More thoughts on the Most Holy Trinity

At the conclusion of the Easter season, the Church in her Sacred Liturgy directs the Christian faithful to ponder the inner life of God Himself, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. The One who dwells in inaccessible light—He who simply is, without beginning or end—is the One we adore as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Church’s teaching that God is a Trinity of three Persons in the unity of the divine nature is a mystery not in the sense of a puzzle or riddle, but a reality whose meaning can never be exhausted. St. Catherine of Siena described the Trinity as “a sea so deep that the more I enter, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I seek.”

An ancient creed expresses the faith of the Church with striking clarity and rhythm: “The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; and yet not three uncreated, but one uncreated.” Likewise: “The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible; and yet not three incomprehensibles, but one incomprehensible.” As St. Augustine put it, “If you have comprehended it, it is not God.”

So what are we to do? Be consoled that in God there is always more. A well-known story tells of St. Augustine by the seashore meeting a child trying to pour the ocean into a small hole in the sand. When Augustine objected, the child replied, “It is easier for me to pour the ocean into this hole than for you to fit the mystery of the Trinity into your finite mind.” The mystery we celebrate this Sunday is not something to be mastered, but to be adored.

The Trinitarian mystery is at the heart of the Christian faith. Through it we come to know not only that God loves us beyond measure, but that God is Love—the eternal communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Risen Christ, we are drawn into that communion of divine love.

-Fr. Richard Hermes, S.J.

Thoughts on the Most Holy Trinity

 

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.     The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 234) teaches,   The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith.” The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin.”   The objects of the Christian Faith, such as the Trinity, are above created natures. As supernatural realities, they cannot be discovered by reason or the senses, but must be revealed by God, who alone fully knows and understands them. This makes the Trinity a mystery.   Even so, we can reason about the mysteries of the Faith by analogy to the things that we do know, showing that they are not incompatible with reason, just beyond its natural comprehension. This possibility is the basis of the various dogmas regarding the mysteries of the Faith which the Church has promulgated over the centuries, as well as of the reasoned conclusions of theologians––all founded upon the act of Faith in the truth of the mystery.

Today, we encourage you to read our special page dedicated to the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, where we answer questions such as: Where did the term “Trinity” originate?  What does it mean for God to be a Trinity?  Are the Divine Persons foreshadowed in the Old Testament? Does Jesus ever claim to be God?  On the page, we also offer a free eBook, Prayers to the Most Holy Trinity, to help deepen your love for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We hope that this page and eBook will increase your understanding and draw you closer to our Triune God.   In Christ,   Your EWTN Family www.ewtn.com

Thoughts on hope

 

Letting Go of My Wishes

From: Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit

I have found it very important in my own life to try to let go of my wishes and instead to live in hope. I am finding that when I choose to let go of my sometimes petty and superficial wishes and trust that my life is precious and meaningful in the eyes of God, something really new, something beyond my own expectations begins to happen for me.

Reflection Question: How might I let go of my wishes and live in hope today?

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” - Psalm 20: 7

Thoughts on Memorial Day

This post was originally published on Memorial Day 2015:


My wife and I went to Mass on Memorial Day and our priest told a story in his homily about a man he knew that grew up without parents.  The man's name was Matt.  Matt led a lonely life and it seemed that everything he did or tried was met with a closed door.  He joined the military and eventually was deployed into active service in Afghanistan.  On return home to the US while on leave, he seemed bitter and distant to the priest and others who knew him.  His demeanor had changed now that he had been exposed to the brutality of war.  Upon his return to Afghanistan for another tour of duty, he fought bravely for his country, but this time he was killed by enemy fire and returned home to the US again, but this time he returned in a flag draped coffin.  He was given a proper funeral Mass and burial service, and this time he went through an open door, a door which led to heaven.  At this point the priest got choked up and everyone could see that he was very moved by this story.  The story of a person he knew personally, who had fought and died for his freedom as an American.  A person who was not loved by many people on this earth, but was loved tremendously by God.  We often don't think of the thousands of people, real people, real human beings, who lost their lives for this country, when we think of Memorial Day.  We tend to think of the patriotism and the flags, but we quickly turn to thoughts of summer time, BBQ's and time off from our jobs to be with our families and enjoy a day off.  When you think about people who were touched by a soldier who gave his life, it gets personal.  We live in a great country because of people like Matt.

