Reflections for May 26-Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Why is the Dogma of the Trinity so Important?

The day's readings can be found here.

The most central dogma of our faith is what we celebrate this Sunday: the Most Holy Trinity; the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; one God in three Persons.  Surprisingly, the word “Trinity” is not found in Sacred Scripture, yet all Christians believe and profess this truth.  The word comes from the Latin word trinitas, which means “a single collection of three.”  The Catholic Church did not invent this doctrine, but the Church did give this most subliminal Mystery a name.  Therefore, all non-Catholic Christians – even those that believe in the Bible alone – owe the development of this doctrine to the Catholic Church.

When we enter into theological discussion about the Most Holy Trinity, when we ponder this awesome Mystery, it is important to avoid using our imagination.  Our imagination immediately thinks of the three Persons as three beings, but this is false.  The Trinity is three Persons but one Being.  Our minds cannot fathom this because we think mathematically: 1+1+1=3.  This is true.  However, God is not a math equation.  God is utterly One, but He is one divine substance in three Persons.  So, He is an infinite, incomprehensible relationship in Himself.  Even though we believe this, one could ask: What does the Most Holy Trinity have to do with real life?  The answer is: Everything.

And why?  Because all of us are created in His image and in His likeness.  We reflect the relationship that is in God – that is God – but we reflect it imperfectly.  There is a perfect relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The love between Father and Son is so strong, so perfect that this love produces a Person: the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Love between Father and Son.  However, when we look at ourselves, we do not see this kind of love. . . and we do not see this perfect relationship around us.

When we hate, when we gossip, when we neglect our Sunday obligation, when we lust, when we are arrogant – we deny the awesome mystery of what it means to be created in God’s image and likeness.  St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:5).  Do we realize how sin offends against the Love of Father and Son?  Being made in the image and likeness of the Most Holy Trinity is God’s greatest gift to us.  But when we sin, when we fail to love God, when we do not pray, when we do not suffer with Jesus — we do not experience His glory – and we do not experience His Love – the Love who is the Holy Spirit; the love between the Father and the Son.

Reflections for May 19-Pentecost

Come, Holy Spirit!

The day's readings can be found here.

In St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, as soon as you enter the magnificent church, something bright and beautiful can be seen through the baldacchino, all the way in the apse.  It is a beautiful window of the dove – who represents the Holy Spirit – shining forth into the church.  This window was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, but it is actually not stained glass.  It is alabaster from Bohemia — a very precious, translucent marble.  It shows that the Holy Spirit is the One Who is in charge, the One Who guides the Church, and the One Who gives us supernatural life.

Today the holy Church celebrates the solemnity of Pentecost.  The name “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word for “fiftieth.”  It is exactly fifty days since the resurrection of our redeemer, Jesus Christ.  Like Easter (Pascha), Pentecost is tied to a Jewish Feast, Shavuot, which celebrates becoming God’s People and accepting God’s Law.  Pentecost is our celebration of becoming the New People of God and having His Law written on our hearts.  But also from a practical point of view, Shavuot was a perfect time for the Holy Spirit to descend on the Apostles and Our Lady because it was a pilgrimage festival; many Jews and Gentile converts from other countries were in Jerusalem during this time to receive this promised gift.  Therefore, Pentecost is also a celebration of the universality of the Catholic Church.

Jesus promised to St. Peter and the Apostles that He would send them the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth.  This stable gift of Jesus to His Church is not a thing, but a Person: the Holy Spirit Himself.  He proceeds from the Father and the Son.  He is their eternal, mutual Love.  He knows the Father and the Son perfectly, and so He alone is able to guide the Church into the fullness of the truth.

But which truth?  Yes, all truths – all doctrines – reflect the Truth.  The Truth we seek is none other than the Person of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit is promised to lead us always to Jesus Christ, to sanctify us with the sacraments, and to guide the leadership of the Church in constantly teaching the truth in doctrine and morals.  The Holy Spirit is also the heart of the Church’s mission to evangelize all nations.

