Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00 <inaudible>.
Speaker 1 00:06 Okay. It's the feast of the Holy Trinity. So today we take a look at the mystery of the most holy trinity. Again, in the time we've got for a sermon, it's really difficult. This is the most difficult topic to preach on and give a clear explanation without saying something heretical. And uh, so we're going to use the same kind of stuff I've gone through in years before cause it's actually doable. We will rely, especially on Santa Gaskins treatment of the most Holy Trinity, his explanation and we'll rely heavily on on frank Sheed as well simply because it's doable. Now before we get into that, we've got to keep in mind this problem that we've got with our imaginations when we're dealing with spiritual realities. We don't want to let our imaginations mislead us. Remember, our imaginations are made to picture material realities. But you think of things, you know, we talk about a Pilou moon or, or a beautiful sense that all that we can have this image in our imagination at hitcher that we can change.
Speaker 1 01:13 We can have a form on a quarter moon. All these things that we can do with them. That's in imagination. That's the picture making facility because we're creatures of body and so we need to be able to do that because we were taught, we have to deal with material reality, so we have to be able to make pictures. That's the imagination. Our analytic, which is where we understand that spiritual concepts, those don't have pictures like what is justice or truth or beauty look like? Okay? Those are immaterial spiritual concepts that we understand in our intellect. Our imagination deals with materialities or intellect is where we grasp spiritual realities, so because many aspects of our faith or spiritual realities like angels for example, is the most busted trinity. Any image we make of them is going to be wrong. As soon as you make the image. We can't help make an image and we think about angel.
Speaker 1 02:05 We can't help having an image, whether it's at the word angel, whether it's a picture of some guy with wings, whatever. We can't help make it an image, but the image is wrong. It doesn't mean the reality is we learned this when we had geometry. When you had geometry, when you're a kid and you're sitting there and you're, and you're making geometric points, you learn about geometric point. It doesn't occupy any space. He keeps sharpening your pants. When they can. SMART, smart, adopt, you realize that tool and their house might make the data that that's still spread out because you can't help make it an image. You have this <inaudible> metric point, you're going to get a point, but then you realize that's the image I have. That's not what it interacting pointed. So I can understand it. Even though I realize my picture of it is already wrong.
Speaker 1 02:44 So that's it. We don't want to be misled by our imaginations anytime when we're dealing with the spiritual realities because their imagination can't depict spiritual realities. And of course the most blessed trinity is the spirit. So any amateur we make is already going to be wrong right out the gate. We can't help it, but it's wrong. So it's not be most like, okay, now what would they do is try to pack a, an explanation of the central mystery of our faith in about 10 or 15 minutes. Now we could spend a whole semester in a theology course and seminar where, you know, I mean, even when you're done, you're only left in the more luminous darkness. So let's not be under any illusions that when we're done with this, we can understand everything, Huh? Even all eternity. We're not going to be able to comprehend this because we have limited minds with our limited minds.
Speaker 1 03:38 We're trying to grasp something infinite and that's God. So we want to be humble about this. It doesn't mean that we're not going to learn something, but we want to be humble and say it's not all going to fall into place. We go, oh, I totally get it. If you totally get it, I've done a terrible job because you shouldn't tell her to get it because you can't totally get it. But don't feel bad. The only one that can totally get it is God. Okay? So before we get going, there's the three terms. We want to make sure we have a good handle on mystery, nature and person. Now when we're talking about mystery in a theological sense, theological ministry, we don't mean what we mean in or ordinary speech was. That's a mystery. Without a clue. It's pointless to even think about it. God does it reveal things to us like the mystery or the most holy trinity that he doesn't want us to think about.
Speaker 1 04:27 So we don't go, oh well mystery, no worries. That mystery is something that we want to think about. A mystery. The faith has been revealed by God precisely because he wants us to think about it or he wouldn't have told us about it, but it has to do with something that we can't fully understand. We can keep on thinking about mystery like the holy trinity and we get deeper and deeper into it and hopefully please God, we can all get to the beatific vision and even for all eternity we'll be getting deeper and deeper into this mystery because we had contact with it. But even in all eternity, we can't wrap our minds, our finite minds around the infinite God. Huh? So mystery of our faith is an inexhaustible truth. It's a truth that we think about forever and keep understanding more and more details about, but we'll still still never get it all.
Speaker 1 05:16 So that's mystery nature. Suppose we're sitting out there in the woods and we hear this crashing on. I see what on your, what is that? Is that a falling tree? Is it a little Beardsley? There is a mountain lion or in Kansas? Uh, I don't know a Kiowa. I guess. What is that? You're wondering what is that thing? When we ask the question, what is it we're asking the question about natures and nature is a philosophical term, meaning the whiteness says something. We're saying, what is that? When we asked that fish have fish nature. So they swim and they breathe water and so forth. Birds have bird nature, they have feathers, they lay eggs. Men have human nature. That means we have a body or immortal soul. Okay. A body mortal. So we could walk and talk and laugh and think in ordinary language. Nature answers the question, what is it?
