We’ve arrived at Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday in what we
call The Season after Pentecost, and the Roman Catholic Church calls Ordinary
Time. From now until the beginning of Advent, each Sunday will be numbered
with its weekly distance from Pentecost Sunday, which was the end of
Eastertide. So, how do you think about the Trinity?
Many of us were raised to simply wonder about this enduring mystery, or
to dismiss it, or to merely ignore it. A frequent image we’ve been given of the
Trinity is two men and a bird within a triangle. It’s well past the time to
think outside of that triumvirate.
The imagery of the Holy Trinity is as varied as it
is old and has always been intended to help us and all who came before us,
attempt to articulate that for which there are no adequate words or images. The
Dove of Peace and Tongues of Fire are two examples. God is an old man on the
Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Creation of Adam. Perhaps
Michelangelo painted the white bearded God as old metaphorically to suggest
God's timelessness that is impossible for human comprehension. Jesus was human
as well as Divine so that is maybe a bit easier to grasp, except he is too
often depicted as a lighter-haired, blue-eyed European rather than the brown
middle-eastern Jewish man he was. But how to express pictorially the
inexpressible? Perhaps St. Patrick really did use a shamrock to explain how
three are all in one. All of history has tried to understand the Triune God,
Jesus, and the Holy Spirit yet with mere human understanding we simply cannot. And,
until very recent times, as religious leaders, theologians, Scripture
translators, and of course heads of governments and legislators, etc., were
predominately male, so too is the language. One significant exception is in the
Hebrew Testament and theology, Wisdom is female. [for one
example see Proverbs 8:1-4]. Of course, a mystery explained is no longer a mystery no matter what
the gender references.
There is no specific Scriptural
reference to the Trinity. The Jews knew God as the Wisdom, the
Power, and the Glory and tried to wrestle with ways to make God relatable to
humans. It was through Jesus that the Apostles came to know God as their
personal “Father” made manifest in the Jesus they knew and came to understand
as God’s Son. The Holy Spirit fell upon them with the Gifts that gave them, and
us all, the Great Commission in this Gospel ~ to go forth and
make disciples of all nations. Yet, without going too far down a rabbit hole
here, it is important to note that throughout all human history, parental language
in Scripture can be a significant distraction for those with the experience of
parental abuse.
The mystery of the Trinity is nothing
if not confounding and controversial. One God/Three Persons ~ separate yet one,
equal with different roles that are ultimately the same, belief in one is meant
to be belief in all and the One that is the same but different. Got that?
That’s probably why we have Trinitarians, Unitarians, and No-tarians.
Franciscan theologian Fr. Richard Rohr tells
us that "...Niels Bohr, [a Danish
physicist who was a major contributor to quantum physics and nuclear fission] said the universe is 'not only stranger than we think, but
stranger than we can think...' The doctrine of the Trinity is saying the same
thing: God is not only stranger than we think, but stranger than we can think...Perhaps much of the
weakness of the first 2,000 years of reflection on most of our doctrines and
dogmas is that we've tried to understand them with a logical or rational mind
instead of through love, prayer, and participation itself..." Perhaps
we are called, as more than a few theologians have suggested, to be almost
a fourth person in the flow of God...
If rational knowing all that God is becomes the
substance and goal of our faith, are we merely reducing God to our human level?
More than a few writers have said that if I can truly understand God, then my
god is too small.
One of my favorite ways to
attempt a kind of explanation/understanding is through a piece of a 6th century
creed from Dublin known as Tírechán’s Creed, albeit with the
seemingly eternal and problematic masculine pronoun when speaking of God it
says:
He has a Son who is co-eternal with himself;
and similar in all respects to
himself;
and neither is the Son younger than
the Father,
nor is the Father older than the Son;
and the Holy Spirit breathes in them.
And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are
inseparable.
If we think outside the Triangle that was developed to try to contain and
explain, perhaps we can arrive at the beginning where all things are possible with, in,
and through God. So, while the mystery of the Trinity is not
solved at least we have looked beyond the image of an old man, a young man, and
a bird.
~~One of the best discussions
of this comes from a book written by renowned New Testament Scholar Sister Sandra
M. Schneiders, I.H.M. in her book Women and the Word (Paulist Press 1986)
Here’s a link to an article that is well worth the read for food for thought: https://uscatholic.org/articles/199005/god-is-more-than-two-men-and-a-bird/
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ Divine and Holy Trinity, from
You is every form of the Creation and its Life, including our redemption and
the fire of Pentecost within us. Even with all You’ve given, we beg You yet
again, to urge our souls to discard the obstacles of our own making, that
prevent us from fully dedicating our lives to You.
Creator-Redeemer-Spirit
RESPONSE: In the high vault of heaven, glory to You
~ Divine and Holy Trinity, quicken our fervor with the intellect, love, and
courage You have instilled in us, to exhort the political leaders in this
Nation, on this Planet, and in our Community, to immediately turn to principled
governing with integrity, mercy, justice, and peace. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
Creator-Redeemer-Spirit
In
the high vault of heaven, glory to You
~ Divine and Holy Trinity, infuse an extra measure of the grace of hope
upon all who are ill in mind, body, or spirit, along with strength and
perseverance for those who give them continuing care. We now join our
hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions
Creator-Redeemer-Spirit
In
the high vault of heaven, glory to You
~ Divine and Holy Trinity, in our earthly grief, we cling to the
knowing that You carry those who have left our realm, into the warmth of
holy comfort and the peace of Your life everlasting. We pray especially
for… add your own petitions
Creator-Redeemer-Spirit
In the high vault of heaven, glory to You
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