The story is told of St. Augustine walking along the seashore trying to fathom the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. He saw a boy running back and forth between the sea and a hole he has dug along the beach. With a seashell he getting sea water and pouring it into the hole. St. Augustine asked what he has doing and the boy replied that he was going to empty the sea and pour all the water into the hole. Laughing, St. Augustine blurted out: “But that’s impossible.” But the boy replied: “It’s easier to pour all the sea water into this hole than for you to fathom the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.”
It is really an impossible task to explain and to understand something that is beyond and even contradictory to our experience.
Sr. Marie is a nun. Sr. Tita is a nun. Sr. Bing is a nun. What do you have? Three nuns. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. What do you have? Not three Gods. One God.
How do you explain that?
Of course theologians have tried to explain the Blessed Trinity. St. Thomas attempted to do that in his “De Deo Uno et Trino”. Evangelizers like St. Patrick explained that to the Celts of Ireland using a shamrock. Catechists use an equilat-eral triangle to communicate what we mean by the Trinity.
This is good because we need to satisfy the need of our minds to make sense of what we believe as Christians. But we need also to satisfy our hearts.
The Trinity as Family
Just yesterday at breakfast we were talking about how people we know who desperately want to have children and couldn’t. We mentioned instances when St. Dominic Savio helped couples to finally have a child.
Another related his experiences in helping Italian couples adopt Filipino babies and children. In one instance, the biological mother left a letter for the adopting parents and another for her child. In the letter for her child the biological mother was trying to explain why she had to give him up. It was not because she didn’t love him, but because she couldn’t give him a decent life. She ended her letter with “I love you” 84 times. When the letter to the adopting parents was read, the adopting father had to leave the room several times. He was crying. After the letter had been read, the adopting parents promised to love the baby as if he were their own flesh and blood.
To me this real story can tell us something about the Blessed Trinity and ourselves.
The Blessed Trinity is like a perfect family. They love one another with an infinite love. They are infinitely happy together. They can ask for nothing more. But they don’t want to keep that love and happiness to themselves. They’d like to share it. That’s where we come in.
The Father adopted us. We’re no longer outsiders. We’re family. We’re not just creatures. We’re God’s children. And here it is important to note that God does not just consider us his children. The bible says that we are REALLY his children. And this makes us more blessed than the angels. Have you read in the bible of any angel being adopted by God?
The Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity reminds us that we belong to God’s family. God is our dad. Jesus is our kuya. And the Holy Spirit is our companion.
God is our dad. That is what “abba” means. For that to sink in, let’s do this. How do you call your father? If you call him “papa” I want you to call God “papa” several times.
Jesus is our kuya. For me kuya is takbuhan. Is there a problem? Go to kuya. Kuya is sumbungan, Are you hurt? Are you angry? Do you feel unjustly treated? Isumbong kay kuya. Kuya is confidant. Ibulong kay kuya ang mga plano, panga-rap, saloobin.
And the Holy Spirit is our companion as we journey toward heaven. If you were going on a trip, would you rather be alone or be with someone else? If you were going to the mall, would you rather be alone or be with someone else? If you were going to watch a movie, would rather be alone or be with someone else? Well, we are not alone in this life. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our companion. Hindi tayo nag-iisa.
The second thing is this: Because we belong to God’s family, he has special concern for us. Sure, God takes care of all his creatures but because we are his children God has a special concern for us. To what do I compare this concern?
An old woman was supposed to be dying but she would not die. Why? Because she was worried about her unmarried daughter. Her daughter had no husband and no children. Who would take care of her? It was only when her daughter told her mother that she had nothing to worry about because she, the daughter, was financially independent that she finally died. That old woman’s concern for her daughter was strong, even stronger than death.
If we believe that God is really concerned about us, we would say with St. Teresa of Avila: “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee.” Why? Because we are in God’s hands.
Conclusion
Let’s leave to the theologians the task of finding the ways by which to explain the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. Instead, for us let our concern be that of nurtur-ing our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
---------------------
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to he welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.
No comments:
Post a Comment