Weekly Reflection 6/16/19

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

June 15 and 16, 2019

Oh most Holy Trinity, undivided unity, Holy God, Mighty God, God immortal be adored.

The Holy Trinity is one of the most misunderstood and mysterious of all of our earthly ideas about God. At first glance, we simply are resurrecting ancient pagan practices of polytheism with talk of three persons in one God. But the Holy Spirit, God the Son and God the Father are not separate entities; but are one in the same God who simultaneously creates, redeems and sanctifies from before the beginning of time to that time in the future when time will cease. What a concept to try and wrap our brains around on a Sunday morning, but that is the mystery that we come to celebrate every Sunday.

The readings today try to place these ideas into an understandable context. The first reading from the Book of Proverbs attests to the role of Wisdom in the creative act of God at the beginning of the world. In effect, Wisdom acts as an eyewitness to the creation.

But what exactly is Wisdom? In Catholic Theology, wisdom has always been an attribute of God that can not be taken from God and can only be bestowed by God. In ancient Israel, wisdom was the “path” that led to God and represented all that people strove to be to each other. In the first reading Wisdom, another name for the Holy Spirit, claims a role in the creation through play and delight. A clear sign that creation is to be enjoyed as it is created by and from the love of God.

In the Gospel, Jesus attests to the Holy Spirit as the aspect of God that will enable us to continue to be “on fire” even after Jesus returns to heaven. Paul tells us in the second reading that the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to hope. Hope is the expectation that God loves us and that the work of God in our lives will be fulfilled. This is testimony from Jesus himself that God will continue to care for us and love us as God has always done; even when we don’t deserve that love. God’s unconditional love, present in the Holy Spirit on earth today, continues to create and love through our actions and beliefs.

Truly, God immortal be adored.                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                     -Barry Zavislan