The Mystery of the Holy Trinity"

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s Gospel Jesus’ discusses his relationship with God the Father. While both Scripture and Tradition proclaim the divinity of Jesus, the New Testament writers and the early Fathers of the Church were not always in agreement as to the precise meaning of Jesus’ divinity and lordship. Most Christians are surprised when they learn that it took nearly 300 years for the Church to finally arrive at a precise definition of Christ’s divinity. The Dogma of the Holy Trinity was promulgated at the Council of Nicea in the year 325 AD. Nicea was significant for many reasons, most significantly because it declared that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are “One God,” and that each person of the Trinity is co-eternal, co-substantial (of the same substance), and co-equal. Nicea made this proclamation largely to combat heretical teachings which denied that the Son was equal to the Father. Chief among the dissenters was Arius of Alexandria, a priest and bishop who denied that Christ was eternal and who also denied that Christ was “of the same substance” as the Father. Arius instead taught that there was a time before Christ existed, “a time when he (Christ) was not.” Although Arius’ dissent may seem like a minor sticking point, in fact denial of Christ’s divinity raised serious theological issues, not the least of which was the binding power of Christ’s judgment (cf. today’s Gospel). In short, the Church argued against Arius that if Christ is not God, then the full weight of his theological teaching is seriously compromised. If Christ is not God, then he is no different from any other wise teacher. Based on both Scripture and the teaching tradition of the Church, Arius and his followers (called Arians) were therefore roundly condemned by the Council of Nicea, which declared the Christ was “one in being” with the Father.

As a result of the Arian controversy, the bishops who met at Nicea formulated the Nicene Creed, as both a prayer and a catechetical teaching aid. The Nicene Creed of 325 was later confirmed at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, which added additional clarifications about the role of the Holy Spirit in the history of salvation. This “Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed,” commonly referred to in simplified form as the Nicene Creed, is this same Creed that has been said every Sunday at every Catholic Mass around the world for the last 1,600 years. The Creed is a textbook of the Catholic Church’s faith. It treats on every major dogmatic Christian belief including the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the Incarnation; the Virgin Mary; the Crucifixion; the Resurrection of Christ and of the dead; the Second Coming of Christ; the Final Judgment; the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church; the necessity of Baptism; the forgiveness of sins; and the Communion of Saints in Heaven.

Although Arius died in 387, the Arian heresy did not disappear with him. Arianism has surfaced at various times and in various ways throughout the Church’s history, despite its condemnation and its official heretical status. In the contemporary world, every time a Christian (or non-Christian) declares that Christ was simply “a good teacher,” or that Christ came into existence at the moment of his conception and/or birth, that person has adopted (usually through ignorance) a position officially condemned as erroneous by the Church.

I’d like to propose that as we participate in the Mass each Sunday, we don’t simply discount the Creed as that prayer we say while shuffling through our wallets looking for money to place in the collection basket, but rather that we call to mind the Creed’s central role in the history of our faith. The Nicene Creed is one of the most ancient and one of the most important prayers of the Catholic Church. When we proclaim “I believe…” we don’t just declare our fidelity to the teaching of Christ’s Church, but we speak words which have graced the lips of every saint who has lived for the last 1,683 years. In this way we participate in the Mystery of the Faith.

- Michael Lombardo