Holy Trinity Sunday 2010

May 30, 2010

Our faith is a strange one. We believe in one God with three distinct expressions of divine activities (creator, redeemer, and sustainer) and few of us can adequately explain the Trinitarian nature to another person. In fact, when I hear a person speaking about his or her images of the Triune God in prayer, the person seldom has a clear notion of these individual expressions of God. We don’t spend too much time reflection upon the names of God and their meanings either. No wonder why prayer is so hard at times. To complicate matters, the reading from Proverbs today speaks about Lady Wisdom existing with God at the beginning of time as a co-creator. This all gets complicated, but the key point for us to focus upon is the way they relate to each other and to us.

The personified Lady Wisdom is a partner with God who was beside him during creation and was “his delight day by day.” This is an image of a deeply happy God who is pleased with the result of his work and has fun sharing it with Wisdom. This is a God who likes to play and recreate: as Wisdom was “playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of the earth; and I found delight in the human race.” We get the sense that God really enjoys creation. After all, he declares it ‘good’ and in this passage Wisdom also delights in us. You can almost detect the two of them laughing because they are pleased in our goodness. This is quite an image on which to chew in prayer.

The question that arises is: “Do we delight in God and allow ourselves to have fun with God?” For many, it is an unusual question, but still a relevant one. How often do we turn to God in prayer and just say, “I am happy. I am happy with the life we have lived together?” In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth will come and will glorify Jesus and will provide us comfort. The words of Jesus about the Father are remarkable because they are words of sharing freely what one has with the other with the lack of possessiveness. Everything exists for the other’s delight and glory, and this Triune God invites us into this relationship in which each finds the best in the other. Oh, it is so good to experience God glorifying each of us personally – just finding delight in us. We have so many burdens and concerns that we often forget to just approach God and spend some time in fun and recreation. What a world we could have if we could relax a little more in prayer and enjoy the affectionate way God longs to relate to us.

Quote for the Week

In honor of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, I offer the ‘Hail Mary’ in French and German.

Je vous salue Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous;
vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes;
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
priez pour nous, pécheurs,
maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen.

Gegrüßet seist du, Maria, voll der Gnade; der Herr ist mit dir;
du bist gebenedeit unter den Frauen,
und gebenedeit ist die Frucht deines Leibes, Jesus.
Heilige Maria, Mutter Gottes, bitte für uns Sünder
jetzt und in der Stunde unseres Todes. Amen.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Peter urges his readers to wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God and to refrain from behaviors not born of righteousness. Paul writes to Timothy to tell of his gratitude to God in the face of terrible suffering he faces. He urges people to stop disputing about words and to accept the salvation that is offered to them. He exhorts them to turn to Scripture to help them stay faithful because it will give them the wisdom for salvation. Paul is ready to turn over the church to Timothy and other leaders and he encourages them to persevere in preaching the word an doing anything that will help people receive the Gospel.

Gospel: From the outset of his ministry, Jesus meets opposition. The Herodians and Pharisees try to trip him up and discredit him with a brainteaser. When asked whether to pay Caesar’s tax or not, he tells them to respect the authorities of the world in their matters and to respect God’s authority in God’s matters. The Sadducees accost him with a teaching on the resurrection and the seven marriages and he declares that God is the living God. A scribe, often an opponent, asks Jesus about the greatest commandment. Moved by the answer of Jesus, his mind and heart are moved to greater understanding. Jesus cautions about the profession of the scribes who accept worldly honors, but do not live up to their teachings; just then a poor woman comes by and drops two coins into the temple treasury causing Jesus much happiness because she lives righteously – according to the Law.

Saints of the Week

Monday: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a day that celebrates the rejoicing of Mary and the formerly barren Elizabeth who both find themselves pregnant. Today is a day of wonder because of the awesome plan of God to bring about the incarnation: Elizabeth calls Mary blessed, which ushers in Mary’s great song of praise.

Tuesday: Justin, martyr, was a philosopher from Samaria and he would teach others about the faith through philosophical means. His trial about debating habits is recorded and he is known to have professed with Christian discipleship and refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. For this, he was condemned to death.

Wednesday: Marcellinus and Peter, martyrs, are familiar to us because their names are mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I. They were killed in the Diocletian persecution in the fourth century. Peter is said to have been an exorcist and he worked under the direction of Marcellinus.

Thursday: Charles Llwanga and companion, martyrs, were killed in Uganda on this date in 1886. Charles and his friends became converts by the White Fathers. He and his companions were ordered to stop preaching and baptizing by King Mwanga who ushered in a period of persecution in which ten thousand people were martyred.

Saturday: Boniface, bishop and martyr, began his missionary career in north Netherlands and was sent to make converts in 719. As bishop of Germany, he cut down the Oak of Thor and was not beset by calamities as people superstitiously expected. On this date in 754, as he was planning to confirm more converts, non Christians rose up to kill him and his companions.

This Week in Jesuit History

• March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.
• March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him.
• Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.
• Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.
• Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society.
• Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.
• Apr 5, 1635. The death of Louis Lellemant, writer and spiritual teacher.

Happy Memorial Day

I offer bountiful prayers and blessings for all of the deceased service men and women of the U.S. who gave their lives as their greatest gift to their country’s values and freedom. Blessings also on all our veterans and current military personnel who protect our national interests and make our lives able to live in peace and security.

ATrinitarian Blessing

Blessed be you, our God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love you have shown us. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being; you draw us to share in your life and life. Be near to us for you have created us in your image and likeness, redeemed us and made us your children, and sustain us with your grace and the memory of the ways you have united your life to ours. We bless you through Christ our Lord. Amen.