Our Faith is not Based on Mystery

by Letters Editor · October 15, 2018

Peter Hoar, Waterfall, KZN – I feel I need to reply to Lynn Peterson’s letter regarding my letter about devotion to Mary.

In her letter she says our faith is based on mystery and belief. The act of consecration requires belief and the Trinity is a profound mystery.

I don’t believe our faith was ever meant to be based on mystery, but on the clear and well-documented teachings of Jesus in the Bible.

The Only Mystery is the Eucharist

The only incident related in the Bible that is a mystery takes place at the Last Supper, when Jesus institutes the Eucharist.

As regards the Trinity being a profound mystery, I do not agree: nowhere in the Bible does Jesus portray this as a mystery. He in fact does the exact opposite: he speaks on numerous occasions of the Father in heaven. He speaks about the Holy Spirit as a gift from his Father, and the Holy Spirit is reported appearing on several occasions in the Bible.

So there is a Trinity, but not a mysterious Trinity. Three distinct people make up the Trinity: God the Father; his Son Jesus; and the Holy Spirit, a gift from God to mankind.

Because the Church declares the Trinity a mystery, three persons in one God, we wrongly believe that Mary is the Mother of God, when in fact she is the Mother of Jesus.

As I stated in my letter, this makes Mary a special and Blessed woman, who should have a place of honour and love in our lives.