1. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. About 20 years ago, someone loaned me a book containing letters which Mozart the musician wrote. It was interesting to me, because the letters were written in the same style as his music. They revealed the personality of the famous music Composer just like his music even though they were not poetic or musical in any way. In fact, they revealed Mozart in a new way which I was not used to experiencing. As Catholics we believe that God reveals Himself through His creation. Everything which we learn about the universe can tell us something about God, if we pay attention. For example, we can know that God exists through the use of our natural powers of intellect. A person generally does not have to be taught that God exists. The other day I heard that there are about 30 arguments for the existence of God (for example, things do not just pop into existence and there certainly seems to be some order to the universe). But there is only one argument for the non-existence of God (that is the problem of why evil exists).
2. Although the existence of God and certain aspects of the moral life are things which we can figure out on our own with our God given brains, other facets of our Christian faith must be revealed to us. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is an example. Another example is the Holy Trinity. We believe that there is one God, in Three Persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is revealed to us, we did not arrive at it using basic human intelligence.
3. The Holy Trinity is explicitly mentioned in the Bible in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus said 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 (Matthew 28:19). But how do we explain it? It is one thing to know that God is Trinity, and another matter to understand it. To be truthful, it is a mysterious fact. In the seminary we took a class for a whole semester studying the Trinity, and at the end, it was still mysterious. But there are various ways of explaining it. For example, Saint Augustine wrote that since God is love, one could say that God the Father is the Lover, and God the Son is the Beloved, and God the Holy Spirit is the Love which exists between them. After all, the Perfect Lover must have someone to love (otherwise it is just self-love, which is not perfect). And love must be reciprocal in order to truly exist (if love is not shared and returned, it is also imperfect). Perfect love between two persons becomes so powerful it is another person. Look at human love, imperfect as it is. When shared completely and returned completely, it can result in another human being.
4. Even if this explanation is unconvincing or lacks something, God is still a Trinity Persons in a Unity of Divinity. Pope John Paul II has said that in His essence, God is a community. And that communion which is interior to God is part of the image and likeness which we as humans were made to be. We are connected to others even though we may not feel like it. We are not islands or solitary beings. We are called to relate to others in the human race. In fact it is a command of Jesus Christ. He said Love one another as I have loved you... Live on in my love.
5. Although God is perfect for all ages upon ages, in His love He created us. Part of God’s plan is to make us His children- that is to unite each of us with Himself so profoundly that we begin to share His divine nature. It does not mean that we each will become the supreme being. It means that we are destined for life without end in the Home of our Father in heaven.
6. A professor told us that our homilies should include something that each listener should do. Maybe what we ought to do then is strive to live this week as if we were part of the Holy Trinity- to love others with the Love that exists between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Or maybe we can recall frequently that God the Father has chosen us to be His beloved children. That recollection may go a long way to strengthening us against envy or jealousy or an inordinate attachment to the things of the world. After all, we will be in the home of the Father for a lot longer than we will be here.
Showing posts with label Most Holy Trinity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Most Holy Trinity. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Most Holy Trinity
1. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life(John 3:16).
2. The image we have for God is very influential in our relationship with Him and with others. Many see God as a stern judge waiting to strike us down for the least mistake. Others view God as kind of absent minded inventor who has made us, and then went off to do something else. There are those who believe in many gods, in order to account for various characteristics each one possesses. A large group of people worship wealth or money, and will do anything necessary to serve their god. And of course there are a large number of people who worship themselves, especially their appetites. Whatever is pleasing to themselves they want, and other people or even the common good of society is of no interest to them if it were to interfere with getting their way.
3. But as Catholics, who do we say that God is? When we came into the Church, we blessed ourselves and said in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Not, the names, but the name. The same is true with how we began Mass: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We believe in One God, there are simply not many- that defies reason. If there were many, which would be in charge? Would not the one in charge really be god and all the rest some other kind of thing? Anyway, we believe in one God, in three persons. Not three gods, not three masks that the one god wears, not three modes of being, not three hats- three persons in One God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4. The truth of the Holy Trinity is not something which the Early through their wisdom and goodness figured out on their own. No, that God is a Trinity of Persons in a Unity of Divinity is a truth which God has revealed to us. In God, the Persons of the Trinity love one another perfectly and are in perfect union- God is a communion of Love.
