Testimony and Trinity

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the connection between the mystical love of Father, Son and Spirit and our activation of that Love on our journey.

Holy Trinity Parish

The reading from the Book of Deuteronomy declares God’s Fidelity and Love.

Psalm 33 praises the Greatness and Goodness of God.

* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans declares we are Children of God through Adoption.

* [8:14–17] Christians, by reason of the Spirit’s presence within them, enjoy not only new life but also a new relationship to God, that of adopted children and heirs through Christ, whose sufferings and glory they share.

* [8:15] Abba: see note on Mk 14:36. (Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

The end of the Gospel of Matthew includes the Commissioning of the Disciples.

* [28:19] Therefore: since universal power belongs to the risen Jesus (Mt 28:18), he gives the eleven a mission that is universal. They are to make disciples of all nations. While all nations is understood by some scholars as referring only to all Gentiles, it is probable that it included the Jews as well. Baptizing them: baptism is the means of entrance into the community of the risen one, the Church. In the name of the Father…holy Spirit: this is perhaps the clearest expression in the New Testament of trinitarian belief. It may have been the baptismal formula of Matthew’s church, but primarily it designates the effect of baptism, the union of the one baptized with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

* [28:20] All that I have commanded you: the moral teaching found in this gospel, preeminently that of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5–7). The commandments of Jesus are the standard of Christian conduct, not the Mosaic law as such, even though some of the Mosaic commandments have now been invested with the authority of Jesus. Behold, I am with you always: the promise of Jesus’ real though invisible presence echoes the name Emmanuel given to him in the infancy narrative; see note on Mt 1:23. End of the age: see notes on Mt 13:39 and Mt 24:3.(Matthew, CHAPTER 28 | USCCB, n.d.)

Mirielle Leonard shares a testimony on love that her parents recounted to her.

We believe in the fervor Christ has for our connection with him. This devotion and promise of being a joint heir in Christ should be motivation for us to live our Christian lives visibly, that we may possibly bring others to the same joy. (Leonard, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The pledge of the Holy Spirit,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with His sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed His pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts" (excerpt from De Mysteriis 7, 42). (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 comments that with the coming of Christ, we have an even greater understanding of who this one true God truly is. And at the heart of that understanding is the proclamation that our God is a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is our God! But we live in a world that tempts us to make false gods of riches and self-indulgence and to be indifferent to the needs of the poor. These “gods” aren’t real; all they can promise are fleeting pleasures. By contrast, the one true God loves us unconditionally and wants to save us and care for us. So follow Moses’ advice and “fix in your heart” the truth that you belong to God—and he belongs to you (Deuteronomy 4:39)! 

“Almighty God, Father, Son, and Spirit, may you be praised and worshipped for all eternity!” (Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the response of the Hebrews chosen nation is to keep the ordinances set out by God. Though Paul did not express a deep Trinitarian theology, the passage on our adoption as children of God refers to Father, Son, and Spirit. Friar Jude shares an image from the Eastern Church of the Trinity in a dance and our invitation to be involved and not be a wallflower.

Rev. Dr. James Hanvey SJ, lecturer in Systematic Theology at Heythrop College, University of London, considers how we might begin to think and speak about the loving relationship between Father, Son and Spirit into which we ourselves are welcomed. 

Yet once we’re clear about what we don’t mean we can begin very tentatively to glimpse something profound: that ‘person’ in the Trinity points us to the eternal relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that these relationships both distinguish them from each other but simultaneously open up a union in which each dwells in the other. The Trinity is a sort of ‘communion’ (co-union).

This has two important consequences for us. First, if they ‘indwell’ in each other then they also reveal each other: to know one is to know all and to know each in their distinctness and in their communion. Second, we know that these relationships are relationships of love. The Trinity is the revelation that God is Love. Now we get Love wrong if we think of it as a ‘thing’ – something we can possess or control. It is a relationship and it is a verb – we can only ‘have’ love by loving, by participating in a relationship of love. So, the Trinity is Love Loving – dynamic, unfathomable, inexhaustible, eternally complete and creative. (Hanvey, 2010)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, connects our ability to love others with our ability to receive God’s love. 

Finally, of course, there’s a straight line between love and suffering. If we love anyone or anything deeply and greatly, it’s fairly certain we’ll soon suffer because we have offered control to another, and the cost of self-giving will soon show itself. Undoubtedly, this is why we are told to be faithful in our loves, because such long-term loyalty and truly conscious love will always lead us to the necessary pruning (John 15:2) of the narcissistic self. 

Until we love and until we suffer, we all try to figure out life and death with our minds. Then a Larger Source opens up within us and we “think” and feel quite differently through “knowing the Love, which is beyond all knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). Thus, Jesus would naturally say something like, “This is my commandment: you must love one another!” (John 13:34). Authentic love (which is always more than an emotion) initially opens the door of awareness and aliveness, and then suffering for that love keeps that door open for mind, body, and will to enter. I suspect for most of us that is the work of a lifetime. (Rohr, n.d.)

We are grateful for the love we experience in our relationships as we ponder the source of the dance of Love in the mystical communion of the Trinity.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/4?32 

Hanvey, J. (2010, May 28). The Trinity: On Loving Love Loving. Thinking Faith. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100528_1.htm 

Leonard, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/052624.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 28 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/28?16 

Meditation on Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/05/26/975942/ 

Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?4 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). One Source of Love. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/one-source-of-love/ 

Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/8?14 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=may26 

Adoption and Healing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to openness to the Spirit of Adoption that connects us with Christ as beloved children of “Abba”.

Spirit of Adoption

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans affirms our status as children of God through adoption.

