A few years ago, I began reflecting upon the Apostles' Creed from the viewpoint of God’s overflowing love. Everything God, our heavenly Creator, has done for us has been done out of love. And this is especially true as revealed to us through God the Son—through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus—and through the coming of God, the Holy Spirit.
The Nature of Our Creeds
These creeds express
the bare bones—and key doctrines—of our faith, which we adhere to mainly with
our head (intellect), or so it sometimes seems to us. And yet we seem to know
better than that. For we also understand that love is behind it all. And we
know that “God is love,” as John writes in I John 4:16, and that God does
everything out of love.
Deep down, we seem to understand that the doctrines or
actions of God that we profess in our creeds are not simply intellectual truths
but at their core are driven by love. God is all about love, and God’s
revelations and actions are motivated by love.
That’s why I think it’s a good spiritual exercise for all of
us to walk through our creeds and, from time to time, to look beyond the words
of the familiar formulas and to also consider the motivations of divine love
that we know are hidden behind these teachings. For this exercise, we will use only
the Apostles’ Creed, which is the shorter profession of faith. It’s good to
remember, however, that the Nicene Creed that we recite at Mass, though more
complex, follows the same basic sequence of teachings as this ancient creed of
the Church.
The Apostles’ Creed (with personal reflections)
I believe in God the
Father almighty,
creator of heaven and
earth.
God did not create our immense universe and fill it with countless
creatures simply to show off God’s power and might, but out of love for all these
creatures. On the sixth day of creation, God saw all that he had made and saw
that it was very good. It’s hard to see how our Creator could see each of these
creatures as “very good” without having created each of them with great love!
Ponder Psalm 136 (verses 3-9):
“O Give thanks to the Lord…
who…made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures
forever;
who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast
love endures forever;
who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures
forever;
the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures
forever;
the moon and the stars to rule over the night, for his
steadfast love endures forever.”
I believe in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified died and was
buried.
He descended to the
dead.
Ponder the Gospel of John (the Last Supper Discourses)
chapter 15:9-12:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. This is my
commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love
than this, to lay down ones life for one’s friends.”
Ponder the Gospel of Luke (The Last Supper) chapter
22:19-20:
Reflect on the amazing love with which Jesus hands over his
body and blood in the form of bread and wine. “Then he took the bread, said the
blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will
be given for you; do this in memory of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had
eaten, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed
for you.”
On the third day he
rose again.
He ascended into
heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.
He will come again to
judge the living and the dead.
To understand better the profound love hidden behind the death
and resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into glory, we do well to reflect
on our proclaiming of “the mystery of faith” at the Eucharist: “Lord by your
cross and resurrection, you have set us free. You are the Savior of the world.”
It is with immense love that Jesus sets us free and comes in glory to judge the
living and the dead. And we see the great mercy by which he will judge those of
sincere-heart by pondering Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son. The father is
filled with compassion when he catches sight of his son, embraces him, places
the finest robe on him and prepares a feast for him. (See Luke 15:11-32.)
I believe in the Holy
Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen
St. Paul
says of the Holy Spirit, whose overflowing love is alive in all the mysteries
listed above: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). The love of God was truly poured out
upon God’s chosen ones the evening of that first Easter Sunday when the risen
Jesus, passing through locked doors, stood in the midst of the disciples and
said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then Jesus
breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you
forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain, are retained” (John 20:
19 and following). God’s saving love and mercy is surely revealed in Jesus
breathing forth the Spirit of love and forgiveness.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we see the same dynamic at work
on the feast of Pentecost. After Jesus’ ascension, the Apostles and other
disciples, including some women and Mary the mother of Jesus, were gathered
together in Jerusalem.
“And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and
it filled the whole house where they were staying. Then there appeared to them
tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:2-4).
Then Peter stood up and reminded those gathered what the
prophet Joel proclaimed: “It will come to pass in the last days, God says, that
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh….and it shall be that everyone shall
be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.” (See 2:17-21.) And later, Peter,
in his own words professed: “God raised this Jesus; of this we are all
witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the
Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it out, as you [both] see and hear”
(Acts 2:32-33).
The words of our traditional prayer, Come, Holy Spirit, provide
a wonderful summary of the mystery of God’s love: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the
hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love.”