At every Sunday Mass, we publicly profess our faith as expressed in the words of the Nicene Creed. We declare “I believe in One God, the Father Almighty…” The most essential knowledge is acquired not through science or senses but only by faith. For example, we cannot prove we are loved. Yet the mere instant required to say, “I believe I am loved” will radically change our lives. So, it is with faith in God. We cannot put God under a microscope. As with love, the heart is our proof. There is a deep hunger within each of us, a space that only God can fill.
We also declare “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God…” By this, we are saying that we believe that Jesus doesn’t just tell us about God he shows us God; that we know God through Jesus, the Son of God: “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7).
We go on to say that we believe that Jesus is "Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father..." By this, we are saying that we believe that the Father and the Son are of the same nature. When a couple begets a child, they beget someone of the same nature as themselves. When people make something, they make something different in nature from themselves. Saying the Son is begotten by the Father expresses our conviction that the Son is equal to the Father, “True God from true God.
Next, we profess that “For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven…” By this, we are saying that we believe that Jesu became a humanbeing for our sake. There is a story about a scientist who could not understand or accept that God would bother to become a human being. One day he cameacross an ant hill. As his shadow fell across the ant hill, the soldier ants surrounded their home, protecting their inhabitants from the outside threat.The scientist thought, “If only these little creatures realized I wish them no harm.” But the closer he came the more defensive they got. After a while he realized that the only way he could communicate with the ant was to become an ant himself; he would then speak their language and they would understand his friendliness. At that moment, he understood for the first time the mystery of God becoming a human being.
As we rise to recite the creed at Mass, may our faith and trust in God be renewed, amen!
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