Prayers of the People: One for All and All are One, Trinity Sunday, Yr C

for Sunday May 22, 2016, Trinity Sunday, Readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Ps 8, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15

          Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the Glory of God....we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us. 
[Romans 5:1-5]
          Part of the condition of being human, it seems, is the need to be rational about the irrational, to make sense of out of what we don't understand so that we can find something of value or usable in it. Great thinkers and ponderers, researchers and scientific minds, seek to grasp the ungraspable and define the indefinable. There are also those sorts who simply must know what is unknowable to us of lesser thoughts. And there is nothing more irrational, indefinable, or ungraspable than the theologically mysterious Christian concept of The Trinity. All manner of councils, creeds and conjecture have sought to develop a workable, understandable, useful definition out of a non-scriptural but closely held doctrine of many Christian faith communities. 

12th Century diagram of The Trinity

          This is the Sunday which sends many practiced preachers running for the list of available surrogates to fill in so as to dodge those unanswerable questions. The group of lessons appointed for today are, as usual, not terribly helpful in expounding upon what we, of those particular Trinitarian groups, are to merely understand or, at least, accept without question. That said, the passage from Paul's Letter to the Romans gave us a sort of taste of the workings of our co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial whole and entire God. In John's Gospel, Jesus, still in his pre-Pentecost Farewell Discourse in this reading, is explaining to the disciples how they will soon understand all they need to know through the coming of the Holy Spirit. They must have been nearly cross-eyed after all they had experienced in the prior month. 
          With the millions of pages of commentaries, books, treatises, etc., available on Google and Wiki-places and untold thousands of websites, and the innumerable hours of sermons we've attempted to listen to (or write), centuries later we're still trying to put the pieces and Persons of the Trinity together in a way that helps us to explain to ourselves, let alone others, what it is that we believe. Step back, take a breath, some things are simply not simple. Mystery is just that. Faith is a mystery, with the Peace that passes all understanding. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier; One for All and All are One. AMEN. Alleluia! 

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, You are our One God, as Almighty Creator and Lord of all, as Lord of Revelation and Salvation through Christ Jesus, and as Lord and Life-giver through the Holy Spirit. Guide us to seek the love You have poured into our hearts that we may live as vessels of faith in action.

O God of Grace and Glory

RESPONSE:           To You, O Lord, we pray

~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, instill the ethical and moral character that produces hope for universal justice, mercy, and peace, in all the leaders of this world, this country, and this community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Grace and Glory

To You, O Lord, we pray

~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, grant endurance and optimism to all in continuous suffering of body, mind, or spirit, and vigor to those who give support. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

O God of Grace and Glory

To You, O Lord, we pray

~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, temper the anguish of those in mourning, as You delight in the arrival of the souls of the Faithful, returning Home for new life everlasting. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

O God of Grace and Glory

To You, O Lord, we pray

~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

O God of Grace and Glory

To You, O Lord, we pray

~ Holy and Blessed Trinity, continually replenish the stores of spiritual discernment for all who inspire our explorations of faith. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Grace and Glory

To You, O Lord, we pray

                                                                                                        

The Celebrant adds: God of the Heavens and the Earth, our complete Source of Faith, Love, and Hope, urge our earth-bound hearts to seek higher fulfilment as heirs and proclaimers of Your eternal Truth. We ask through Jesus, our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, who, co-eternal and co-equal with You, reign as our One True God, forever, and ever. Amen.

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