Speaker 1 06:08 Nature also determines what can it do? Why can a fish to, you know, uh, swim, breathe water and so forth. Nature determines what is it and what can it do? So that's the nature of the witness. That's nothing per person. We're out there, we're sitting at home and we hear a knock on the door, you know, were, let's see, we're out. We don't go. What was that was that we'd say, who's there? Nobody goes, what was that? When they hear a knock on the door and they say, who's there? Why? Because we already know what nature we're dealing with. We're dealing with the human nature. Someone's come by to visit and they're knocking on the door. They pushed the doorbell. Okay? We already know what nature they don't. We say who's there? Who has a question about a person? We're asking who we're asking about persons.
Speaker 1 06:50 Nature determines what something is and what it can do. A person is something that does something. He, that's who's knocking, that's who's doing this particular thing. We all have a common nature. Everyone in here has human nature, the body and and mortal store. We can laugh, we can think, we can talk, we can listen, but a particular person does it. You're sitting, not your nature. You're listening. I hope not your nature. I'm talking not my nature. Who am I? Father Wolf. That's who I am. My nature isn't talking because I have a human nature. I could tell on the answer, doesn't do anything. I do something. Okay, your natures are doing anything. Either you are doing something. So the person is the after. All right. Now we, you know, I mean we don't ask. We can see I, I wrote one other thing. We don't ask who is that when we see it, you know, like a carpet or a new vegetable.
Speaker 1 07:43 Who's that? You know, he say, what's that? Why? Because animals, vegetables, minerals, carpets. These aren't persons. They have a nature but they don't, they're not persons. What are persons? Persons have a rational nature. Okay? National natures they can know and love so persons can know and love. That means there's three kinds of persons because there's three possibilities there. Humans can know and love. Angels can know and love, some can know and hate and divine persons can know enough. That's it. Those are the three rational natures, human, angelic, divine. Okay, so nature tells us what is it? What can it do? Person tells it, who is it? Who's actually doing it? Okay, I'm history. It's this inexhaustible truth that we can never completely understand. Even through all eternity we can penetrate deeper in as we're contemplating. And of course God is infinite spirit, so we're definitely never going to be able to completely comprehend him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want us to know. Okay, our imagination makes pictures. We just don't want to get misled by these pictures. We want to be looking through and we're dealing with spiritual realities and say what's the truth behind it and not start penciling it out based on the picture made in our imagination. Want to try to understand with our handle that and not worry too much about the pitcher we've made. Okay. Having said that, let's start talking about most totally training. Gotcha. Knowledge and his love. Our intranet.
Speaker 1 09:17 Since God's knowledge is infinite, what is it that he thinks about since his love is infinite? Whom does he love? What does God think about? God has an idea. He only has one idea. He already knows everything. He hasn't gone to learn anything and he certainly is. He going for <inaudible> thing he's got, he only has one idea. It can never change already before we going farther, we can see how different that is for us cause we think with discursive thoughts, we go from one thought to another to another would flow along, not in God. His ideas never changes. He's not going to come to an idea. He's not going to get new light on the subject. He's not going to penetrate deeper. He has this one idea. He's infinite. Infinite is in other words, for no limits, no limits at all, which means paranthetically. He's the only infinite being. There can only be one God because if he had two limitless beings, one would be a limit on the other. You can think about that later. Let's stay with this right now. Okay. God's infinite, and he has this infinite intellect. The only thing that an infinite mind could think about, it's even worth thinking, Bob, is the infinite bt.
Speaker 1 10:57 What does that mean? It means that the idea that God has in his mind, in his infinite mind, is idea he has of himself. And that can't change. He doesn't change. His idea can't change. His idea is eternal as he is. He didn't suddenly think of it. Here's another extraordinary things. Idea. God has a himself must be absolutely perfect. Why? Because he already knows everything. So what does that mean? That means that what's ever in God must also be in his idea of himself. Whatever is in God must also be, and his idea of himself, and it must be exactly the same as it is in himself, otherwise he wouldn't have a clear idea of himself. He be ignorant about himself, and that's because he's God. Okay? So everybody got that. God has this idea. Whatever is in God must be in his idea of himself, and it has to be exactly the same.
Speaker 1 12:06 His idea as it is in himself, otherwise God wouldn't know himself. That's impossible. That's so much different than our kind of ideas that it's impossible for us to imagine. But we don't want to worry about our imaginations. We can understand it even if we can't comprehend it, we just can't imagine it. Okay. Now it gets even more interesting. Any idea we have is a thing or it is your things or idea of truth is a thing. Our idea of justice as a thing, this is not the case with God. Why not? Since whatever's in God, he must be in his idea of himself and since it must be exactly the same in his idea as it is new itself, this means that since God can know and love his idea of himself must be able to know and love. Since God can known the his idea must be able to know enough.
