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ONLINE CLASS PORTALINQUIRY 3- THE HOLY TRINITYWednesday, September 16th, 2026Evangelists:
Father Greg Beaumont Deacon Darren Caskey |
REAL QUICK HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS:PLEASE TEXT Shannon Counihan at 661-805-0218 IF:
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Mini Marriage retreat - Saturday September 26th
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9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Cost $30 per couple Presented by Deacon Clyde & Anita Davis This mini marriage retreat is designed for couples who are preparing for marriage, couples who are thinking about getting married, and married couples wanting to spiritually enrich their marriage. Class materials, lunch and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by Sept. 24th. 661-822-3060 or email [email protected] |
prayer journal homework:
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Question 1: Who are the persons of the Holy Trinity?
Question 2: What is your personal relationship to each member of the Holy Trinity? Question 3: How can you improve your relationship with the Holy Trinity? (Hint: through prayer, discernment, and surrender) |
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catechism of the catholic church (ccc)
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LOOK UP THESE TOPICS:
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Attributes of God:God is self-existent, the great “I Am.” Nothing created Him; He did not originate from anything or anyone. He is self-sustaining—life and existence itself—never aging, never born, never dying.
Though often depicted as an old man with gray hair, He exists beyond time and space and cannot age. God is unchanging, perfect, neither becoming more nor less perfect, always remaining the same. He is all-knowing, needing no learning, aware of everything. Eternal and infinite, He spans the past, present, and future forever. He is omnipresent, without limits, present everywhere in creation. God is impassable, immune to vulnerability, coercion, manipulation, or harm. All-powerful, nothing is beyond His ability. |
what is the holy trinity?
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Even from the beginning, there are people who have accepted that Jesus is God, and that God is a Holy Trinity. There are also people who do not.
Today there are many who believe in Jesus in some way or another, but they do not believe in the Holy Trinity. This would include Mormons, and Jehovah Witnesses, but also many Catholics, who just haven’t been paying attention! If you ask a Catholic, “Is Jesus God, yes or no?” many of them will be confused. Part of the problem, I suppose, is that we associate the word “God” with the Father. However, the Holy Spirit is God, and Jesus is God. There are not three Gods, there is One God. |
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God is not a math problemCan math problems describe the Trinity?
1 + 1 + 1 = 3 BUT: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1 So, if you combine three different things in one way they are three, but in a different way they are still one. God is not a math problem to be solved, and wouldn’t it be incredibly foolish and prideful to say, “God is infinite almighty and all powerful, the Creator of all things, the Lord and the giver of life. And I have Him all figured out!” I do not like to reduce the existence of God into a math problem that can be figured out. God is so much more! I know God to be love, truth, beauty, intelligence and power. And I know that God desires to have a relationship of love with each of us. |
the holy trinity
To explain the Holy Trinity, sometimes we need to use different examples of things we are familiar with to help us understand that something can be at the same time both one and three:
Some people like using the scientific example of water. Water is an element, but can be in three different states of matter depending on its temperature:
It can be experienced as a block of ice, as a liquid, or as a gas, for example, steam.
Some people like using the scientific example of water. Water is an element, but can be in three different states of matter depending on its temperature:
It can be experienced as a block of ice, as a liquid, or as a gas, for example, steam.
Saint Patrick of IrelandSimilarly, Saint Patrick of Ireland likened the Holy Trinity to a shamrock.
In the year 432, the young Roman bishop was assigned to preach to the people of Ireland and was questioned about his belief in “One God” Saint Patrick famously picked up a shamrock and said “Just as these three distinct leaves are joined together by one single stem, so too are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit three distinct Persons in one true God.” |
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Saint Joseph CuppertinoMuch later, there was an uneducated farm boy who would eventually become a very holy priest who worked astonishing miracles. St. Joseph of Cupertino (The Flying Saint) liked to explain things in a very simple way from his experience as a farmer. When asked about the Trinity, he once said that if you take a horse blanket and fold it into three and place it on a shelf, you can easily see the three separate folds and yet it remains one blanket.
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Saint Augustine
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Here is a story that I like because it illustrates our ability to comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity:
St. Augustine was walking along the beach one day mentally preparing to teach a class about God. The theme for the talk was the Holy Trinity. As he walked along the shoreline he pondered how he could explain what he didn’t completely understand. He came across a little boy, who had dug a small hole in the sand and was running back and forth filling his little bucket with ocean water. St. Augustine watched him for some time and then greeted the boy, asking him what he was doing. The boy said, “I'm making a sandcastle and it needs a well, so I'm pouring the ocean into it. What are you doing? St. Augustine said, “Well, I am preparing to teach a class so I'm thinking about the Holy Trinity.” Augustine continued to watch the boy and then remarked, “That well of yours will never fill up with water. You can pour the whole ocean into that little hole, but it will never fill up.” The boy replied, “Oh I know that. But I can fit the whole ocean into my little hole in the sand long before you can fit the whole trinity inside of your little head.” |
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god is love
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God is Truth - Beauty - Justice - Mercy – Holiness - Goodness. But above all else: GOD IS LOVE.