Scott

Thoughts on summer

Summer

For many people, summer has a lot of different parameters as far as when it begins and when it ends. For children, summer begins when school lets out for the year.  When I was a kid, that meant sometime in June, but now it means late May.  This past school year, my son was done for the year on May 22nd, and my two college girls were finished on May 8th!  For people who work for a living, Memorial Day weekend kind of marks the beginning of summer, a time when the temperatures are warmer and the local swimming pools open up.  Of course, if you go by the calendar, the official beginning of summer is on June 21st with the summer solstice.  If the weather doesn't cooperate, most anyone else will have to admit that by July 4th, Independence Day weekend, we are definitely into summer.  For a few, summer doesn't begin until you take your vacation from work and go on a trip out of town. 

People who have children in school will most likely agree that what we think of as summer, the time off between when school ends and when it begins, has definitely moved from a Memorial Day to Labor Day time period to a late May to early to mid August time period as schools nation wide have adjusted their schedules over the last 20 years or so.  For many folks, once the calendar flips over to August, vacations are over and you are buying back to school supplies and thinking about school starting again.  But really, summer is only about half over because it doesn't really end until Sept 21st. So when is summer to you?  I guess it really doesn't matter, unless you make calendars.  Enjoy the warm weather and time off of work.  Slow down and enjoy the enjoyment!

Scott

Thoughts on Pentecost

This Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost, a feast that’s often overshadowed by Christmas and Easter. Yet Pentecost is not just an appendix to Easter; it’s the fulfillment of the Paschal Mystery.

Just as Easter celebrates the passion, death, and resurrection of the Incarnate Son of God, so Pentecost, fifty days later, marks the completion of that saving work through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The risen Lord bestows his Spirit upon the Church gathered in the Upper Room around Mary, and upon the Church of every age.

Christ does not abandon his disciples. He does not leave his Body without the Spirit of Truth. Through the Holy Spirit, the Church continues his mission: proclaiming God’s saving truth about the human person and authentic human community, offering the sacraments of salvation, and forming a communion of faith and charity that anticipates the communion of saints in heaven.

The Spirit enables the Church to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. St. Paul reminds us that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” In ancient Israel, the word “Lord” named God himself. So to say “Jesus is Lord” is to confess that Jesus is truly God, and that God has revealed his face in Christ. Through Pentecost, we come to know that the one God who creates in love is the same God who redeems in Christ, the very truth we profess in the Creed.

Each Sunday, as the Church rises at the Creed to profess the Faith, this mystery is renewed. People of every language and nation proclaim in unison that there is one Faith, one Lord, one Baptism. Thus, the confusion of Babel is healed. What was separated and divided by human pride is reunited and reconciled by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And so the Church prays with hope in that same Spirit who gathered what was scattered at Babel:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of thy love. Send forth thy Spirit and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Amen.

-Fr. Richard Hermes, S.J.

Thoughts on peace

 

The Source of All Peace

From: Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit

Do not give up working for peace. Always remember that the peace for which you work is not of this world. Do not let yourself be distracted by the great noises of war, the dramatic descriptions of misery, and the sensational expressions of human cruelty. The newspapers, movies, and war novels may make you numb, but they do not create in you a true desire for peace. They tend to create feelings of shame, guilt, and powerlessness, and these feelings are the worst motives for peace work. Keep your eyes on the prince of peace, the one who doesn't cling to his divine power; the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights, and rule with great power; the one who says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (see Matt. 5:3-11). See the one who touches the lame, the crippled, and the blind; the one who speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement; the one who dies alone, rejected, and despised. Keep your eyes on him who becomes poor with the poor, weak with the weak, and who is rejected with the rejected. That one, Jesus, is the source of all peace.

Reflection Question: When you engage current events, are you more likely to feel powerless or motivated to work for peace?

“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.” - Matthew 15: 30