My Dear People, 

This week’s Gospel is on the meditation of the Trinity. Here Jesus continues to teach the Apostles about the Spirit, but in the process, He explains the relationship of the Spirit to the other Persons. 

“When He comes, the Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” In other words, the word “you” is second person plural. Jesus is speaking to the Apostles as a group. They are the seed and nucleus of the hierarchy of the Church, the font of the Episcopal conference. So, when the successors of the Apostles are gathered together, as they once were in the Upper Room, the Spirit will not fail to lead them into the fullness of God’s truth. 

“He will declare to you the things that are coming.” This line seems strikingly prophetic since it is written down by John, the Apostle whom tradition identifies as the author of Revelation—the book which reveals all the things that are coming soon. 

“Everything that the Father has is mine; . . . He will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” Here we see the unity of the Godhead as well as the principle of the development of dogma. 

The Father and Son are united! They commonly possess all; and out of the treasury of this infinite common goodness, the Spirit and the mystery of God and His saving works is too infinite to be exhaustively written down. Knowing this, Jesus did not leave the Apostles and the Church with a book but with the Spirit, who would continue down through the ages “taking from what is mine” and “declaring it to you.”

This is what, in fact, has happened. Down through the ages, the Church has entered ever more deeply into the mystery of God. The doctrine of the Trinity is itself a good example. The reality of the Trinity is the foundation of the cosmos. God has always been, always will be, Triune. The Scriptures bear witness to this fact even if they do not define the Trinity in its particulars. 

The definitions and particulars had to be worked out over centuries, as the Spirit took from what is mine and declared it to you--through the writings of the saints and the decisions of the Councils. Gradually, the picture of the truth became even sharper, reaching a milestone of clarity at the Council of Chalcedon 1451. The picture did not change and never will. This is not an evolutionary process. Rather the picture became more clear and better defined. 

We might wish we had lived in the time of the early Church (when we imagine there was more energy and purity of faith.) That may be, but we should be grateful we live now, because  now we benefit from the vastly superior clarity the faith enjoys today.

 In those ancient days, if someone had claimed Jesus had been created, you would have known instinctively that he or she was wrong, and you would have had some Scriptures (i.e. the Gospel of John) to rely on, but you would be without any clear, definitive written judgment of the Church. Now, almost every person on the globe can access the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church—which is delightfully clear and specific—via the internet in seconds. Never has it been so easy to know the truth of salvation. 

We should be grateful for the many Councils, Fathers, and Doctors of the church through the centuries who have been instruments of the spirit, enabling Him to “take from what is mine and declare it to you,” enriching and clarifying the faith and the truth of God for our benefit, making it easier to believe and to live a life of holiness. 

“Everyone to whom much is given of him, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). Throughout the history of the church, the Spirit has given us much from the Father and the Son, a great body of teaching to “guide us to all truth.” 

This Sunday let us give thanks to the holy Trinity for the riches and clarity of our faith and all the teachings we have received that help us understand and practice the way of salvation. 

Further, let’s beg the Holy Trinity for the actual graces we need to give a good return on the “deposit of faith” that we have received in apostolic outreach and good works. 

[Parts taken from Reflection on Sunday Readings for Year C by Dr. John Bergsma]

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente