Holy Trinity: Transcendent But Immanent

Dear parishioners, Happy Trinity Sunday!

Thank you for your prayers for me while I was away at training. It was a very meaningful time spent with my Soldiers, building one another up in the faith, while at the same time accomplishing our mission. I received some emails and phone calls while I was away. I hope to get to those as soon as possible.

We celebrate this weekend the mystery of God, that God is one in three. Our faith teaches us that there is only one God, and there are three persons in God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We confess that these three persons are separate and distinct individuals, but united and undivided in their substance. They are all God, co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. What we speak of the one we must do the same of the other two. However, we must not confuse their identities or suppose that the one God appears in different modes. This would be the heresy of modalism - that is, that the one God who created the universe came in the form of Jesus and then after the ascension, came in the form of the Holy Spirit. No, the Catholic Church teaches that there are three distinct divine persons, but one God. The mystery of God is one that no one, no matter how intelligent, can completely grasp unless God reveals himself. Scripture tells us God dwells in inaccessible light (1 Timothy 6:16). But this God does not want us to wonder or imagine what He looks like. Of course, human beings are capable of such wonder. We could create an image of God for ourselves, just like the people who came out of slavery in Egypt did in the wilderness. They made a golden calf for themselves (Exodus 32). Down through the ages, even unto our present time, human beings have tried to completely exhaust this mystery we call God. St. Thomas Aquinas asserts the knowability of God, but not his comprehensibility. We can know God but not comprehend him. In the 4th century, St. Augustine cautioned against this quest. He says, “si comprehendis, non est Deus” If you understand it is not God (Sermon 117). It has even been argued that the revealed name, YHWH has been interpreted as God’s own way of protecting the divine transcendence. God discloses Himself by concealing Himself. But let us not mistakenly cast aspersions on the human capacity for understanding who God is. What I am saying here is that we are capable of knowing God, but our knowledge is definitely limited. God wants to be known. God has revealed himself first in creation (Romans 1:20) and then in the Scripture. In the fullness of time, this utterly transcendent God, who is removed from us, chose to come near and visible, in Jesus, who is the visible expression of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

But why should we probe into the Mystery we call God? Why not just leave it at that - Mystery? It is important that we understand who we refer to when we say, GOD. And if this God is the object of our worship, it seems essential that we know who it is we worship. To dismiss this quest might be worse than walking while being blindfolded or wandering in the dark. It has fatal consequences for our lives now, and our eternal destination. We cannot, like the Samaritans, worship what we do not know (John 4:22). And we cannot justify a reluctance to embark on this quest by arguing from mystery, which oftentimes means, “we can’t speak about it.” While we cannot understand everything there is about God, we can at least try to know who God is as He has revealed Himself to us. Knowing God gives meaning to our lives because God is the ground for our existence. We are utterly dependent on God. The Catechism, quoting the Second Vatican Gaudium et Spes, no. 36, has this line that I love so much, “Without the Creator, the creature vanishes” (CCC 49). God is the answer to the question, “why is there being and not nothing?” God is the reason behind order in the world. Removing God from human affairs, as we see increasingly in human societies, is the reason behind the wars, violence and hatred that continue to characterize our daily experience. As Ivan Karamazov puts it in Dostoyevski’s novel puts it, “if there is no God, all hell breaks loose.”

Next weekend is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are privileged to have with us in the Eucharist the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This precious gift of the real presence is a fulfillment of Christ’s promise to be with his disciples always to the very end of time. As a parish community, we would have the opportunity to profess our faith and gratitude to our Eucharistic Lord by adoring him in a procession around our church. This would take place after the 11:30 a.m. Mass. The celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi also marks the beginning of the parish phase of the 3-year National Eucharistic Revival. We hope, as a parish, to provide the opportunity for a deepened appreciation of the Eucharist and offer parishioners more opportunities to worship the Lord, who continues to give himself to us in the form of bread and wine.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!