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1. I suppose I always feel at a loss when I sit
down to prepare a sermon / homily for the solemnity of
the 'Most Holy Trinity' - which we celebrate today.
Even the title 'Most Holy' is rather off-putting for
what can we mortals say about what is 'most holy'. And
not only are we mortals, we are also sinners, so what
right have we to speak about that which is sinless. And
the word 'Trinity' is even more daunting for there is
nothing in my human experience which can lead me to
understand how someone can be three and one at the same
time - one God in three persons; Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
On the other hand I know from my life as a
Christian that there is no invocation in Christian usage
as familiar and as widely used as that by which we call
upon the Trinity. How often do we make the sign of the
cross! - "In the name of the Father, and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit." We have become so used to that
invocation that it is like the air we breathe. It is so
much part of our lives that we take it for granted. And
then I reflect - is that not a wonderful thing?; that
what is most mysterious in the life of God is so
interwoven into the fabric of my life that it is like my
heart beating, my lungs breathing, or my mind thinking;
and these are the very things which sustain and enrich
my life even though I may know very little about how
they function, how they operate. And if the presence of
the Trinity is in much the same way, why then should I
be anxious or worried if I find it difficult to put
words on what I mean by Trinity.
2. But the fact is that our minds are forever
curious to seek to know more and more about ourselves
and the world which we inhabit. Indeed, our knowledge
of what it means to he human and our knowledge too of
the mysteries of the universe of which we are part has
grown down through the centuries and has expanded in
quite a dramatic way in our own times. While there is
still much more to be known, we can be justly proud of
the impressive accumulation of knowledge which is ours
today; a knowledge which to a great extent makes us
masters of our own destinies and masters too of the way
we shape the world around us and that in a way that was
not even dreamt of previously. Whether we use that
knowledge wisely or otherwise, for good or for bad -
that is another question, a rather frightening question
if we think of someone who is unscrupulous using that
knowledge to suit his / her own purposes.
The point I am making is that we will
naturally tend to want to know more about this Trinity
of Persons who is one God. However I suppose we are
wise enough to realise that getting to know another
person is not at all like getting to know things or
objects. Our knowledge of things and objects can be
very scientific and precise; things and objects can be
measured and quantified and we have invented some
extremely accurate and ingenious instruments to help us
see into the heart of things. In fact we have succeeded
so well in unlocking the secrets of the material world
that we might easily make the mistake of thinking that
we can do the same with the human person.
Of course we can't because there are depths
to the human person which cannot be touched by the
physical sciences nor by physical instruments, no matter
how precise they may be. The heart, the mind, the
emotions of a person cannot be put under a microscope as
if they were just some other thing. Indeed, if we are
honest with ourselves, we must acknowledge that there
are aspects of each one's life which are mysterious even
to ourselves. How difficult it is to get to know
oneself, never mind trying to explain to another person
with any kind of clarity how one feels, what are one's
hopes and one's fears.
3. Now, if each human person is a mystery even
to themselves, then how on earth can we expect to be
able to grasp the mystery which is the inner life of God
- the Trinity. Surely it is only through a patient
attentiveness to the unfolding of our lives that we come
to know ourselves and others. It is only by listening
patiently and attentively to each other that we can
enter into each others lives. And if that is true of
ourselves will it not be the same and even more so with
respect to the inner life of God. And we remember too,
that if another person does not wish to reveal himself /
herself to me, there is no way I can penetrate to the
secrets of his / her mind and heart.
We can begin to see why there are two things
which are necessary if we are to enter into the mystery
of the Trinity. Firstly there must be periods of just
remaining quietly in the presence of God; times of
contemplation when we allow God to speak to us as he
wills. And, secondly, we must be attentive to God's
revealing himself to us in the world which he has
created and bears his image, in the wonder of our own
being, in the sacred scriptures and, above all, in the
person of his Son, Jesus. It is precisely there that
Saint John is convinced we have reached the heart of God
- "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not
to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved
through him. ...." It is said that Saint John has
summed up his whole Gospel in those few words.
4. We do need to recapture that sense of mystery
and wonder which to a great extent we have lost by
almost exclusively concentrating our attention this
century on the scientific exploration of the material
world and more recently on the inventions of the
technological world. We need to open our hearts and our
minds to the presence of God who - "freely wills to
communicate the glory of his blessed life." The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the section
dedicated to the Trinity, spells out what God's plan for
us is; "Such is the 'plan of his loving kindness',
conceived by the Father before the foundation of the
world, in his beloved Son: 'He destined us in love to
be his sons' and 'to be conformed to the image of his
Son', through 'the spirit of sonship' This plan is a
'grace (which) was given to us in Christ Jesus before
the ages began', stemming immediately from Trinitarian
love. It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole
history of salvation after the fall, and the mission of
the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the
mission of the Church." (n 257)
Tagore in one of his poems has captured for
us something of that sense of being aware of a presence
and a Spirit in our lives and in the world around us,
and the awareness too that we cannot fully grasp what we
sense is there for it is far greater than our own
spirit;
"I know not how thou singest, my master!
I ever listen in silent amazement.
The light of thy music illumines the
world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky
to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all
stony obstacles and rushes on.
My heart longs to join in thy song, but
vainly struggles for a voice.
I would speak, but speech breaks not into
song, and I cry out baffled.
Ah, thou has made my heart captive in the
endless meshes of thy music, my master!"
(Tagore, Gitanjali, Macmillan India
Limited, 1981, p 2, III)
That surely describes well our own
speechless wonder in the presence of the God who is one
in three Persons and who gives himself to us in the
person of his Son. |
