Septuagesima Sunday

The Catechism teaches that Baptism is celebrated “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Though Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are named, there is only one God, and the faith of all Christians rests on the Most Holy Trinity (CCC 232–233). This mystery is central to Christian faith and life, illuminating the other mysteries of faith and the history of salvation, in which the one true God reveals himself and reconciles people who turn away from sin (CCC 234). Through the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfills his loving plan of creation, redemption, and sanctification (CCC 235). As we reflect together, we can remember that God’s works reveal who he is, while the mystery of his inmost life helps us understand his works. The Trinity is a mystery of faith that cannot be known unless God reveals it, and God’s inmost Trinitarian being is inaccessible to reason alone (CCC 236–237).

In the Catechism, God is called “Father” as Creator of the world, as the Father of Israel through the covenant and gift of the law, and as the loving protector of the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed. This name expresses both God’s first origin and transcendent authority, as well as his goodness and loving care for his children. Human fatherhood and motherhood can point toward God, yet human parents are fallible; God surpasses every human distinction and is the source and standard of all fatherhood and motherhood. Jesus reveals God’s fatherhood in an unparalleled way: God is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, and the Son is eternally related to the Father. The Church therefore confesses the Son as truly God, eternally begotten and consubstantial with the Father.