Speaker 1 13:07 In other words, his ideas not a thing. Cause things don't. Lone love persons can own love. His idea is a person and there's more and idea isn't just floating off in space somewhere. Huh? Ideas don't drift off there inside the thought mind. Other tinker thought is in the mind of a thinker. Huh. So this one idea of God has to be in the same identical natures, the thinker. So God said he of himself as a person, but it's in the same nature. God has conceived within his own nature, its infinite nature, a perfect infinite idea, which because it is an idea, it's completely within his nature. And because it's a perfect idea of himself, it completely contains his nature, his idea, God's idea of itself isn't eternal, unchanging idea. The eternal, unchanging word. The thinker is the first person of the most holy trinity, the father, the idea, the word is the second person of the most holy trinity, the son.
Speaker 1 14:28 So what does God think about in his infinite mind? He thinks about himself. All right, so God thinks about himself, but whom does he love? When we have a great idea, we might even have a beautiful day. We can admire it, we can dwell in it, we can fall in love with it, but it's still only a thing. Our ideas certainly can't our love. But as we've seen God's idea of himself, this eternal word, it's not some thing, but it's some, one is the idea is a person, the second person, most holy trinity just as God is absolute and infinitely perfect and worthy of all love. So also his idea is absolutely an infinitely perfect and worthy of all love. And so the thinker, the father and the word the son love each other with a perfect, an infinite love. Each person pours himself out totally towards the other than holding nothing back.
Speaker 1 15:31 And this love that the father and son have for each other is eternal. It's unchanging. And you don't fall more or less enough. It's unchanging. It's infinite as every perfection they do. It's a person, someone the third person, the most holy trinity. And of course the love that the father and son have for each other totally fills their nature, produced the third person from all eternity. But again, where's this love found? It's within the same divine nature. So the second person, the word the son proceeds from the father by way of the intellect, the third person, Holy Spirit, the holy ghost proceeds from the father, son by way of the will, one divine nature. It's totally expressed as thinker told, expressed his word, totally expressed as love. One divine nature. Three divine persons, one divine nature. Three divine persons. What are you questioned about nature guy?
Speaker 1 16:39 Who are you? It's a question about persons, father, son, Holy Ghost. These are three distinct persons but not three separate persons. It's very important. Three distinct persons, not three separate persons. They don't share the divine nature. They don't share the divine nature. Each one possesses the divine nature to hoadly. The father possesses it. Totally. The son possesses it totally. The Holy Ghost is it? Totally. Okay. Now we're in the more luminous darkness. Let's review. Since God is infinite spirit, any picture we may cause the most totally trinity is wrong. We can't help making pictures cause that's where imagination does. But the picture is wrong. Mystery is an inexhaustible truth that we can ever completely understand. But as we kind of played at Lincoln, keep penetrating deeper and deeper into it. Okay. Nature tells us what is it? Person tells us what nature tells us, what is it and what can it do per to tell this, who is it, who's actually doing it?
Speaker 1 17:43 God's idea of himself, the eternal word is a person just as God absolutely infinitely perfect and where they fall in love. So also his ideas absolutely and intently perfect are worthy of all love instead of the father. His idea, this word love each other with a perfect and infinite love. Each person pours himself out and totally towards the other. They hold nothing back and this love with the father's son pour out towards each other is an eternal, unchanging, infinite person. The Holy Spirit, the whole Ecos, the third person for the most blessed trinity, the second person that were the son proceeds from the father generated by way of the intellect. The third person, the whole ecos proceeds from the father and the son. By the way, the Will God's three distinct persons, not three separate persons. These three divine persons do not share the divine nature. Each one possesses it totally.
Speaker 1 18:43 The father possesses it totally. The son possesses the totally. The Holy Ghost possesses it totally okay for things he can do first. He can pray for light to come to a deeper understanding, not a better picture at your thinking, to help a deeper understanding of this mystery. Second, we want upon ponder the words and then I seen create. You're about to sing. 30 can ponder the words and the preface of today's mass, and if you're using the red missile, today's the one day it matches up with everything and forth. Ponder the words and the half nation creed that's printed in the bulky today they create. It goes into great detail, theological detail on the mystery of the most holy trinity. Let's close with a passage from the fourth ladder and council held them 1215 we firmly believe and simply confess that there's only one true God, eternal and in measurable, Almighty, unchangeable, incomprehensible and ineffable. Father, son and Holy Ghost. Three persons, but absolutely one absolutely simple essence, substance or nature. The father is from none. The Sa son from the father alone and the holy ghost from both equally, eternally without beginning or end, the father generating the son being born and the holy ghost proceeding consubstantial and coequal co infant omnipotent and Co eternal.
Speaker 1 20:23 And one of the most amazing things about all that is that we learned the state of gray. All this procession, the son proceeding from the father and the Holy Ghost proceeding from both and is happening in the depths of our souls. <inaudible>.
