TRINITY

(Presented to the Joliet Cursillo Leaders’ School  1/8/10
by Deacon Andy Cirmo)

As we begin every Mass, let us begin this time together in prayer with this statement from Corinthinians Chapter 13:13 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all: And also with you.

Dear Jesus: Prayer                 THE CENTRAL MYSTERY OF OUR FAITH

·        Vat. II  A mystery is a truth we are not merely incapable of discovering apart from divine revelation but which when revealed remains hidden behind the veil of faith. 

o   We simply can not fully comprehend that which is Divine. There is a famous song by Steven Curtis Chapman that is titled: “You are God and I am not” which sums up what having faith means

·        I will walk you through some of the tradition and teachings of the Church from the most ancient of times but most of all I hope this evening to be able to open your hearts as to “Why is this important and what does this mean to me”.

·        We hear words used in describing the interrelationship of the three persons of the trinity like “Substance” and “Essence” and “Hypostasis” but belief in the Holy Trinity all boils down to the fact that we can not fully comprehend God’s love.

·        From the earliest of times after the Resurrection of  Christ in the year 70 teachings were captured in the first record of beliefs (named the Didache) detailing clearly the belief in a Triune God Tri for three and “une” for one or 3 in one.  The math of Trinity defies all logic whereas 1+1+1=3 the Trinitarian formula is 1+1+1=1

·        The statement of belief we most often hear is from the  Nicene Creed from the council of Nicea in 325AD and finalized at the Constantinopolitan council of 378 which was written to address serious heresies like the Arian Heresy which disputed the Divinity of Christ this creed details out the teachings of the Church on Trinity

·        But the clearest statement emerged long before that during the council of Florence in 1442

o   The Father is entirely in the Son and entirely in the Holy Spirit; the Son is entirely in the Father and entirely in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is entirely in the Father and entirely in the Son. None of the persons precedes any of the others in eternity, nor does any have greater immensity or greater power. From eternity, without beginning, the Son is from the Father; and from eternity and without beginning, the Holy Spirit has proceeded from the Father and the Son.            

·        Yet even with these clear statements of faith it is still a constant challenge for our human minds to try to understand the divine and over the centuries the Church has struggled to keep clear its teaching on the Trinity as schools of philosophy, theology and science emerged and have sought to redefine Trinity in their interpretation, even producing a number of heresies i.e. the Jehova’s Witnesses who believe that the Son is created by and thus inferior to the Father.

The teaching of the Church on the Three persons of the Holy Trinity if looked at individually, can help us comprehend the whole, the one, the Godhead :

·        The Father exists before all eternity and acts not only in creation but external from it and is Father only in relation to the Son who is co-eternal with the Father 

·        The Son is consubstantial with the father begotten not made, and both Father and Son are

·        Revealed by the Spirit who prepares, makes manifest, makes present and brings us to communion

·        St Augustine writes that every external work of God is due to the whole Trinity and cannot be attributed to one person alone.

On what else do we base our faith and upon what is the teaching of the Church based? Scripture and Tradition.   Tradition going back to the year 70 in the Didache which I previously mentioned, and contrary to some Evangelical believers and Muslims who say that Constantine invented the Trinity , in 110 AD Ignatius of Antioch called Jesus God and over 100 y ears before Constantine the theological Tertullian first used the word Trinity.

But let’s look at only a very few of the many scriptural references for the Trinity. From the mouths of the prophets inspiried by the Holy Spirit, from the mouths of the gospel writers and from the mouth of Jesus Himself:

o   In the first book of the Pentateuch in the old testament Genesis God refers to himself as Elohim (One who sends) and in the same book later as Yahweh (one who is sent)

o    And how about 1:26 in Genesis when God refers to Himself in the plural “Let US make man in OUR image, OUR likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air”

o   In Matt 1:20 when the angel said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit

o   In Matt 28:19 Go and make all nations of the world into disciples, baptizing then in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

o   In Luke 1:5 And the angel answered her and said the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high overshadow you and for that reason the holy offspring will be called the Son of God

o    Jn 10:30 I and the Father are One

o   Jn 12:45 He who beholds me beholds the one who sent me

o   Jn 14:9 He who has seen me has seen the Father

o   Jn If anyone loves me he will keep my word and my Father will love Him and WE will come to him and make OUR abode in him

o   And my favorite powerful reference to the Trinity Matt 3:16 Behold the heavens were opened and I saw the Spirit of God descend upon Him like a dove and a voice was overheard form heaven saying behold my Son in whom I am well pleased (In one place and time, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in one place)

We are taught by the teaching authority of the Church, validated by the words of Scripture to believe but what does it all mean? What is the meaning of the Trinity in a way we can understand and apply to our lives?

The best way I can see to understand this incredible mystery and its meaning for our lives is to look at the Trinity as a picture of the love of God. The goodness of God is truly revealed in the Trinity, namely that of love.  The love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and Son :

o   The Father the source of all that is given,

o   The Son eternally expression of all that is the Father the Word (Jn wrote In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The Son gives all back to the Father in self surrender

o   And the power of this exchange is the Holy Spirit the common love of the Father and the Son. 

o   Taught by Origin’s pupil Gregory in 260 The Father has never been without the Son nor the Son without the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is a perfect model of selfless love for in the Triune love we see the essence of love as not self centered but that which unites, gives and shares perfectly.  God is a community of self donating love and the family, the domestic Church is a reflection of this Trinitarian love.  The Church is called to be a global community of small communities of love.

One great treasure of western culture is the uniqueness and dignity of the individual person. This comes directly from our understanding of the Trinity (three persons of exactly the same divine nature but irreplaceably unique in person hood.

As the western world systematically abandons the triune God it undermines the very foundation of the dignity, individuality and freedom of Man. Everything in our world tells us not to be a community of love but to be unsatisfied, to be greedy, selfish, to get ahead of others, to not care.

What does all this mean as we prepare to teach the small course the “Cursillo”? And what does this mean for the living the” 4^th day”?

Maybe we should take the unconventional approach to emulating the features of the Trinity in our lives, those of “oneness” and of “Love”...as the model of the Trinity teaches us.

 Emulating the Father, the creator of all that is and will be who manifests His loving mercy throughout time.

How do we manifest our mercy our forgiveness in our lives?

Emulating the Son (the eternal WORD), the revealer of the Father

How do we reveal God’s mercy by being sent forth and bringing Jesus to all in our lives?

Emulating the Holy Spirit (the LOVE of the Father and the Son given to us freely as grace that we be strengthened to show HIS love to the world.

How do we do that, how are we the RUAH (the breath of God) to others in our lives?

Do we live our lives truly in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?

Amen and God bless you all for your commitment to spreading the good news of salvation.