The Trinity Central Mystery Of Faith

Introduction to the trinity:

What is monotheism?
-The belief in and worship of the only one god
-Began with covenant between god and Abraham
-Grew through Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants

Catholic Christians pray "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
This may lead some to think that Catholics worship three gods, not one.
Catholics have always affirmed that god is one.

What is the trinity?
-comes from the Latin trinus, meaning "threefold"
-refers to the central mystery of the Christian Faith
-mystery
- God exists as a communion of three distinct and interrelated divine persons:

• Father
• Son
• Holy Spirit

-The Holy Trinity is a unique and defining trait of Christian Faith.
-The Catechism of the church states that the Trinity is the church's "Most fundamental and essential teaching" (234) and the central mystery of our faith, which only God can fully reveal to us.

-Many images and analogies throughout our church's history have tried  to bring clarity to this mystery of faith.
-According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity.
How does the shamrock represent the Trinity?

-The druids in Ireland looked at the shamrock as a sacred plant because its leaves formed a triad. Three was a mystical number in the Celtic religion.
The shamrock was used to represent the Trinity by St. Patrick. By doing this he could show people how the church was connected. St. Patrick used this to symbolize how The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit can be separate but also part of the same entity. But this is only a myth, as it is not supported in any factual literature in Ireland.