Jesus is our link to the Father and the Holy Spirit

Sometimes Catholics muse, "What does it mean for me to be a Catholic? What more can I do to grow in my faith?" As a result, we may rush around, seeking to do good deeds to prove our Catholicity. Nevertheless we sometimes feel that we are not growing any closer to God-certainly not growing as close to him as we would like.

But first and foremost, as baptized persons, we are called, not so much to work very busily doing things, even very good things. No, rather, first and foremost, we are called to live in relation to a personal God, to center our lives in him, to deepen our relationship with him.

In this effort to live out this relationship with God, it is of vital importance for us to realize that God is not just one but three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Father has fully revealed himself to us by communicating the other two persons to us by sending into our lives his beloved Son-our Lord Jesus Christ-and the Holy Spirit. For us human beings, the second person, Jesus Christ, is our connecting link with the other two.

This truth arises from the fact that he, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, chose to become a human being even as he maintained his divinity. He shares human nature with us. We are called to love him not only as a divine being, but also as human being.

As we mature, and hopefully attempt to grow spiritually, where do we find these three persons? The most basic source is Scripture-the Bible. The Catholic Catechism states "Sacred Scripture in the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit" (#81). Scripture is central to our spiritual lives because, in Scripture, we meet God in Jesus who is both God and man. Often referred to as the Word of God, He leads us to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

When we human beings speak of God's word, we often mean a section of the words found in Sacred Scripture. That is a correct, but not the most profound, meaning of the phrase. Again the Catholic Catechism clarifies the most profound meaning of this phrase when it states, "Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word" (#102). Note the capital "W". That single Word (through whom the Father expresses himself completely) is not just a thing but also a person-Jesus, the second person of the Trinity.

We speak of him as incarnate because incarnate means being a human being with all the qualities of a human being (cf. Hb 1:1-3). This, Jesus chose to acquire at the time of the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. When Mary responded affirmatively to the angel, she then became pregnant with Jesus. And when Mary gave birth to her baby Jesus at the time of the first Christmas, Jesus was truly her son, a human person even as he maintained his Godliness.

We accept with gratitude the very important series of beliefs that Jesus brings to us. But first and foremost, we are called to live our spiritual lives in relationship with a person-Jesus, the person from whom all truth emanates to us. Let us strive always to relate in love to the divine person who is also a human person-the second person of the Blessed Trinity and simultaneously, the human Jesus of Nazareth.

Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS is a member of the order of the Incarnate Word of the Blessed Sacrament.