Catholics were buzzing this morning with the news that churches will be permitted to open from next week. That is excellent news, certainly, but I'm sure most of you will have expected to hear that not all churches will be opened at once, that there would be a sequence of health and safety hurdles to get over before a building could be safely made available. If there is any change at Saint Joseph's, that will be made known at first on the parish website and social media channels, since those are the easiest ways to make news available these days.
Mass was offered today for the repose of the soul of Iwan Parasyn (+), may he be blessed. And so it's Trinity Sunday, and the rest of the year (until Advent) now rolls out before us in the green of Ordinary time. I always feel rather uplifted by Trinity Sunday, since it celebrates that very august mystery of our Faith, that odd and paradoxical concept of a Trinity in Unity and a Unity in Trinity, a stumbling-block for other monotheistic religions and a point of amusement for polytheistic religions. It is a type of running joke among the clergy that it is rather difficult to compose a homily or make any discourse about the Trinity, for one needs stumble only just slightly to fall foul of the carefully composed statements of Faith (creeds) of the early Church. The attitude of these old formulations is best captured by the so-called Athanasian creed, and I do recommend having a listen through this:
In those days, an innovation such as the infamous Arian position could create a significant schism and disunity in the body of the Church. Things are very much the same today (even if we don't fight as hard as in the past), when Christ is seen by a large number of people, Christian and non-Christian, as not as much divine as a wise and human teacher (and adjustment to Arianism). Against this, the Church continues to repeat and recite the ancient Creeds that were produced with so much care and defended with so much suffering. Above all, we have to remember that, in Catholic theology, a 'mystery' is not something that can be solved or needs to be solved. It is always beyond us, may always be beyond us. There are mystics among our Saints who have said that even to the Saints in heaven and to the angels, the Godhead is not fully understandable. And so, today, we are in a sense very like Moses on that mountain in the first reading.
"Thus the Lord passed by, and [Moses] cried out, 'It is the Lord God, the Ruler of all things, the Merciful, the Gracious; slow to take vengeance, rich in kindness, faithful to His promises. He is true to His promise of mercy a thousand times over; shame or sin or guilt is none but He forgives it; yet, before Him, none can claim innocence in his own right, and when He punishes, the son must make amends for the father’s guilt, to the third and the fourth generation.' Then, without more ado, Moses fell prostrate with his face to the ground in worship. 'Lord,' he said, 'if Thou dost look on me with favour, I entreat Thee to go with us on our journey, stiff-necked as this people is; guilt of our sins do Thou pardon, and keep us for Thy own." - Exodus 34: 6-9
We know more than Moses did, for God has since described Himself as a Trinity in Unity, one God in three Persons. And one of those three Persons entered the realm of the visible and has been described in detail. Nevertheless, before the magnitude of the Being of God, we can still do little more than say, 'Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, may he ever be a Father to us and accept us as his very own,' and bow down in worship.
And that's what's so very important: belonging and fellowship. The greatest mystery perhaps is that this God of ours, so different from us, wishes to commune with us, to draw us (if we would only cooperate) into Himself, so that we may be at one with Him. He wants to give us Eternity, as Saint John says in the Gospel today. One of things Christ kept saying to his disciples, even begging them, I should say, was to keep His commandments and so remain in His love. He keeps His promises, but will we keep our part of the bargain? Saint Paul suggests to us how at the end of his second letter to the Corinthians, our second reading today. He counsels perfection, mutual agreement, peace-making:
"Finally, brethren, we wish you all joy. Perfect your lives, listen to the appeal we make, think the same thoughts, keep peace among yourselves; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with the kiss of saints. All the saints send you their greeting. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the imparting of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." - II Corinthians 13: 11-13
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