J.M.J. The refrain of “Sing Praise to Our Creator” is:
Praise the Holy Trinity, undivided Unity,
Holy God, Mighty God, God Immortal be adored.
The words of this melodious hymn speak of the unity of the Trinity.
Yes, three distinct Persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—but
only one God Who is “holy,” “mighty,” and “immortal.”
The third verse of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” is especially Trinitarian:
Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three We Name Thee,
While in essence only One, undivided God we claim Thee.And adoring bend the knee, while we own the Mystery,And adoring bend the knee, while we own the Mystery.
Again, we recall the unity of God, Who is three Persons in one God. The
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but equal and united.
We are constantly reminded of the Most Blessed Trinity. For example,
think of how many times daily we make the Sign of the Cross!
One Church
The Holy Trinity is the central doctrine of the Christian religion.
There are numerous aspects of this fundamental and essential dogma. One
is that of unity. In the unity of the Godhead there are three
Persons who are separate but connected. God is united in Himself; there
is no confusion or dissent. Each Person of the Trinity knows His role
and fulfills it perfectly.
The term “unity” also refers to the Catholic Church. Jesus Christ founded only one
Church—the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. These are the
four “marks” of the Church. We proclaim these when we pray the Nicene
Creed during the Mass.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “From the
beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which
comes from both the variety of God’s gifts and the diversity of those
who receive them.” But the “great richness of such diversity is not
opposed to the Church’s unity” (814).
Just as in God there is no confusion about the mission of each Divine
Person, and each Person contributes to the Godhead, so in the Church
each member is to know well his God-given task and to carry it out to
the best of his ability, thereby ensuring that the Church will flourish
in her multiple activities. Many persons with varying gifts enrich the
Church at the universal, national, diocesan, and local levels.
Preserve the Unity
There is no chance that the unity present in the Most Holy Trinity will
ever be broken or even compromised. When it comes to the Church, the Catechism
declares that “sin and the burden of its consequences constantly
threaten the gift of unity and so the Apostle (Saint Paul) has to exhort
Christians to ‘maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’”
(814).
That is not to say that what Jesus did in establishing His Beloved
Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic is a failure. The work of
Christ is without blemish. But it does mean that we can and do fail to
live up to our sacred responsibility to preserve the unity among the
members of His Church.
What is our duty here? It is threefold: to pray always that there will
be unity where Catholics find themselves; to work strenuously to respond
to God as He requires us; to encourage our brothers and sisters to do
the same.
God loved us so much, Saint John the Evangelist exclaimed, that He sent
His only Son so that “everyone who believes in Him might not perish but
might have eternal life.” Jesus the Son of God has revealed the Trinity
to us. We can come to know that God exists by our reasoning powers
alone. But our reason alone does not lead us to know the Trinity. For
that, we need faith—the gift that Jesus came to impart to us.
Unity in the Church is in some real sense derived from the unity in the Most Blessed Trinity.
The Trinity is, as Moses heard God proclaim, “a merciful and gracious
God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” The Name of the
Trinity, Who instructs us in that indispensable unity, is “holy” and
“glorious” and is “praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.”
Bidding farewell to the believers in Corinth, Saint Paul wrote: “The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” This is the best wish that we can
have for someone—and even for ourselves: that we will always be united
to the Most Holy Trinity. Then, we can better strive to imitate that
unity in the Godhead and seek to live it among all the disciples of
Christ.
Most Holy Trinity, You Who are Three Persons in One God, help us always to be united!
Mary, Chaste Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
Mary, Chaste Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
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