John 4:16: God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. |
What is Love?
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LOVE, by its very nature, requires a relationship. A way to give love and to receive love. Whitney Houston made a song very popular that always makes me cringe.
“The greatest love of all is happening to me…learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” If the greatest love a person has for the love of themself, this is hell! We ourselves cannot satisfy the love that we need and desire. We will let ourselves down. Another song that makes me cringe is Flowers by Miley Cyrus, (rejecting her actor boyfriend Liam Hemsworth). “I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, I can talk to myself for hours, I can hold my own hand, I can love me better than you can.” The Love of God, from all eternity is a perfect relationship: The Father gives the very presence of His life and love, which is the Holy Spirit, to His Son. The Son receives that love and in return, offers the Holy Spirit of Love to the Father. |
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Reciprocal Love
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The giving, receiving, and exchanging of love is life giving. It is not contained, it is overflowing.
In the book of Genesis, we read how the work of God the Father, (the Creator) flows through the work of the Holy Spirit (which is understood as both spirit, wind and breath). God does not just think something into being. The way that He creates is by SPEAKING it into being. In this way all things were created through the Word of God. The Creation of everything is the fruit of this reciprocal love, and most especially the creation of man and woman, for we are called to be children of God. Our joy (and the meaning, purpose and direction of our life), is to be loved by God and to love Him in return. The way we love God is not only through being quiet and alone with him, (through praying and worship), but also through the love we share with one another, especially with those who are in need, for Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of people, we do for Him. |
Divine Marriage
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Man and Woman made in the image of God: an inseparable unity of life-giving love.
Genesis 1:27; 2:24 God created mankind in his image; in the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. In a holy marriage the man and woman are no longer two, but one, inseparable, giving, receiving, returning love, love that is life giving, leading to children and family. Jesus took the unity of marriage very seriously and did not accept divorce because marriage is intended to be a loving sign to the world of the life-giving unity of the Holy Trinity, and of the unity between Jesus and His Bride the Church |
The Trinity Revealed in Genesis
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It isn’t just in the beginning of the book of Genesis that we are given proof of the Holy Trinity. The story continues with the visit of God – in angels both one and three – to Abraham, promising salvation (Genesis 18)
This scripture passage shows the Trinitarian gift of salvation to God’s holy people. God himself speaks to Abraham, appearing as three men or angelic messengers, united with one voice and message. The Sacrifice of Abraham’s Son: Genesis 22– points to our Heavenly Father offering us His Son so that our sins may be forgiven. You do not have to sacrifice your own son for your sins, because God himself will provide – the lamb of God, Jesus Christ – for the sacrifice which will save you. |
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God with us
Truly, the best point of understanding the Holy Trinity is Jesus himself. Jesus leads us directly to the Father and the Holy Spirit so that we are able to understand the presence of the Holy Trinity in all the Bible from the very beginning.
The Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.”
Immanuel literally means, “God is with us.”
The Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.”
Immanuel literally means, “God is with us.”
“Hail Mary, Full of Grace…”
The Anunciation
Luke 1:26-38
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee… Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. (Jesus literally means, “God saves.”) He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have had no relations with a man?”
Luke 1:26-38
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee… Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. (Jesus literally means, “God saves.”) He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have had no relations with a man?”
The Incarnation
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… and the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God… nothing will be impossible for God.
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. This event, this miracle, is what we call the Incarnation. It means that when Mary said yes to the plan of God as proposed to her by the angel, something happened that is absolutely amazing and incredible! God who is spirit took on a human body and a human life. |
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The Word Made Flesh
John 1
John begins the proclamation of the Good News, the Gospel, the story of Jesus, by explaining how Jesus was present with God the Father from all time.
Jesus was not created in the moment of the Incarnation in Nazareth with Mary. He has always been the Son of God.
He is understood in the Bible as the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
John begins the proclamation of the Good News, the Gospel, the story of Jesus, by explaining how Jesus was present with God the Father from all time.
Jesus was not created in the moment of the Incarnation in Nazareth with Mary. He has always been the Son of God.
He is understood in the Bible as the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
The Visitation
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Luke 1:41:
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy! So, who is Jesus? He is identified as the Son of God. His name is Jesus, which means “God saves.” He is known as Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” And therefore, Elizabeth called Mary the “Mother of my Lord” that is, the “Mother of God”. |
The Nativity
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A question many people have is, "Why is Mary so important to Catholics?”
