Sunday, June 15, 2014

Holy Trinity

The Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Chalcedon, all up until the present age try to make sense of the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  Theological ideas were thrown about but none could adequately describe how the God of mercy and love exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  St. Patrick attempted to describe the relationship of the Trinity through the shamrock; and dozens of times more, various saints and holy men and women attempted to talk about the Trinity.

But our understanding is best articulated through the scriptural narrative of our faithful God who sojourned among them.  St. Paul talks about the mystery of the cross revealing the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.  The people of faith, and the early Christian community were not so much trying to develop a theology, as they were bearing witness to the simple divine reality of our God who came to dwell with us, who gave his life for us, and lives in our midst as the Holy Spirit. 

This was who God was for them, not by an ecclesial edict, but because they experienced, as St. Paul states, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.  Mutuality is the source of life.  Relationships ground our very being.  To be sure true love relationships direct us towards he other.  The most famous passage from St John, "God so loved the world..." demonstrates a love of otherness.  God loves us more than we can imagine (or deserve)  Our faithful response would be to profess, or bear witness, to what we have come to see and hear.

It is in beginning to understand the attributes of God as grace, we hopefully can come to desire God all the more.  Just a when we are in love, our coming to know God and Godliness will effect a longing for God's eternal friendship.  Then we can experience the God who so loved the world.

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