THE FESTIVAL OF THE HOLY TRINITY: " CELEBRATES THE MYSTERY OF GOD, BOTH TRANSCENDENT AND IMMANET. THOUGH THE NAURE OF GOD IS BEYOND OUR RATIONAL EXPLANATION, WE ASCRIBE GLORY TO THE ONE WHO IS HOLY WHOSE GLORY FILLS THE WHOLE EARTH. CHRISTIANS ARE BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT,AND WHEN WE MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, WE REMEMBER OUR BAPTISM IN THE TRI-UNE GOD. BORN ANEW IN BAPTISM, AND NOURISHED AT THE LORD'S TABLE. WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT; ADMIT IT OR NOT; YOU MADE THE COMMITMENT, TO LIVE AS WITNESSES TO GOD'S LOVE FOR US AND ALL THE WORLD.
THERE WAS A MAN OF THE PHARISEES, NAMED NICODEMUS, A RULER OF THE JEWS.
THE SAME CAME BY NIGHT, AND SAID UNTO HIM, RABBI, WE KNOW THOU ART A TEACHER COME FROM GOD. FOR NO MAN CAN DO THESE MIRACLES THAT THOU DOEST. WHAT IS GOD LIKE? THIS QUESTION IS DIFFICULT, ONE THAT THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER BY URGING US TO LOOK NOT AT WHAT GOD IS ALL- POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALL WISE- BUT RATHER HOW GOD IS: IN CONSTANT RELATION SHIP. THE HEART OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. SURELY ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY.
IS THAT GOD IS MOST FULLY UNDERSTOOD AS A RELATIONSHIP OF UNITY AND LOVE THAT ULTIMATELY SPILLS OUT INTO CREATION. ALL SIMILES LIMP THEY TELL US, AND THOSE WE USE FOR GOD LIMP THE MOST. GOD AS "FATHER" IS ONE OF THEM. THE IDEA OF FATHER HOOD. IS A GOOD ONE, BUT THE REALITY WE SEE ON EARTH IS SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT. SOME FATHER'S ABANDON THEIR CHILDREN, BEAT THEM, RIDICULE OR IGNOR THEM, DAMAGE THEM PHSYCHOLOICALLY FOR LIFE. GOD IS A FATHER WHO WANTS CHILDREN MORE EAGERLY THAN ANY EARTHLY PARENTS EVER YEARNED TO SEE THEIR LOVE MADE VISIBLE. IN A NEW PERSON.ALL THAT WE ASSOCIATE WITH PARENTHOOD.
GOD IS CREATOR AND REDEEMER, TO USE HEAVY WORDS OF THEOLOGY. BUT THE BEST WORD IS STILL ABBA. SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT IF HE COULD REMEMBER ONLY ONE VERSE OF THE BIBLE ON THAT MYTHICAL ISLAND OF SHIPWRECK, IT SHOULD BE THIS: GOD IS LOVE AND HE WHO ABIDES IN LOVE ABIDES IN GOD. AND GOD IN HIM ( 1JOHN 4:16).
THE PROPHETS OFTEN HAD TO WARN PEOPLE OF GOD'S INCOMPATIBILITY WITH EVIL: THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR SIN WOULD OVERTAKE THEM AND, THUS GOD WOULD "PUNISH" THEM. BUT THE LAST WORD ALWAYS ECHOED A PARENT'S FORGIVENESS AND ENDLESS WELCOME. HOSEA SAYS IT WELL
WHEN ISREAL WAS A CHILD I LOVED HIM,
OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON
THE MORD I CALLED THEM
THE FARTHE
R THEY WENT FROM ME...
YET IT WAS I WHO TAUGHT EPHRAIN TO WALK
WHO TAUGHT THEM IN MY ARMS;
I DREW THEM WITH HUMAN CORDS
WITH BANDS OF LOVE;
I FOSTERED THEM LIKE ONE
WHO RAISES AN INFANT TO HIS CHEEKS;
YET, THOUGH I STOOPED TO FEED MY CHILD.,
THEY DID NOT KNOW I WAS THEIR HEALER ( NOW A CERTAIN MAN WAS SICK NAMED LAZARUS OF BETHANY, [THE TOWN OF MARY AND HER SISTER MARTHA
( IT WAS THAT MARY WHICH ANOINTED THE LORD WITH OINTMENT AND WIPED HIS FEET WITH HER HAIR], WHOSE BROTHER LAZARUS WAS SICK].
