Monday, June 16, 2014

Thoughts on the Trinity: Trinity Sunday (replaces 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time)


            Praise the Holy Trinity,
            Undivided unity,
            Holy God, mighty God,
            God immortal be adored.
            As we resume Ordinary Time, we continue to celebrate the great mysteries of our faith.  Today the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time is replaced by the solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
            Fr. Rich and I were recently speaking to some of our high school students and Fr. Rich asked them, “How many Persons are in the Trinity?”  One individual replied, “Thirteen.”  Fr. Rich was surprised and asked, “Can you name each person?”  The student began with, “Well, I’m one of them.” 
            Just to be clear, we do not think there are thirteen members of the Trinity, nor are any of us a member of the Trinity!  Remember, there are three Persons in the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—yet one God.  This is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith. 
            In seminary I took a course devoted strictly to the Trinity.  To prepare for our final our professor gave us a single sheet of paper.  I’m not kidding, there were over thirty arrows on this single page, hundreds of words in size six or eight font and words like aspiration, spiration and procession.  I think I knew more about the Trinity before taking this course!  Yet I do not say this to denigrate the class—indeed, we know less about the Trinity than we actually know.  That’s why it is hard to describe God’s unity in Trinity in everyday terms. 
Every analogy for the Trinity falls short, but the best one I have heard is to picture the sun.  The sun itself represents God the Father.  We perceive the sun with our vision, and Jesus Christ reflects the Father to us.  Finally, we can know the sun’s presence by its heat.  This relates to the Holy Spirit that warms our souls.
Our spiritual and sacramental lives are permeated with the Trinity.  Remember, every time we pray we begin and end with the Sign of the Cross—“In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The Mass is saturated in the Trinity.  Recall the opening greeting: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  Our prayers usually conclude, “We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.”  And every Sunday we profess the Creed.  The three main parts of the Creed are formed by the three Persons of the Trinity, as we affirm our belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Did you know that I, as a priestly representative of the faithful, am speaking to the Father during Mass?  Whenever I have my arms extended, I am either addressing the Father or offering sacrifice to Him.  This sacrifice is nothing less than Jesus’ Body and Blood and is offered in the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is present right now at Mass!
And think of the other sacraments.  How is someone baptized?  By pouring water (or immersing) three times with (in) water and declaring, “N, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  How do you receive forgiveness for sins?  By declaring your sins to Jesus through his priest and hearing the words, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  Finally, as a symbol of their vows, married couples exchange rings in the wedding rite.  They do so by saying, “N, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
What we always need to remember about the Trinity is that God is a Family.  The Father loves the Son and eternally begets Him, and this love is so great it is another Person—the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is the Family of families.  You parents share in such love—the love you offer each other sometimes leads to a third (or fourth, or fifth) person too!  Your goal should be to wrap your family in God’s love.
My we always be immersed with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Praise the Holy Trinity,
Undivided unity,
Holy God, mighty God,
God immortal be adored.

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