June 07, 2009 Trinity Sunday Year B
Many Faiths, One God
Like all of those who through the centuries have gone before us in the Faith, we begin and end our
prayers, including our celebration of the Mass, by making the Sign of the Cross: we say, "In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
In this one simple symbolic gesture and prayer, we express the great mysteries that lie at the very heart
of our faith as Christians: God is Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the One God - and that God is
revealed in the divine love for us manifested in the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
We share a faith that God is One with other monotheistic faiths. Jews and Muslims, as well as
Christians, believe that God is One and that there is no other. But, for us Christians, Oneness is not the
last word about God. We, unlike Jews and Muslims, believe that God who is One is also Trinity. We
are Trinitarian monotheists. We believe that there are Three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit -
who together are One God.
This is a very great mystery indeed, and even the greatest saints in the history of Christianity have
struggled to explain it. Some have also tried to think of a better word than 'persons' to describe the
Three. We say 'persons' because we mean that each of the Three relates to us personally, but we do not
mean that they each belong in the one divine life. We definitely do not believe in three gods!
Christians also hold that Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the one same God. In the course of his
papacy, Pope John Paul 11 repeatedly stressed that Muslims and Christians believe in and worship this
One God. This was powerfully demonstrated when John Paul II invited representatives of the world
religions to come to Assisi in January 2002 Gust a few months after the terror of 9/11) to pray together
for peace. John Paul II deliberately chose the town of Assisi in Italy for that momentous gathering, for it
was St Francis of Assisi who, some eight centuries ago, in 1219, had entered into dialogue with Islamic
leaders in the course of the Fifth Crusade.
There can be no doubt that the God encountered by Abraham, the God in whose name the prophets
spoke, the God whom John the Baptist proclaimed, and the God whom Jesus taught his disciples to call
Abba, is the one same and true God worshiped by the three communities of believers, Jews, Muslims
and Christians.
In this shared belief in the One God lies our hope for a more peaceful world. Sadly, our world is sorely
afflicted with wars and situations of violent unrest which often involve inter religious tension and
intolerance. The way to peace among the nations is the way of peace among religions. Our faith in God
who is Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - inspires us to respect and treasure diversity among
peoples and it motivates us to work for a more tolerant, respectful and peaceful world.
Anne Hunt
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
Many Faiths, One God
Like all of those who through the centuries have gone before us in the Faith, we begin and end our
prayers, including our celebration of the Mass, by making the Sign of the Cross: we say, "In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
In this one simple symbolic gesture and prayer, we express the great mysteries that lie at the very heart
of our faith as Christians: God is Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the One God - and that God is
revealed in the divine love for us manifested in the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
We share a faith that God is One with other monotheistic faiths. Jews and Muslims, as well as
Christians, believe that God is One and that there is no other. But, for us Christians, Oneness is not the
last word about God. We, unlike Jews and Muslims, believe that God who is One is also Trinity. We
are Trinitarian monotheists. We believe that there are Three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit -
who together are One God.
This is a very great mystery indeed, and even the greatest saints in the history of Christianity have
struggled to explain it. Some have also tried to think of a better word than 'persons' to describe the
Three. We say 'persons' because we mean that each of the Three relates to us personally, but we do not
mean that they each belong in the one divine life. We definitely do not believe in three gods!
Christians also hold that Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the one same God. In the course of his
papacy, Pope John Paul 11 repeatedly stressed that Muslims and Christians believe in and worship this
One God. This was powerfully demonstrated when John Paul II invited representatives of the world
religions to come to Assisi in January 2002 Gust a few months after the terror of 9/11) to pray together
for peace. John Paul II deliberately chose the town of Assisi in Italy for that momentous gathering, for it
was St Francis of Assisi who, some eight centuries ago, in 1219, had entered into dialogue with Islamic
leaders in the course of the Fifth Crusade.
There can be no doubt that the God encountered by Abraham, the God in whose name the prophets
spoke, the God whom John the Baptist proclaimed, and the God whom Jesus taught his disciples to call
Abba, is the one same and true God worshiped by the three communities of believers, Jews, Muslims
and Christians.
In this shared belief in the One God lies our hope for a more peaceful world. Sadly, our world is sorely
afflicted with wars and situations of violent unrest which often involve inter religious tension and
intolerance. The way to peace among the nations is the way of peace among religions. Our faith in God
who is Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - inspires us to respect and treasure diversity among
peoples and it motivates us to work for a more tolerant, respectful and peaceful world.
Anne Hunt
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