What did we just read? Mary gave birth to the Savior! That is why she is so important. Many people ask “Who was Jesus? Was he just a really gifted preacher? Was he a just man who was super holy, super special, super inspiring and able to do amazing miracles?” No, Jesus is so much more that than. He is, as the angel said, the Son of God. He is divine. He is also human. He is the Son of Mary. He does not have a human father. He does have a human mother. There was a kind of a mystical marriage between God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. A marriage between heaven and earth, between divinity and humanity. In the relationship between Mary and the Heavenly Father, through the power and presence and action of the Holy Spirit, God became man in Jesus the Christ. Mary has a personal relationship with each member of the Holy Trinity. This is exactly what was spoken of in prophecy but how few people really dared to believe it. |
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Wise Men Seek Him
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Matthew 2:7 10
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. To a newborn king, one might bow or even genuflect. They made a tremendous effort to visit the holy child. Why? Because he was a new king of Israel? How would that affect them? It says that they prostrated themselves and did him homage. That is more than kneeling, that means they laid flat on the ground as they presented their gifts. And the gifts had meaning, gold for the king of kings. Incense is for prayer, our connection with God in Heaven, who is here now on earth. And myrrh, used for burials, as a sign that by his life but especially by his death, he had come to save us. |
Baptism of JesusMatthew 3:16
After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” |
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Perfect MediatorThe reason that Jesus Christ is the perfect mediator between God and Man is that He is both God and Man.
Remember the story of Jesus who explained the love of God by comparing Him to a good shepherd. He said, if a shepherd has a sheep that is disobedient and runs away and does not do what he is told, and gets himself lost and in trouble and is going to die as a result, the shepherd doesn’t just wait and hope that the sheep on his own figures it out, finds his way back home and apologizes and makes up for it. No, a good shepherd himself will go in search of the lost sheep, pick it up, and carry it home. That is what God has done for a sinful world. He has come down from the glory and perfection of heaven to be with us in a world of suffering and hunger and pain and death, with us, Immanuel, to pick us up and carry us to himself. |
Jesus speaks of His FatherThe Miracles of Jesus show that Jesus and the Father are united as One in the Spirit.
John 14: 8: Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. |
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Transfiguration of Jesus
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Matthew 17: 1-8
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” God confirms Jesus is His Son. |
John 17:20
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
Jesus DiesMatthew 27: 54
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, Surely, he was the Son of God! |
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ONE GOD
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Here is the big problem for many Jews and why many would not believe him and would not accept him:
The cornerstone of the Jewish faith is a prayer called the Shema: The Shema: Deuteronomy 6: 1 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefor you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. There is only one God, there is no other. We are not like the people of other religions who believe in a long list of gods and goddesses. There is one God and only one God. Him alone do we adore. For a man to claim that He is the Son of God, that he is equal to God and is the presence of God, is blasphemy, evil, we cannot believe this and he should be put to death. But what about the prophecy, a virgin shall give birth to a son, who will be Emmanuel, God is with us? They did not understand and they did not believe. So, they rejected Him. |
Doubting ThomasJohn 20:27
He (Jesus) said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” |
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Pentecost
The Great Commissioning – Sending forth the Disciples to Preach and Baptize:
Matthew 28:18
Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to do all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18
Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to do all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Early Church Fathers
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A Priest named Arius and the “Arian Heresy”. He claimed that Jesus is special, but that God created Jesus at some point in time, Jesus is better than a human but less than God the Father, and that there was a time, which must be an infinite of time, when Jesus was not. The result was the Council of Nicea in the year 325 (in which Santa Claus smacked him and had to go to jail for that). The result is what we say every Sunday:
The Nicene Creed. Then, in the year 431, Council of Ephesus to further explain that Jesus is fully God and fully human, with the phrased Theotokos, the Mother of God. It does not mean that Mary is God. It means that Jesus, the human son of the human Mary, is also truly God. Jesus has always been the Son of God. From the moment of the “Hail Mary” – her yes to God’s plan – Jesus has also been and will always be the fully human son of Mary as well. |
aDditional resources
United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA)
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For further reading: Chapter 5: I Believe in God |
PowerPoint and live session Videos
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OUR NEXT SESSION WILL BE:
SACRED SCRIPTURE & SACRED TRADITION
Presented by Dr. Nathan Spencer
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | 6:30 - 8:00 PM in McMullan Hall
We warmly invite you to join us in person next week. While attending in-person sessions is preferred, online recordings will be available within three days for those who are unable to attend.
Presented by Dr. Nathan Spencer
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | 6:30 - 8:00 PM in McMullan Hall
We warmly invite you to join us in person next week. While attending in-person sessions is preferred, online recordings will be available within three days for those who are unable to attend.
You have completed this session and may submit your questions to be addressed during one of our live sessions here:
inquiry session 3: THE HOLY TRINITY
You have completed this session and may submit your questions to be addressed during one of our live sessions here:
Thank you for attending in person and/or online! This session has been completed.
We encourage you to spend time with us on Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 pm in McMullan Hall.
We encourage you to spend time with us on Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 pm in McMullan Hall.