5. The nature of One God in Three Persons is not simply a fact of who God is, but this fact touches (or should touch us) us in profound ways. In place of a judge, a Father, in place of a Punisher, an obedient Son who offers Himself in Sacrifice for the guilty. In place of an absentee creator, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide us on the path to holiness of life.
6. The world needs the Holy Trinity. Not simply from the point of view that the Trinity is God, and the world needs God. That is true enough, but each of us need the Trinity more than we think. God invites us into the intimate relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. As human beings we are social and communal creatures. We need community. Without community, a person will be stunted and incomplete, even from just the human point of view.
7. Consider the example of a child. Without a good healthy relationship with both mother and father, a child will not mature in a healthy manner. If there is physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual abuse, then the damage could be severe. It is very common that those who are victims in one generation become those who abuse in the next. The most common form of abuse is neglect- that is a person not having their needs fulfilled, whether they are physical, emotional, social, or even spiritual needs. Blessed Mother Theresa said that the most terrible and common form of poverty was loneliness.
8. If terrible things happen to a person and to society because a person does not have their need for community met, what would happen to us if our need for communion with God was not fulfilled. Without communion with God, a human being will be stunted and incomplete spiritually- they will not be what they are made to be.
9. God said through Scripture that even if a mother would forget her child, that He would not forget us. The love of the Holy Trinity is a relationship which God is calling us to experience and to share. This love is not affected by human weakness or sin. We cannot earn it and we cannot lose it, because it is a gift from God. We can refuse it or accept it, like any gift. We enter into this relationship most notably through the Sacraments of the Church, but for those who are aware, the love of the Trinity surrounds us at every moment of every day.
2. The image we have for God is very influential in our relationship with Him and with others. Many see God as a stern judge waiting to strike us down for the least mistake. Others view God as kind of absent minded inventor who has made us, and then went off to do something else. There are those who believe in many gods, in order to account for various characteristics each one possesses. A large group of people worship wealth or money, and will do anything necessary to serve their god. And of course there are a large number of people who worship themselves, especially their appetites. Whatever is pleasing to themselves they want, and other people or even the common good of society is of no interest to them if it were to interfere with getting their way.
3. But as Catholics, who do we say that God is? When we came into the Church, we blessed ourselves and said in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Not, the names, but the name. The same is true with how we began Mass: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We believe in One God, there are simply not many- that defies reason. If there were many, which would be in charge? Would not the one in charge really be god and all the rest some other kind of thing? Anyway, we believe in one God, in three persons. Not three gods, not three masks that the one god wears, not three modes of being, not three hats- three persons in One God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4. The truth of the Holy Trinity is not something which the Early through their wisdom and goodness figured out on their own. No, that God is a Trinity of Persons in a Unity of Divinity is a truth which God has revealed to us. In God, the Persons of the Trinity love one another perfectly and are in perfect union- God is a communion of Love.
5. The nature of One God in Three Persons is not simply a fact of who God is, but this fact touches (or should touch us) us in profound ways. In place of a judge, a Father, in place of a Punisher, an obedient Son who offers Himself in Sacrifice for the guilty. In place of an absentee creator, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide us on the path to holiness of life.
6. The world needs the Holy Trinity. Not simply from the point of view that the Trinity is God, and the world needs God. That is true enough, but each of us need the Trinity more than we think. God invites us into the intimate relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. As human beings we are social and communal creatures. We need community. Without community, a person will be stunted and incomplete, even from just the human point of view.
7. Consider the example of a child. Without a good healthy relationship with both mother and father, a child will not mature in a healthy manner. If there is physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual abuse, then the damage could be severe. It is very common that those who are victims in one generation become those who abuse in the next. The most common form of abuse is neglect- that is a person not having their needs fulfilled, whether they are physical, emotional, social, or even spiritual needs. Blessed Mother Theresa said that the most terrible and common form of poverty was loneliness.
8. If terrible things happen to a person and to society because a person does not have their need for community met, what would happen to us if our need for communion with God was not fulfilled. Without communion with God, a human being will be stunted and incomplete spiritually- they will not be what they are made to be.
9. God said through Scripture that even if a mother would forget her child, that He would not forget us. The love of the Holy Trinity is a relationship which God is calling us to experience and to share. This love is not affected by human weakness or sin. We cannot earn it and we cannot lose it, because it is a gift from God. We can refuse it or accept it, like any gift. We enter into this relationship most notably through the Sacraments of the Church, but for those who are aware, the love of the Trinity surrounds us at every moment of every day.
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