One of the greatest, most profound, and most elusive mysteries of our faith is that of the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity. It something that has confounded saints and scholars alike, so much so, that it, simultaneously, challenges, frustrates and confuses us.
In fact, I once heard a homily where the priest had handouts so that the congregation could follow along in his homily, which was theologically dense, and philosophically challenging. And, yet, it is a common response because the Trinity, while beautiful and mysterious brings us into the very heart of God and compels us to speak directly about Someone none of us can ever completely know or understand.
Yet, while the Trinity is elusive, as one theologian puts it, it is the innermost life of God and His profoundest secret, a secret, however, that He desires all of us to strive to know, if even vaguely.
For this mystery shows and reminds us that this is something that can never be solved by mere logical deduction, this is one of those mysteries that cannot be solved by study alone, because this mystery is meant to lead us to the greatest heights of prayer, so that our only desire is to drop to our knees in adoration. For, as one priest puts it: “what else can we do in the face of God but contemplate?”
Archbishop Luis Martinez, author of the great spiritual classic, The Sanctifier, puts it well, he says: “If God were not so great, if he were not infinite, if we could comprehend him or exhaust him, we would not love him as we do; he would not satisfy our hearts.”
For, indeed, it is in contemplating Him that we constantly learn more about Him and in learning more about Him, we find more things to love, again and again, so that, in that love we reach the most perfect and purest form of adoration, and, in that, get to experience a glimpse, a moment, a passing understanding of who God truly is.
Because, though He is shrouded in mystery, though He is incomprehensible and inexhaustible, He still reaches us out to us to allow us to come closer to the fullness of Himself as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is not some remote being out in some far off galaxy, but God Himself who is here in our midst, in our Eucharist, in one who desires that, indeed, we do come to know Him more and more.
And, the way that happens is, as many saints explained, through contemplation, what they would call, “the highest form of prayer.” Yet, if we are honest, this is the type of prayer we don’t take the time to do, to contemplate Him, to seek Him and to know Him as He is, in short, to “Be still and know that He is God.”
Yet, if we think about it, all prayer, no matter what it is, is actually meant to lead to this greater contemplation of God Himself, the Rosary, the novenas, the Scripture reading, everything we do, is merely a gateway to the contemplation of Almighty God. So that when we kneel before that Blessed Sacrament, when we fall down in adoration before Him, we are, in actual fact, before the Most Blessed Trinity.
For, though veiled from our physical eyes, we see with the eyes of faith this Most Holy Trinity, so that where the Father is, the Son is and the Holy Spirit, it is, in fact, the very essence of love.
For, perfect love begets perfect love, which is why the Father begets the Son, and the Son as a perfect image of the Father, pours back His life, so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and Son.
The very essence then, the very heart of the Trinity is this perfect love, a love that knows no limits, a love that can only exist in such fullness within God Himself. And, since God is both eternal and almighty, that love is, literally, the cause of creation, that love is the reason we are here right now.
In fact, that is what it means to say God is love; it is not a poetic or metaphorical term to explain what God might be, rather, it is His very essence, it is what He is. That is why we say the Father, out of love, sent the Son, who out of love, died for us, and, upon ascending, out of love, for those He saved, sent the Holy Spirit.
Yet, the only way to truly grasp even a little of this is to constantly fall before Him in awe and in adoration, approaching Him, in faith, as a child, as one who has received that spirit of adoption, as it says in our second reading, otherwise, this most amazing and beautiful of mysteries will remain hidden, mean nothing, and yield no greater understanding.
At the risk of going a little longer than normal, every time we celebrate this feast, I cannot help but be reminded of the great story about St. Thomas Aquinas. For those who don’t know him, he is one of the greatest intellectuals the Church has ever had, and he spent his entire life writing volumes of the deepest and most profound theology and philosophy, most of which the Church still uses even today.
It is said; that one day he had a vision of the Most Blessed Trinity and was so overwhelmed by the experience that he never wrote again. He said: “I can write no more. I have seen things which make all my writings like straw.”
And, this mystery, though unfathomable in its scope, is one that God wishes to reveal to those who spend time with Him, to those who contemplate Him in love and in glory.
For, in the words of a great spiritual writer, with whom I leave you with today: “What can [we] say in the presence of such a sublime mystery? What can [we] understand of it? Nothing!” he says, but the mystery is so sublime and it so exceeds our understanding, that we can only bow our heads and adore in silence.”
