Trinity Sunday: Who Is the Holy Trinity?

The Holy Trinity is the most difficult subject in Catholic theology. According to an ancient story, St. Augustine, one of the greatest theologians of Church history, was one day walking along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea contemplating the question of the Holy Trinity, when he saw a child playing on the seashore. The boy had dug a hole in the sand and then was carrying buckets of water from the sea, pouring them into the hole. St. Augustine asked him what he was doing. The boy replied that he was going to put the sea into the hole. The saint replied that the boy would never be able to put the whole sea into that small hole. To which the boy replied, “Neither will you ever be able to understand the Trinity.”

Indeed, our finite minds can never fully comprehend the inscrutable mystery of the Holy Trinity, because we can never fully understand the infinite mystery of God. All we can do is formulate some thoughts that point toward the reality of who God is. But we have to bear in mind that all human thought is finite, and therefore no human words can capture the fullness of God. Anything we say about God, even if it is true, will fall short. Imagine going to a place of great natural beauty, like the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, or the ocean. If you take a picture with your phone, then post it to social media, will your followers be able to experience through the pictures what you are experiencing in person? No, they will only get a small inkling of the grandeur of what you are beholding. Our words about God are similar. They only give us a small inkling of the inexpressible wonder of God’s being. Let us bear that in mind as we contemplate who the Holy Trinity is.

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Pentecost: The Holy Spirit Is the Animating Principle of the Church

After Jesus rose from the dead and revealed himself to his followers, the disciples came to believe. But they were still afraid. We see them hiding behind locked doors, afraid that they too might be arrested and killed, as the Lord had been. But after Pentecost, we see them out in public, preaching at the Temple, willing to risk arrest and execution in order to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Indeed, eleven out of the twelves apostles were martyred for their faith. What made the difference in their disposition?

The difference was the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples could do nothing. But once they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were ready to go forth and undertake the work Christ had entrusted to them. The Holy Spirit is the animating principle that makes the Church live and thrive in the world. That is why we consider Pentecost, the day on which the Holy Spirit was given to us, the birthday of the Church.

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Ascension Sunday: The Ascension Is a Call To Evangelization

In other religions, the idea of a divine being taking on a human form is conceptualized very differently from Christianity. In other religions, gods might become human here and there, for short periods of time. Not so in Christianity.

In our faith, we believe that God became incarnate at a specific time in creation history. The Creed mentions Pontius Pilate, thereby highlighting the exact period in human history when God came among us. We believe that the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, took on a human nature when Christ was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.

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The very first Christian controversy revolved around who could be received into to the Church and how. The first Christians did not see themselves as belonging to a new religion. They were deeply religious Jews, who recognized Christ as the fulfillment of the Jewish tradition, both the Mosaic Law and the prophets. The first question was whether Gentiles, that is to say non-Jews, could be received into the fold.

We see in the reading from The Acts of the Apostles for this Sunday that Peter recognizes the power of the Holy Spirit working among Gentile believers as well, so he orders that they too be allowed to receive baptism, which is the first step of being initiated into the body of Christ. But as the New Testament narrative unfolds, we see that the question arising from this decision is not quite so easily solved. That question is whether and to what extent the Gentiles have to observe the Mosaic Law.

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