Trinity | What You Need to Know
It is not easy to describe the Trinity, let alone understand this great mystery of the Catholic Faith. Perhaps the most important thing we can say about the Trinity is that the one and only God is truly a dynamic and self-sufficient community of love, and is therefore the source, model and goal of all other love. Thus does God reveal Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
One of the best introductions to the Trinity is found in two sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, covering the formation of the Trinitarian dogma, the dogma itself, the Divine work of the Trinity, and the special missions of the three Persons of the Trinity. Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s address on the Trinity in 1930, published as part of his book The Divine Romance in 1943, provides an eloquent second source which should move us to deeper understanding and, ultimately, to a conscious participation in the Divine love which the Trinity offers.Finally, while it may be “cheating” to call it a third single source, CatholicCulture.org recommends for deeper meditation the use of Pope John Paul II’s twenty-one catechetical audiences delivered in the year 2000. Each one is a brief reflection on a different aspect of the Trinity, perfectly suitable for daily spiritual reading and reflection.
Essential Perspective
- The Holy Trinity, The Divine Works, and the Trinitarian Missions
- The Divine Romance: The Blessed Trinity (Archbishop Sheen)
- Catechesis on the Holy Trinity (John Paul II)
Extra Reading
Among the many sets of notes, courses and writings in our collection of the works of the late Scripture scholar Fr. William Most, we have the material he developed for “The Living God” course offered by the Notre Dame Institute (now the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College). Section six provides a large number of Scriptural, Patristic and theological quotations on The Holy Trinity.