In fact, I once heard a homily where the priest had handouts so that the congregation could follow along in his homily, which was theologically dense, and philosophically challenging. And, yet, it is a common response because the Trinity, while beautiful and mysterious brings us into the very heart of God and compels us to speak directly about Someone none of us can ever completely know or understand.
Yet, while the Trinity is elusive, as one theologian puts it, it is the innermost life of God and His profoundest secret, a secret, however, that He desires all of us to strive to know, if even vaguely.
For this mystery shows and reminds us that this is something that can never be solved by mere logical deduction, this is one of those mysteries that cannot be solved by study alone, because this mystery is meant to lead us to the greatest heights of prayer, so that our only desire is to drop to our knees in adoration. For, as one priest puts it: “what else can we do in the face of God but contemplate?”
Archbishop Luis Martinez, author of the great spiritual classic, The Sanctifier, puts it well, he says: “If God were not so great, if he were not infinite, if we could comprehend him or exhaust him, we would not love him as we do; he would not satisfy our hearts.”
For, indeed, it is in contemplating Him that we constantly learn more about Him and in learning more about Him, we find more things to love, again and again, so that, in that love we reach the most perfect and purest form of adoration, and, in that, get to experience a glimpse, a moment, a passing understanding of who God truly is.
Because, though He is shrouded in mystery, though He is incomprehensible and inexhaustible, He still reaches us out to us to allow us to come closer to the fullness of Himself as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is not some remote being out in some far off galaxy, but God Himself who is here in our midst, in our Eucharist, in one who desires that, indeed, we do come to know Him more and more.
And, the way that happens is, as many saints explained, through contemplation, what they would call, “the highest form of prayer.” Yet, if we are honest, this is the type of prayer we don’t take the time to do, to contemplate Him, to seek Him and to know Him as He is, in short, to “Be still and know that He is God.”
Yet, if we think about it, all prayer, no matter what it is, is actually meant to lead to this greater contemplation of God Himself, the Rosary, the novenas, the Scripture reading, everything we do, is merely a gateway to the contemplation of Almighty God. So that when we kneel before that Blessed Sacrament, when we fall down in adoration before Him, we are, in actual fact, before the Most Blessed Trinity.
For, though veiled from our physical eyes, we see with the eyes of faith this Most Holy Trinity, so that where the Father is, the Son is and the Holy Spirit, it is, in fact, the very essence of love.
For, perfect love begets perfect love, which is why the Father begets the Son, and the Son as a perfect image of the Father, pours back His life, so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and Son.
The very essence then, the very heart of the Trinity is this perfect love, a love that knows no limits, a love that can only exist in such fullness within God Himself. And, since God is both eternal and almighty, that love is, literally, the cause of creation, that love is the reason we are here right now.
In fact, that is what it means to say God is love; it is not a poetic or metaphorical term to explain what God might be, rather, it is His very essence, it is what He is. That is why we say the Father, out of love, sent the Son, who out of love, died for us, and, upon ascending, out of love, for those He saved, sent the Holy Spirit.
Yet, the only way to truly grasp even a little of this is to constantly fall before Him in awe and in adoration, approaching Him, in faith, as a child, as one who has received that spirit of adoption, as it says in our second reading, otherwise, this most amazing and beautiful of mysteries will remain hidden, mean nothing, and yield no greater understanding.
At the risk of going a little longer than normal, every time we celebrate this feast, I cannot help but be reminded of the great story about St. Thomas Aquinas. For those who don’t know him, he is one of the greatest intellectuals the Church has ever had, and he spent his entire life writing volumes of the deepest and most profound theology and philosophy, most of which the Church still uses even today.
It is said; that one day he had a vision of the Most Blessed Trinity and was so overwhelmed by the experience that he never wrote again. He said: “I can write no more. I have seen things which make all my writings like straw.”
And, this mystery, though unfathomable in its scope, is one that God wishes to reveal to those who spend time with Him, to those who contemplate Him in love and in glory.
For, in the words of a great spiritual writer, with whom I leave you with today: “What can [we] say in the presence of such a sublime mystery? What can [we] understand of it? Nothing!” he says, but the mystery is so sublime and it so exceeds our understanding, that we can only bow our heads and adore in silence.”
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