“I will be with you always”
Today’s Gospel makes reference to the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus, who has total power over the whole universe, now empowers His apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole world. The all powerful Son of God promises to be with them, and us, until the end of time. Our mission, as His Church, is to help all people to know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Belief in the Trinity was not created by the early councils of the Church. It was given to us by God himself. It is in the Bible. The Old Testament points to the Trinity speaking about the Eternal Son who will come and suffer for the forgiveness of sins, Isaiah, and who will judge the world, Daniel, and whose Spirit will rest upon us, Ezekiel. Look at the New Testament. Start with the records of Christmas. We call these the Infancy Narratives. The Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are written to emphasize that Jesus is the Son of God and Son of Mary. Joseph was his foster father. An even deeper understanding of the mystery of Jesus presented in the Gospel of John. The theme of this gospel is John 3:16: 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. The beginning of the Gospel of John, usually called the Prologue, tells us about the Eternal Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us. The existence and the power of the Holy Spirit are also experienced throughout the New Testament, particularly in the Gospels of Luke and John and the writings of St. Paul. The Holy Spirit continues to be experienced in the Church.
Belief in the Trinity demands our acknowledging God’s infinite superiority in all areas including our rationality. Because some knowledge is beyond us does not mean that it doesn’t exist. What does exist is the pride and arrogance we all have to refuse to go beyond the limits of our minds and accept God’s mysteries. The trouble is that we humans are proud. We would like to determine who God is, what He should be like, etc. We try to fit him into our mental constructs. In doing so, we are refusing to enter into mystery.
There is an ancient story that you may have heard. It has been passed down over the centuries:
It seems that Saint Augustine was walking along a sandy beach meditating on the Holy Trinity. He kept saying over and over to himself, “How can God be both three and one? How can God be both three and one? How can God be both three and one?”
Suddenly he was distracted from his meditation by the sight of a small child with a toy bucket, carrying water from the sea to a hole in the beach.
Smiling at the child, Augustine asked, “And what are you doing?” The innocent child said, “I’m emptying the ocean into this hole.”
Augustine stopped dead in his tracks and thought, “I’m trying to do what the child is doing. I’m trying to the pour the infinite God into my finite little mind.”
Later saints, engaged in similar meditations on the Trinity, trying to get some partial glimpse into this central mystery of our faith.
For example, St. Ignatius of Loyola likened the three persons in one God to three musical notes united in the harmony of a single sound.
The Old Testament focuses on the Father who created the world.
Our Gospels focus on the Son, who redeemed the world.
And, The Acts of the Apostles and the letters of the Apostles focus on the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who sanctified and continues to sanctify the world.
And, this brings us to ourselves. What might we do to make the Trinity come alive for us in our daily lives?
One way, we might try to do a prayer exercise each night before we go to bed. We can do a three minute replay of our day.
During the first minute, pick out a high point of the day, for example, going out of our way to help someone. Speak to the Father about it and give thanks for the grace to do it.
During the second minute, pick out something bad that happened, like ignoring someone to whom we could have spoken a kind word. Then speak to Jesus about it and ask him to forgive us and to give us the opportunity to make it up to that person.
During the third minute, look ahead to tomorrow to some critical point, for example, something that we ought to do, but have been putting it off. Speak to the Holy Spirit about it and ask for the courage to deal with it in the day ahead.
This exercise combines prayer with a simple examination of conscience. In a very practical way, it brings the Holy Spirit into the nitty-gritty of our lives.
We have all probably heard about the disaster of the Hindenburg in 1937 when it exploded on trying to land in New Jersey. But we have heard very little, if anything, about its maiden voyage out over the Atlantic, when high above the ocean, Fr. Paul Schulte delivered his homily. A part of which I’d like to repeat for you:
Glory to God the Father who created the earth,
and to God the Son who redeemed the earth
and to God the Holy Spirit who hallowed the earth…
Glory to thee, Most Holy Trinity,
today, tomorrow, and forever.
Glory be the thee.