The Mass

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You

O Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who are in all places and fill all things, the treasury of good things and the giver of life; come and abide in us, cleanse us from every stain, and save our spirits, O’ Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times)

Glory to the Father and to His Son, and to His Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O’ Most Holy God, Son of God, and Spirit of God; have mercy on us.  O’ Lord, cleanse us from our sins. O’ Master, pardon our transgressions. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Your Name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy (three times)

Our Father in heavenly places, holy is Your Name. Your Kingdom come! Your will be done upon the earth, even as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins just as we forgive those who sin against us. You lead us not into temptation, but You deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours’ is the Kingdom, and and the power, and the glory, of the Father, of His Son, and of His Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O eternal God, King of all creation, who has kept me safe to attain to this very hour, forgive me the sins which I have committed this day in thought, word, and deed.  Also, cleanse, O Lord, my humble spirit from every stain of my flesh and spirit. Grant me, O Lord, to pass through this night in peace, to rise from my bed, and to please Your Holy Name all the days of my life, and to vanquish the enemies, both corporeal and ethereal, that contend against me. Deliver me, O Lord, from the vain thoughts that stain me, and from evil desires. For Yours’ is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of His Son, and of His Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Into Your hands, O Lord Jesus, the Christ, I commend my spirit and body; bless me, save me, and grant me eternal life. Amen.

Most believers are nominally acquainted with the doctrine of the Trinity–One God in Three Holy Persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps I assume too much, but I believe that most Christians with any idea of what the Trinity is have some vague conception that it is an important doctrine because it preserves the peculiar belief held by Jews and Christians that God is one; not many.  When Christians begin speaking of the Christ and the Holy Ghost (Spirit) then people and/or critics begin questioning whether the monotheism of One God has not evolved into a polytheism (many gods) of the Trinity.

As a Christian, a Believer in Christ Jesus as God’s Son and Messiah (Christ), it is important for me to maintain the integrity of doctrine that our God is One (singular) and not many (Deuteronomy 6).  The Holy Spirit does not present the same challenges as The Son, for God is omnipresent and it stands to reason that we understand God as a Spiritual Being (John 4 “God is spirit”) and that as Spirit, He has hovered over the surface of the Earth (Genesis 1:2), over the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35), poured Himself out upon all mankind (Acts 2:17), and has made Himself intimately available for all who belong to His Son, Jesus (Philippians 4:5, I Corinthians 12-14, etc.).  God, revealing Himself to creation by way of His own Spirit dates back to creation, the law and the prophets and what is new under the New Testament is the intimacy with all believers that is now freely shared.

Jesus, the Christ, is another matter.  For the first hundred years of Christendom, believers and leaders who received Jesus as God’s Son did just that.  Perhaps because so many of them had seen Jesus in the flesh or had grown up around those who had witnessed the incarnate Son of God.  It wasn’t until the second and third centuries that Christian apologists or philosophers began to worry about this question: if we say that Jesus is God, does this not bifurcate the God of the Jews into two gods and take us from monotheism (one God) to a religion of polytheism (many gods)?  Finally in the fourth century, the church leadership of that time called together the second historical church council ever (the first being in Jerusalem, Acts 15).  This time it was in the city of Nicea in the year 325 AD.  This council was intent on unifying all of Christendom and that meant developing universal tenets on all the major matters of the Faith–this included canonizing the Holy Bible for Christians and settling the accusation that Christians had turned the One God into many (at least three).

From the second century on, the pursuit of knowledge quickly went askew as the “apologists” turned more and more away from Scripture and came to lean to a far greater extent upon Greek and Roman philosophy.  The more I have studied the paths the Patriarchs pursued in settling this mystery, the more I have become dissatisfied with their results.  I would suggest for any of you whom may wish to seriously examine this doctrine and begin a pilgrimage of your own discovery, to begin by reading The Trinitarian Controversy by William G. Rusch.  He is a Trinitarian himself, but presents the history of the doctrine and its evolution in a scientific approach, meant to be meaningful information to any student of religion or history.  It will prove a great way for you to settle the matter of what is the Trinitarian Doctrine, and then you will be able to temporarily lay it aside as you return to Scriptures and let them speak to you about the nature of God and of His Son, Jesus the Christ.

It is with trembling humility that I have approached this study for my own personal walk with God.  I will publish more of my discoveries as they become solid enough to relate in any way.  My wife will attest to the fact that I think out loud.  Furthermore, she can verify that I get very frustrated trying to give voice to this particular study, this endeavor.  I generally end by saying to her, “It is far more easy to study than to relate.”

Join with me on this mission of seeking God’s wisdom.  One thing you must be prepared for–something of which the first century church certainly had a grasp: there will always be mystery.  The Eastern Orthodox call it Apophasis or Apophatic Theology–which begins with all that is unknowable.  Scripture itself tells us that God is unsearchable and unknowable, except that which He chooses to reveal to us by His own Spirit (Romans 11:33, Ephesians 3:5-13). The more I know about the road that apologists and philosophers traveled in order to construct the Trinitarian Doctrine, the more I appreciate what they wanted to understand and protect–but the less satisfying I find the answer.  As I read Holy Scripture I am filled with awe and insatiable hunger to know and receive God and His Son Jesus just as those of the first century received Them–let alone the Holy Ghost!

Remember, dear ones, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and y’all have been given fullness in Christ.” (Colossians 2:9)

In humble reverence for the revelation of God’s Son and the Gospel we share,

Friar Theo Obrastoff

Friar Theo Obrastoff discusses the false teaching that there are two separate Gospel plans–one for Jews and one for Gentiles, and some possibilities why Pauline cults embrace such notions.

Mass Cast 2010 #1  “Who do WE say that Jesus is?”

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