Where does the Bible mention the Trinity?

"The Holy Ghost shall come upon you (Mary) and the power of the Most High (the Father) shall overshadow you. And therefore also the holy that shall be born shall be called Son of God (Jesus)." +Lk 1:32… "Go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." +Mt. 28:19

Many people implicitly ask: What is the most important thing to know in life?-That Jesus died for my sins?…That I should be a good person and love others? Or, as some think, just maybe there is no "most important thing" in life to know-after all, this is America and everything's seemingly important, so we shouldn't categorize and judge things like this.

Our Faith tells us otherwise. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states …

• WHAT IS MOST CENTRAL AND ESSENTIAL IN OUR LIVES: "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself; it is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the 'hierarchy of the truths of faith.' The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men, and 'reconciles and unites with him those who turn away from sin." (Paragraph #234)

"Hierarchy of truths" means some truths (i.e., God's identity, Jesus' atoning death.) are more important than others (what to wear to Church); some truths are more essential to know and follow-and so Catholics and Christians shouldn't waste time on trivial, secondary things. God is the most important truth in (and out of!) the world-and we should do all we can, within our powers and states of life, to know Him-and not just know about Him…Does your life and lifestyle reflect God as most important Person in your life? Are you studying the Bible and your Faith to know Him more?…

• DON'T "DUMB DOWN DIVINITY" "The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the 'mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God.' To be sure God left 'traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his revelation throughout the Old Testament. But His inmost being as Holy trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone…"

God's inmost essence is, ultimately, unfathomable. Before hesitating, though, think about the benefits of this: unlike anything or anyone else, the Trinity is always enticing, ever pleasing, always inviting, ceaselessly delighting. When everything and everybody are endlessly marketed and re-packaged, God is boundlessly fascinating and fulfilling just as He is in Himself. Though we can never know God, fulfilling His innermost essence, we shouldn't therefore downsize Him to fit our understanding; we should accept the beauty of mystery and remember divinity can never be diminished-He's infinite!

• ULTIMATE REALITY "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 one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire:…Each of the Persons is that supreme reality, the divine substance, essence or nature.'" (Fourth Lateran Council, 1225; # 253.)

Life and what we're doing on this Earth is real, but the "Really Real" is God Himself--don't mistake one for the other. Pope John Paul once exhorted young people (and speaks to us all): "Don't make an idol out of reality…" We modernist Americans need this challenging message to liberate us from false idols. The sublimity of God can help us to love creation as it should be, but love the Creator-God more!

• UNION WITH GOD "The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: 'If a man loves me, says the Lord, he will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.' (+Jn 14:23) CCC:#254).

God wants us not only to worship Him (and we definitely need to), but He also desires us to become one with Him. When you love someone, you may do all you can to be with that person; as Christians, when you love Someone, God does all He can for you to be with Him!…

• GOD IN HIMSELF: "The terms 'essence, nature, substance,' refer to the Divine Being, which is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while the terms 'hypostasis and person' refer to the three owners or bearers of the Divine Being." (L. Ott: (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma)

In Trinitarian theology there is much speculation: some seems vague and trivial. However, people fought over the words above and, eventually, our holy doctrines and Religion were safeguarded. Nature and essence indicate the "mode" by which the person acts, while person is defined as the bearer or subject of nature. These subtle distinctions can also apply to us human beings (since we are created in God's image we have nature and personhood also) and they attempt to work out the unity of the Trinity (in the essence) and also preserve the Persons in their uniqueness. Take time to ponder the mystery elucidated above, almost infinite amounts-because God Himself is infinite!

• BE LIKE GOD: "By the Trinitarian Perichoresis is understood the penetration and indwelling of the Three Divine Persons reciprocally in one another." (Dogma,Ott: p. 71)… God Himself is a "model" for what humans should be: a spiritual unity (a soul) amidst diversity (unique personal characteristics). Though God is "many" (three Divine Persons), God's emphasis and "bottom line" is union and loving interpenetration, and not diversity and multiplicity . How about you: does union prevail in your life-or multiplicity and uniqueness, and therefore chaos and disunity? What can you do to mirror God's identity and essence more?
   
• DIVINIZATION-huh?: "By it (spiritual adoption) we come into the possession of the divine nature, 'partakers of the divine nature.' (II Pt. 2:4). No doubt this divine life in us is only a participation, a sharing, "consorts,' a similitude, an assimilation which does not make us gods, but Godlike. The very first impulse of the heart is that of adoration: 'Glorify God and bear God in your body.' +I Cor. 6:10. How could we do otherwise than glorify, bless and thank the Divine Guest who transforms our soul into a sanctuary?" (Tanquerrey: The Spiritual Life: p..52)

God's nature is love: and Love wants what is "other" not only to be part of, but to be one-with, Itself-the Trinitarian God.. The bliss (changeless joy or happiness) of the Trinity is intense, loving and infinite-is there something more that you want? Prepare now.

The Athanasian Creed

This trinitarian credo was compile in the early Church: meditate upon it deeply:… " And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three imcomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion, to say, there be three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity (Carmelite)

"O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action."