Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s verse does not say we should baptize in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Blessed Virgin Mary, Archangel Michael, Apostles, saints, martyrs, virgins, angels, thrones, powers, people of good will, Mother Earth, and all creatures great and small. It deliberately restricts our worship (for baptism is an act of worship) to three Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All other persons, angelic beings, and warm and fuzzy things, however nice they may be and however worthy of honor in their own ways, are not God and are not to be given the highest honor (known as “<i>latria</I>”). We fallen human creatures are “with” the Father and the Son because God has freely adopted us, even though we are sinners. The Spirit is with the Father and the Son because the Spirit is God, not a creature.
