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The following is a summary of Fr. Tom's PowerPoint presentation at the "The Creed- One God" Parish Night:
Meditation QuestionWhat signs do you see around you that remind you of God?The CreedWhy are we studying the Creed?
"' I believe' (Apostles' Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. 'We believe' (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. 'I believe' is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both 'I believe' and 'We believe'" (CCC 167)The first part of the Creed deals with God the Father. The second part of the Creed deals with the second person of the Trinity, Jesus. The third part pertains to the Holy Spirit. "and so the Creed is divided into three parts: "the first part speaks of the first divine Person and the wonderful work of creation; the next speaks of the second divine Person and the mystery of his redemption of men; the final part speaks of the third divine Person, the origin and source of our sanctification. These are 'the three chapters of our [baptismal] seal'."(CCC 190)The Creed ends in "Amen" because it is a prayer. We believe "in" one God. It is a relationship that is not distant. We are involved. The Nicene Creed stems from the two first ecumenical Councils:
"Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is 'consubstantial' with the Father, that is, one only God with him. The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed 'the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father'."(CCC 242)The Church really wrestled with the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Changes to the wording of the Creed came about through controversy: "The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God's Son 'come in the flesh'. But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed that the Son of God is 'begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father', and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that the Son of God 'came to be from things that were not' and that he was 'from another substance' than that of the Father." (CCC 465)Jesus brought the full revelation of God, but our understanding is incomplete. The Jesus event will never be exhausted; it continues to develop and grow. BeliefWhen we recite the Creed we affirm that we believe in God, that God exists. God revealed himself to us:"'But,' said Moses to God, 'when I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?' God replied, "I am who am." Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you." God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. 'This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.'"(Exodus 3:13-15) "God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally."(CCC 203)back to top One GodThe connection to the Old Testament is critical."Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!"(Dt. 6:4)There is one God for all people: "Does God belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also to Gentiles, for God is one and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised through faith." (Rm 3:29-30) "Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, 'In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.'" (Acts 10:34-35)God revealed himself as the one described in Exodus as "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (Ex. 34:6) The implications of faith in One God are:
God the FatherWe understand God's fatherhood to be revealed most clearly in Jesus. We know God as Father because Jesus calls God his father.Examples in Matthew's Gospel:
The AlmightyGod is all powerful."Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Or who has given him anything that he may be repaid? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."(Rm. 11:33-36)What are we saying? "Of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it 'is made perfect in weakness'." (CCC 268) Creator"In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth..."(Gen. 1:1) "All of these look to you to give them food in due time. When you give to them, they gather; when you open your hand, they are well filled. When you hide your face, they are lost. When you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust from which they came. When you send forth your breath, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD be glad in these works!'"(Ps 104:27-31)Creation is constant renewal and is at work in human events "Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Is. 42: 5-7)The New Testament talks of new creation: "Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them, and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection. God 'gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.' (Rm. 4:17-24)and since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him." (CCC 298) "In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the 'plan of his loving goodness', which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ." (CCC 315)back to top Heaven " Earth"The Scriptural expression 'heaven and earth' means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other"(CCC 326) Seen & Unseen"Seen and Unseen" makes Gen. 1:1 language even more precise by making clear that those words include absolutely everything that exists. No part of creation is to be rejected."For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the invocation of God in prayer." (1Tim. 4:4-5) |
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