THEREFORE HIS SISTERS SENT UNTO HIM, SYING UNYO HIM LORD, BEHOLD, HE WHOM THOU LOVEST IS SICK. WHEN JESUS HEARD THAT, HE SAID, THIS SICKNESS IS NOT UNTO DEATH, BUT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, THAT THE SON OF GOD MIGHT BE GLORIFIED THEREBY. ( JOHN 11: 1-4).
SCIENCE HAS TAKEN ALL POETRY OUT OF CREATION, LEAVING, ONLY AN INTRICATE PATTERN OF MOLECULES AS LIFELESS AS A CLOCK. GENESIS TELLS IT BETTER. THE STORY GOD'S INSPIRED PEOPLE COMPOSED TO HOLD HIS CREATION IN POETIC GRACE IS A MASTERPIECE. THE PURPOSE OF CREATION, IT AFFIRMS, IS THE SHARING OF GOD'S GLORY WITH HUMAN BEINGS- NOT A ABSTRACT HUMAN RACE, BUT YOU AND ME, AND YOUR UNCLE TOM.
MAKE A LIST OF THE GOODNES OF GOD, THE DIGNITY OF MAN AND WOMEN, THE BEAUTY OF CREATION, THE UNITY OF MARRIAGE, THE HOLINESS OF THE BODY, THE FREEDOM OF OUR WILL, THE CALL TO RESPONSIBILITY AND OBEDIENCE. THE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. WHY DID GOD CREATE US? GOD IS HAPPY IN THE " COMMUNITY" OF THE FATHER. HE SENDS TO US PEOPLE WHO ARE SIGNS AND SACRAMENTS OF HIS LOVE; LOVING PARENTS FIRST, GENUINE FRIENDS. THESE PEOPLE GIVE US A GLIMMERING RESPONCSE THAT GOD WANTS TO LOVE HIM AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS WITH HIM. HE WANTS US TO GRADUALLY TO EXPERIENCE
A PERSONAL, INTIMATE, CONSCIOUS RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE GOD COULD NOT MAKE US ANY OTHER WAY, BUT IN HIS (IMAGE). WE ARE NOT "EQUALS" WITH GOD, AS WE ARE WITH OUR FRIENDS. BUT IT IS PRECISELY IN KNOWING THE INFINITE GRANDEUR OF GOD THAT WE DISCOVER HOW GREAT OUR DIGNITY: YET, IN THE MYSTERY OF FREEDOM, WE MUST EXCEPT HIS POWER IN ORDER TO MAKE A RESPONSE. " TO SEEK GOD". WE DO NOT EXPLAIN. EVIL MEN STOP THE HEART HIS SON IN DEATH. GOD SHOWS HOW MUCH HUMAN SUFFERING; WE CONQUER IT BY THE POWER OF THE CRUCIFIED AND RISEN JESUS, THE SIGN OF A FATHER'S CONCERN. TO THE JEWS, THE GREATEST "QUALITY OF GOD WAS NOT JUST HIS LOVE. BUT HIS FAITHFUL LOVE, HIS STEADFAST COVENANT LOVE. NO MATTER WHAT UNFAITHFULNESS-ADULTERY IN THEIR COVENANT RELATIONSHIP. THEY WERE GUILTY OF WHAT PIG-HEADED AND PERVERSE SINFULNESS. GOD WAS ALWAYS THE TENDER FATHER WAITING TO TAKE THEM BACK. THEY KNEW HE HAD TO BE JUST IT- ITWAS THEIR HOPE OF RELIEF FOR THE INJUSTICE THEY THEMSELVES OFFERED.
