C.O.E. Reflection on TRINITY SUNDAY
May 26, 2010
In our Christian faith, what mystery could be more profound than that of
the Holy Trinity? Many brilliant minds in the Church, and even outside it,
tried to grapple with the concept of one God having three distinct persona
in His being - Father, Son and Spirit. One of the best Catholic thinkers,
St. Augustine, spent an inordinate amount of time (some say years)
pondering the mystery of a Triune God, only to give up when God gave him an
answer - in a dream. In what has now become a very famous story, it relates
the saint walking on the beach and encountering a little boy pouring water
into a small hole in the sand. Amused,
St. Augustine asked the boy what he was doing - to which the boy replied
that he wants to empty the entire ocean into the small hole. The saint
exclaimed that this was an impossible task, to which the boy remarked that
his task was much easier than understanding the Holy Trinity. Who can
really fathom the mind of God, much less comprehend His divinity? The
wisdom of He who created us so perfectly (Proverbs 8: 22-31) is above our
ways.
When reflecting on the Trinity, instead of trying to analyze it with our
intellect (which is so limitted anyway!), let us appreciate a God who is
forever in love with us, and wants to pour Himself out to us. In the Old
Testament, He is the authoritative but benevolent Father who has chosen the
Israelites to be the first recipients of His benefits here on earth. When
man continued to turn away from Him and reject His offer of Sonship, He
sent His only begotten Son to redeem mankind.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus,
during His days on earth, personified the Father’s love - a love that He,
as the obedient Son, carried to perfection by the supreme sacrifice of the
cross. The love of the Triune God for us, did not stop with Jesus’ glorious
resurrection. Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus assigned to His
Church (His mystical body on earth) the Paraclete. St. John in his Gospel
(16: 13) relates Jesus promising, “the Spirit of truth, when He comes, will
guide you to all truth”, though the world will not recognize except for
God’s faithful ones.
There is indeed so much of His love that God has shown and poured upon His
people that still, somehow is not appreciated. For the world that we live
in is rife with materialism, worldly attachments and bondage which distract
us so much. Even the apostles, Jesus’ first and closest friends, were not
spared of deception. They had to struggle with their faith, time and again.
In this Sunday’s gospel, while standing face-to-face with the risen Lord,
“they worshipped Him, although some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).
But so great and constant is God’s love for us that, always He will be the
one to accommodate our lack of faith - He will be the one who will make the
adjustment. He will never abandon us - rather it will be us who will doom
ourselves if we reject that Love. As St. Paul so eloquently put it in
Romans 5: 5,
“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
who has been given to us”. Let us thus exult in unison with our
responsorial
Psalm 8; “O Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth! You have
exalted Your majesty above the heavens….. .what is man that you should be
mindful of him……You have made him little less than the angels, but
crowned him with glory and honor”.
Council of Elders
St. James Parish Renewal Movement
