Day 36: The Nature of the Trinity

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 the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God." In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature." CCC 253

Today is another short reading from the Catechism, but a densely packed one. In four paragraphs the very nature of the Trinity, more like a summation of centuries of theological work by the Church, is laid out. God is One in unity and Three in Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are distinct and relative to each other without dividing their unity. Deep stuff for laymen. I do like this quote from the Fourth Lateran Council on how "they are distinct from one another in their relations of origin":

"It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds." CCC 254

 Again, deep stuff for laymen. Still, as the Catechism Companion, Vol I. notes:

We cannot grasp the Trinity. But the Triune God grasps us. (p. 76)

I also found it helpful how they explain further on what a mystery is, especially in relation to this most central of Christian dogmas:

The Catechism calls the Trinity the "central mystery of Christian faith and life" (CCC 234). The word "mystery" here does not mean a puzzle that we will eventually solve if we think about it long enough. Theologically, a "mystery" is a profound truth that God reveals to us so that we can enter into it. A Christian mystery is a call to step into the world of the divine with trust in God. The world of the Holy Trinity is infinite in terms of richness and goodness of what we begin to discover. (p. 77) 

As I've said before, it is no wonder that St. Augustine was baffled in fully understanding the Trinity and why he was told that it is impossible for our finite minds. Christ revealed much to us about God, but He still remains a mystery. Hence, the Ineffable God.

A compact diagram of the Trinity, known as the "Shield of Trinity". The Shield is generally not intended to be a schematic diagram of the structure of God, but it presents a series of statements about the correlation between the persons of the Trinity.