So, why have we not done that?  Well, it is partly hardness of heart in the world, but also it is partly our own lukewarmness in the faith.  Whatever our weaknesses are, we must surrender them to the Holy Spirit so that we can be completely His to evangelize the world: starting in the family — starting with ourselves.  Come Holy Spirit, fill us with the fire of your love!

Reflection for May 12-Mother's Day

Mothers:

Models of Charity

The readings for Ascension Sunday can be found here.

In St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, there is a beautiful statue sculpted by Bernini of a woman holding a child.  It is actually not a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ Child.  Rather, it is a statue of an allegory – an allegory of virtue – in keeping with the ancient Greek and Roman traditions.  The statue is called “Charity” — and it is no wonder why Bernini chose a woman with child to represent this virtue.

So, what is charity?  It is simply love of God that is reflected in love for neighbor.  It is agape, or unconditional love, the kind of love Christ commanded us to have a few Sundays ago (John 13:33).  I believe that Bernini chose to show a mother with her child to best represent charity because a mother’s love is unconditional!

Think about it: the mother sacrifices herself in so many ways in order to give her child everything he needs.  From the very moment of the conception of the child, the child is completely dependent on the mother.  The mother must go through the pains of labor in order to give birth, and then when the baby is born, she must constantly nurse the child from her breast.  (And from what I hear, this is not exactly a pleasant experience!)

For the first several years of a child’s life, the child is completely dependent on the mother for feeding, protection, comfort, discipline and – yes – even faith.  In order to fulfill her role, the mother constantly sacrifices herself – her own wants, needs, comforts, pleasures – to give her offspring the very best of life.  This is the charity, the unconditional love, that our Lord teaches us to have.  In a beautiful way, mothers show that this kind of love does not end once a child grows into a teenager, a young adult, or a grown-up.  Mothers don’t stop being mothers, and they continue to love and care for their kids their entire lives.

To all the mothers in my life, on behalf of all children (myself included), I thank you for your self-sacrifice for us your children.  While some in the world may not see the awesome vocation and gift of motherhood, the Church does, and we appreciate you.  May God reward you, may our Lady, Queen of all mothers, pray for you, may the angels and saints protect you, and may you have a blessed Mother’s Day!

Reflections for May 5

God bless

Planned Parenthood?

Sunday's readings can be found here.

On Friday, April 26, President Obama spoke to around one thousand excited members of Planned Parenthood (PP).  He told them, “[You have] a president who’s going to be with you fighting every step of the way.”  During his speech, the President talked about “women’s health” and “access to quality, affordable healthcare,” and “a woman’s right to make her own choices about her own health,” which we know are code words for abortion.  Yet, he never used the word “abortion” in his speech.

As National Right to Life correctly notes, President Obama avoids using the word “abortion.”  He and the media and PP themselves have long engaged in a delicate verbal dance where they let abortion supporters know they are on their side, without ever letting the general public know how deeply involved PP is engaged in the grisly practice.  However, PP killed 333,964 unborn babies by abortion in the United States in 2011, and every PP affiliate in the country is required to either perform or refer for abortions.  PP does 27% of all the abortions in the U.S., yet they market themselves magically as a “health care” outfit that provides “services.”  And worst of all, PP and its affiliates receive more than half a billion dollars in federal, state and local government grant money every year!

As if the President’s support for PP were not bad enough, he found it opportune to take a swipe at Pro-Life activists during his speech.  “The fact is, after decades of progress, there's still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st Century,” Obama said. “And they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health.”  I’m sorry, Mr. President, but murdering babies is not health care no matter how much you dress it up with nice words.  And a baby in the womb is a person whether it is 1950 or 2050.

The President ended his speech with something that is almost unbelievable: “Thank you Planned Parenthood. God bless you.”  I cannot even begin to articulate how egregious of a blasphemy this is.  All I can say is that we must pray and do penance for Mr. Obama.  If he is pledging undying support for baby killers in the midst of a declining economy, domestic terror attacks, and potential war threats from abroad, I am even more convinced that we need to put our trust in God’s help alone for the future of our nation.