Dear Parishioner,
As a 20-something undergraduate I remember frequently singing out the word’s of Don McClean’s American Pie which included the words ‘…..And the three men I admire most, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost; they caught the last train for the coast the day the music died.’ McLean of course was not offering a somewhat distinctive reflection on trinitarian theology but he was talking about the tragic death of Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash in 1959, an event which impacted the lives of many at the time and probably since.
The psalmist had a slightly different take on pain as he screamed for God on his bed of pain, only to hear his pleadings return to him as an echo. His is a stark reminder that when we are faced with the pain of those who long for the comforting presence of God in the midst of suffering we are often reduced to silence. , Such is the misery and paucity of language increasingly highlighted by journalists for example, as they attempt to report on and come to terms with the incessant tragedy that is Gaza.
So on this Trinity Sunday we might well recall our own well-meaning yet feeble attempts to ‘contain’ the Trinity with shamrocks and equilateral triangles and other visual aids and treat it as a problem to be solved rather a spiritual reality to be entered into.
Thomas Aquinas in the 12th century spoke of the ‘misery of language’ when speaking about the Trinity. On many levels, the Trinity is most certainly a far cry from human suffering and yet if it is to mean something other than a fourth century game of ‘intellectual sudoku’ which exercised the minds of the early church fathers it must remain connected to that suffering. The Redemptorist Denis McBride reflects thus: ‘What we hunger for is not a new argument about the Trinity, but the experience of a God who loves us.’ And the promise of Jesus in today’s gospel is that he will share the love between himself and the Father with all his followers. That God will live with us in the power of the Spirit. As Catholic Christians we believe that the Spirit of God is alive within us and it is that same Spirit that experiences our hunger and poverty and loneliness and helps us voice our prayers. We may the take heart and be pleased that God still chooses to dwell with us and groans within us as we struggle towards the peace of His kingdom.
Theologian John McDade reminds us: ‘…..God’s eternal existence (Father) is expressive (Word) and unitive (Love) and when you live out a Christian life with Christ in the Spirit, you’re living out the mystery of [the triune] God in a conscious way, folding yourself back into the eternal reality of God, and able to live the most profound life possible. Enjoy! After all, it’s what you are made for.’
Deacon Alex
