A Trinity Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Trinity Sunday sermons frequently address the mysterious doctrine of Three Persons in One God. Frequently, a priest attempts to give us some example that will help us to understand the reality of this Triune God that we worship. In all the years of sermons I've heard, the only comparison I remember is the one where we compare the Trinity to the shamrock, a little plant that has three leaves. The point: "three leaves, one plant"; and so we can understand better Three Persons in One God. I always appreciated the attempt, but somehow it doesn't get us all the way there.
Indeed, there may be no way to really get there until the day we actually get there - "there" being, of course, Heaven. It's only when we stand in the Presence of that same Triune God - with the help of His Grace, of course - that we will truly understand the full meaning of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Until that day, however, we can - and should - meditate on this mystery. A good starting point could be the love between Father and Son, which generates the Holy Spirit. Okay, so the words won't necessarily break fully through the veil of mystery; but at least we're on to something real when we attempt to grasp this description of the dynamic between the Three in One. Our intellect may be darkened by fallen human nature, but sometimes it can help us draw closer to the Truth.
And in our endeavor to seek and find the Truth during our journey in this life, it will help if we remember we don't need to rely on ourselves. We have a Mother who will hold our hand and guide us along the way. Indeed, we'll see here in the words of Father Philipon how Our Blessed Mother provides us with, as he calls it, a "short-cut" to the Trinity. But, as you'll see, it's not an intellectual formula that will help us here. It's a way of life - of our spiritual life, one that is unique to each of us as individuals. We see, yet again, why we go to Jesus - and ultimately the Holy Trinity - through Mary.
“Since Mary is our Mother, we ought to go to her with the heart of a child. No need, here, of precise formula or complicated method. The more simple one’s spiritual life, the more divine it is. Unhappily, this is not always so well understood as it ought to be. It is not unusual to find certain individuals who are greatly distressed because they cannot feel their devotion to the Blessed Mother. And so they are driven almost to despair, thinking themselves lacking in love. All this fret and worry is unnecessary, to say the least. Such individuals should stop being worried. Let them rest assured that devotion need not be felt. The ways of God are infinitely varied. Every soul must follow, freely and in all earnestness, the form of devotion that nature and temperament impose. Our particular form of intimate affection for Mary should be mirrored in, and be expressive of, our personality…Nevertheless, after all is said and done, there remain two great providential laws in the economy of salvation, and in order to advance on the way to divine union all Christian souls must conform to them. In the first place, our spiritual life must be centered in Christ; but, and this is the second point, it will be more perfect in proportion as it develops and grows under the influence of Mary. This does not mean just mumbling a few quick prayers every day. Indeed not. Our recourse to Mary has to come from the heart, and it has to be regular and persistent. In times of great decision or difficulty it is natural enough for us to look to Mary, but we ought to bring her our joys and expectations as well as our sorrows and adversities. Then, if we have confidence in her, prayer to Mary will obtain all things. She is at all times our Mother, from the cradle to the grave – and beyond. At the beginning of life, on the day of baptism, it was she who conveyed to each of us the title of child of God; at the end of life, it is she who will open to us the gates of heaven…
Yet Mary is not an end in herself, but a means of coming to Christ. She is, however, the best and quickest means of coming to Him and, through Him, to the Blessed Trinity; for it is in the Trinity that all is made perfect in the unity of the Father and the Son together with the Spirit proceeding from Both. Instead of being an obstacle, Mary is in fact the most direct way to Christ and, through Him, to the Father. She is, in a manner of speaking, the short-cut to the Blessed Trinity” (Father M. Philipon, O.P.)
We Catholics have always understood that Mary will lead the way for us. And we know where she takes us. Stay close to her on this Trinity Sunday.
Indeed, there may be no way to really get there until the day we actually get there - "there" being, of course, Heaven. It's only when we stand in the Presence of that same Triune God - with the help of His Grace, of course - that we will truly understand the full meaning of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Until that day, however, we can - and should - meditate on this mystery. A good starting point could be the love between Father and Son, which generates the Holy Spirit. Okay, so the words won't necessarily break fully through the veil of mystery; but at least we're on to something real when we attempt to grasp this description of the dynamic between the Three in One. Our intellect may be darkened by fallen human nature, but sometimes it can help us draw closer to the Truth.
And in our endeavor to seek and find the Truth during our journey in this life, it will help if we remember we don't need to rely on ourselves. We have a Mother who will hold our hand and guide us along the way. Indeed, we'll see here in the words of Father Philipon how Our Blessed Mother provides us with, as he calls it, a "short-cut" to the Trinity. But, as you'll see, it's not an intellectual formula that will help us here. It's a way of life - of our spiritual life, one that is unique to each of us as individuals. We see, yet again, why we go to Jesus - and ultimately the Holy Trinity - through Mary.
“Since Mary is our Mother, we ought to go to her with the heart of a child. No need, here, of precise formula or complicated method. The more simple one’s spiritual life, the more divine it is. Unhappily, this is not always so well understood as it ought to be. It is not unusual to find certain individuals who are greatly distressed because they cannot feel their devotion to the Blessed Mother. And so they are driven almost to despair, thinking themselves lacking in love. All this fret and worry is unnecessary, to say the least. Such individuals should stop being worried. Let them rest assured that devotion need not be felt. The ways of God are infinitely varied. Every soul must follow, freely and in all earnestness, the form of devotion that nature and temperament impose. Our particular form of intimate affection for Mary should be mirrored in, and be expressive of, our personality…Nevertheless, after all is said and done, there remain two great providential laws in the economy of salvation, and in order to advance on the way to divine union all Christian souls must conform to them. In the first place, our spiritual life must be centered in Christ; but, and this is the second point, it will be more perfect in proportion as it develops and grows under the influence of Mary. This does not mean just mumbling a few quick prayers every day. Indeed not. Our recourse to Mary has to come from the heart, and it has to be regular and persistent. In times of great decision or difficulty it is natural enough for us to look to Mary, but we ought to bring her our joys and expectations as well as our sorrows and adversities. Then, if we have confidence in her, prayer to Mary will obtain all things. She is at all times our Mother, from the cradle to the grave – and beyond. At the beginning of life, on the day of baptism, it was she who conveyed to each of us the title of child of God; at the end of life, it is she who will open to us the gates of heaven…
Yet Mary is not an end in herself, but a means of coming to Christ. She is, however, the best and quickest means of coming to Him and, through Him, to the Blessed Trinity; for it is in the Trinity that all is made perfect in the unity of the Father and the Son together with the Spirit proceeding from Both. Instead of being an obstacle, Mary is in fact the most direct way to Christ and, through Him, to the Father. She is, in a manner of speaking, the short-cut to the Blessed Trinity” (Father M. Philipon, O.P.)
We Catholics have always understood that Mary will lead the way for us. And we know where she takes us. Stay close to her on this Trinity Sunday.
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