"The Dogma of the Blessed Trinity: Why it's so important."

Today the Church focuses our attention on the foundational dogma of our Catholic faith--the dogma of the Blessed Trinity--which affirms the fact that there are three distinct persons in the one, true God. The new Catechism tells us that the Trinity is "the central mystery of Christian faith and life." The CENTRAL mystery! Practically speaking, this means that if a person gets it wrong on the Trinity, he will probably get it wrong on almost every other aspect of the faith. To put it another way: if he has the wrong ideas in his head about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he will probably end up with the wrong ideas in his head about many other important issues--crucial issues of faith and morals. It's like taking the wrong exit on the highway. That one, major wrong turn will lead to another wrong turn, and another, and another. Jehovah's Witnesses, those who have gotten involved in the New Age Movement or in certain cults: these are all people who have either rejected the dogma of the Trinity, or grossly misunderstood it. Therefore, it's essential that we develop a proper understanding of what the Church means in affirming this truth. All this came to mind the other day after I read young Danny Dutton's homework assignment. Danny is an 8 year-old boy from Chula Vista, California. Recently everyone in his class was asked to write a paper about God. Here's what Danny wrote in his:

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.

He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people (like preachers and things) pray at times besides bedtime.

God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this.

Because he hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. [Now there's an uplifting thought for Fr. Ray!]

But he was good and kind like his Father and he told his Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said, "OK."

His Dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth, so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore; he could stay in heaven. So he did.

And now he helps his Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God.

Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you (like to camp), but God can.

It is good to know he's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And that's why I believe in God.

Now there's certainly a lot that's right about Danny's paper. For instance, I definitely wouldn't argue with him about the necessity of going to Mass every Sunday! But his understanding of the Trinity obviously needs some modification and refinement. St. Athanasius, for example--the great defender of the divinity of Christ--would certainly not approve of Jesus being compared to a very important secretary (no offence to any of the secretaries here present!). Because to do so is to imply that Jesus is not equal to the heavenly Father; and that, quite simply, is heresy. Specifically the Arian heresy!

"Fr. Ray, you're nitpicking."

No, I'm not. Because if Danny doesn't believe that Jesus is God, then he will not believe that Jesus' words are God's words! And if he thinks that Jesus' words are not the words of an infallible God-- if he thinks that the words of Jesus are merely the words of a fallible human being--then Danny won't take them very seriously in his life. He'll obey them, but only if he feels like it.

Thankfully, regarding the Holy Spirit, Danny seems to be doing a little better. In John 15: 16, Jesus promised his disciples that the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity would be sent to them from heaven to be with them always. Danny seems to understand the implications of this promise, because at one point in his paper he says, "Your parents can't go everywhere with you (like to camp), but God can." Now think about the positive difference that correct idea about the Trinity will make in Danny's future life. If he really does believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person who is always with him, and who loves him with an eternal love, then he will have an unshakable peace in his heart.

Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's, some people have mistakenly bought into the idea that dogmas don't really matter. That's a lie! They do matter; they matter a great deal. That's why we adults need to learn the dogmas of our Catholic faith by studying them in the new Catechism, and it's why we need to pass them on to our children. Dogmas and doctrines directly influence our thoughts; and, as the old saying goes, "Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."