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Dear Stevin —
I'll answer your question, but in the future I highly suggest that you use the tools the Church has given you to answer questions like the one you have asked. You can get a used copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Amazon for a small price. Here are some links to the required resources:
If there are non-Catholic Christians or non-Christians reading this posting who are interested in what we believe as Catholic Christians in this area as well as others, they should check out my FREE Catechism of the Catholic Church for Protestants and non-Christians here:
http://www.AskACatholic.com/CCCFPP
As I said in a previous reply:
The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity. (CCC 232)
So this is a basic teaching as a Christian you should be aware of.
The Athanasian Creed gives us a simplified but heady answer:
CCC 266 "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance;
for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal." (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16).
This is a mystery no one in the Church fully understands, even the Pope.
The Catechism states:
The dogma of the Holy Trinity
253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity". The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God." In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature."
254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary." "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son." They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds." The divine Unity is Triune.
255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: "In the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance." Indeed "everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship." "Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son."
So saying "All Glory To Jesus Christ" is excellent. We should say it every day, if not, multiple times during the day.
When we give glory to Jesus Christ:
- we are also giving glory to the Father, and
- we are also giving glory to the Holy Spirit and
- in doing so, we are giving glory to God.
All three Persons in the undivided Trinity are our one God in the Godhead.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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