* [8:14–17] Christians, by reason of the Spirit’s presence within them, enjoy not only new life but also a new relationship to God, that of adopted children and heirs through Christ, whose sufferings and glory they share.

* [8:15] Abba: see note on Mk 14:36. (Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 68 offers Praise and Thanksgiving to God.

* [68:2] The opening line alluding to Nm 10:35 makes clear that God’s assistance in the period of the exodus and conquest is the model and assurance of all future divine help.

* [68:5] Exalt the rider of the clouds: God’s intervention is in the imagery of Canaanite myth in which the storm-god mounted the storm clouds to ride to battle. Such theophanies occur throughout the Psalm: Ps 68:2–3, 8–10, 12–15, 18–19, 22–24, 29–32, 34–35. See Dt 33:26; Ps 18:8–16; Is 19:1.

* [68:7] While rebels live in the desert: rebels must live in the arid desert, whereas God’s people will live in the well-watered land (Ps 68:8–11). (Psalms, PSALM 68 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath.

* [13:10–17] The cure of the crippled woman on the sabbath and the controversy that results furnishes a parallel to an incident that will be reported by Luke in 14:1–6, the cure of the man with dropsy on the sabbath. A characteristic of Luke’s style is the juxtaposition of an incident that reveals Jesus’ concern for a man with an incident that reveals his concern for a woman; cf., e.g., Lk 7:11–17 and Lk 8:49–56.

* [13:15–16] If the law as interpreted by Jewish tradition allowed for the untying of bound animals on the sabbath, how much more should this woman who has been bound by Satan’s power be freed on the sabbath from her affliction.

* [13:16] Whom Satan has bound: affliction and infirmity are taken as evidence of Satan’s hold on humanity. The healing ministry of Jesus reveals the gradual wresting from Satan of control over humanity and the establishment of God’s kingdom. (Luke, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that the religious leaders are afraid of freedom and chide Jesus for breaking a rule by which they are willfully enslaved. They reject God’s message to the Jews (and to us their descendants) that the Sabbath is ultimately a celebration of freedom to be made whole and to help others become whole.  If we are all whole then religious leaders don’t control us with the law, they serve us by helping us understand that the law is all about being genuinely free to love and thrive.

The month of November each year is a time when the Church challenges us to face the reality of death as passage into the fullness of life.  On these last couple of October days we are invited to stop and consider deeply what fear of death or of life does to us.  By the waters of Baptism, we have the power of God to live fully as God intends us to.  By your baptism you were freed from the slavery induced by fear.  Ask God to stir up the Spirit of Adoption so that you too can cry “Abba” to our beloved Creator God. (Burke, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus overcomes death and destruction,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"The incarnation of the Word and his assumption of human nature took place for the overthrow of death, destruction and the envy harbored against us by the wicked Serpent, who was the first cause of evil. This plainly is proved to us by facts themselves. He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.' A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power! With the royal inclination of his will, he drives away the disease. He also lays his hands upon her. It says that she immediately was made straight. It is now also possible to see that his holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God. It was his own flesh, and not that of some other Son beside him, distinct and separate from him, as some most impiously imagine."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 96) (Schwager, 2019)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 8:12-17 comments that we have been adopted into God’s family! We no longer have to be led by the flesh, governed by our inclinations to sin or haunted by our past failures. We can be directed by the Spirit and live more virtuous lives now. We can go beyond what is possible on our own because holiness isn’t something we achieve on our own.

In so many situations, the Spirit wants to help you be holy and live as a child of God. So be sure to call on him, even before you start your day. Ask him to fill you. Ask him to guide you and give you his peace, joy, and strength. You are a child of God, and his Spirit will always help you to live like one!

“Thank you, heavenly Father, for giving me your Spirit to guide me into holiness!” (Meditation on Romans 8:12-17, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler echoes the teaching of Paul that we should not belong to the flesh, our worldliness, but belong to the Spirit for Life now and at the end time. As coheirs with Christ we are prepared to take up our Cross and be glorified with Him. Friar Jude reminds us that the emphasis of the Pharisees on following the rules is not our Way as we should live for Christ and others through our self sacrifice.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, recalls his first experiences with the prayer of the Pueblo people in New Mexico. As in every religion, there are times, places, and people who “get it”—the mystery of divine/human union—more than others. There are different stages and states of consciousness, and all are part of the journey. Western models of development usually focus on the rational mind, which offers one way of knowing reality, but in fact, there are many other ways of perceiving and expressing human experience. [3]

Choctaw elder and retired Episcopal bishop Steven Charleston offers a meditation honoring different ways of knowing that have fed his soul: 

For all the great thoughts I have read
For all the deep books I have studied
None has brought me nearer to Spirit
Than a walk beneath shimmering leaves

Golden red with the fire of autumn
When the air is crisp
And the sun a pale eye, watching.

I am a scholar of the senses
A theologian of the tangible.

Spirit touches me and I touch Spirit
Each time I lift a leaf from my path
A thin flake of fire golden red
Still warm from the breath that made it. [4] (Rohr, 2023)

We may invite the Spirit to revive our experience of our relationship with Christ through which we address the Father as “Abba” who desires to heal our fears.

References

Burke, E. (2023, October 30). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/103023.html 

Luke, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/13?10 

Meditation on Romans 8:12-17. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/10/30/816908/ 

Psalms, PSALM 68 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/68?2 

Rohr, R. (2023, October 30). Praying with Nature — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/praying-with-nature/ 

Romans, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/8?12 

Schwager, D. (2019, March 9). Freedom from Bondage for Eighteen Years. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=oct30