacher. Rather, Jesus the Son of God leads us back to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and in the Church. And how wonderful that we have the prayers of the Mother of Our Most Holy Saviour. With all this help, divine and human, by God’s grace, surely we shall get to heaven!