BUT THEY REALIZED. BUT THEY REALIZED THAT HIS JUSTICE WAS HIS JUST-NESS. HIS HOLINESS, WHICH SIMPLY COULD NOT CO- EXIST WITH EVIL. BUT GOD'S JUST-NESS IS HIS MERCY. HIS ALL KNOWING CONSCIOUSNESS IS NOT THE SUSPICIOUS
EYE OF A DETECTIVE, BUT A CONSTANT PLANNING, IF YOU WILL, HOW TO BRING HIS FREE CHILDREN TO HIMSELF. HIS BEING ALL-POWERFUL IS SIMPLY A DEFINITION OF GOD- HE IS LIMITLESS. BUT HIS POWER IS NEVER MERE FORCE. IT IS RELENTLESS BUT GENTLE PURSUIT OF THE HUMAN HEART, NEVER INTRUDING, BUT ALWAYS CALLING. GOD IS HOLY. THE WORD HOLY SEEMS TO CAUSE DIFFICULTY.
PERHAPS THE DIFFICULTY ARISES WHEN WE TRY TO APPLY IT TO OUSELVES. IT SHOULD BE ONLY USED FOR GOD. ( HE THE CREATOR-WE THE CREATION)
WHEN THE OLD ANGLO-SAXONS USED THE WORD, THEY MEANT WHOLE, WELL, COMPLETE " GOD IS HOLY" MEANS GOD IS GOODNESS WITHOUT LIMIT, LOVE WITHOUT LIMIT, BEING WITHOUT LIMIT. WE CANNOT IMAGINE THAT KIND OF WHOLENESS. REMEMBER GOD IS ONE, BUT TRIUNE. THE NEW TESTAMENT HAS NOT CHANGED THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL OF JEWISH BELIEFS: " THERE IS ONE GOD". THREE god's WOULD NOT BE GOD, BECAUSE ONE WOULD LIMIT THE OTHER. WE ALL HAVE A PASSION FOR UNITY BECAUSE WE SENSE THAT ALL THINGS MUST GO BACK TO ONE SOURCE. WE COME THEN TO THE SAME TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THE CASE OF JESUS. NATURE AND PERSON. GOD IS ONE NATURE, HIS NATURE IS TO BE GOD, DIVINE. SO IN THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION "WHAT" WE SAY, GOD IS THE ONE INFINITE BEING WHO IS THE SOURCE OF ALL BEING. ALL CREATION, ALL MEANING.
BUT WHEN WE SAY "who?" WE ANSWER, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF CHRISTIAN REVELATION, THAT GOD IS THE FATHER, SON; HOLY SPIRIT- THREE PERSONS IN ONE GOD. WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US; HOW THEN DO WE EXPLAIN THE "TRINITY? " WE DON'T EXPLAIN. WE BELIEVE IT, BECAUSE JESUS VERY OBVIOUSLY TOOK IT FOR GRANTED ALL OVER THE NEW TESTAMENT. IF WORDS FAIL US HERE ON THE TRINITY. BEST FOR US TO SIMPLY USE JESUS WAY OF SPEAKING. WE HAVE A FATHER THAT LOVES US; HE RECONCILES US TO HIMSELF BY GIVING US HIS SON MADE MAN; AND HE LIVES IN US BY THE SPIRIT OF HIS LOVE, GOD IS ONE. YET HE IS THE MYSTERY OF THREE INNER RELATIONSHIPS. WE CAN BEST UNDERSTAND GOD BEST WHEN WE LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND EXPERIENCE OUR INBORN ATTRACTIONS TO BE WITH OTHERS. GOD IS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY. THE VERY NATURE OF GOD IS TO POUR OUT LOVE WITHIN HIS ETERNAL LIFE. MEDITATING ON THE TRINITY. THE VERY NATURE OF GOD IS TO BE "WITH", TO KNOW AND LOVE. GOD IS NOT SOLITARTY, LONELY GOD, BUT A COMMUNITY. WE ARE CALLED AND ENABLED TO JOIN " THE COMMUNITY." GOD ABOVE US (THE FATHER) HAS BECOME GOD WITH US ( THE SON, JESUS) AND GOD IN US ( THE HOLY SPIRIT). THE CHURCH THEN TO THE FATHER, IN THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. St PAUL EXPRESSES THE MYSTERY IN A DECEPTIVE SIMPLE BLESSING: THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE LOVE OF GOD, AND THE FELLOWSHIP [COMMUNION]
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BE WITH YOU ALL! " (2COR. 13:13).
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