Trinity Sunday, May 18, 2008

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Felix's Homilies

May 18, 2008

If you thought it was going to get any easier after last Sunday Pentecost Mathematics Trivia, think again. Now we have to solve the mystery of God and his constitution as One God with Three Person in Him, each of whom is God Fully and yet together not combining into still One God, not Three.

That's our God whom we celebrate today. The point of this celebration Feast) is not to understand God. We would be wasting our time. That's not the point. We know it simply because Our Lord Jesus revealed God as such, not because we understand him as such.

Our Faith in God is a Revealed Faith, not a human discovery enterprise. Some of what is revealed doesn't fit our manner of thinking.

We have been conditioned to understand everything in terms of Mathematics language. We use it to measure and understand time, space, shapes, area, square, rectangles, distance, height, volume, sounds, light, liquids, temperature, intelligence, emotions, mood, etc. You name it; we can translate it into Mathematics language.

But when it comes to God, that language fails and falls short. God doesn't fit its Formulas. Because He is not discovered. He revealed his nature to us. And that nature cannot fit our Math of 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. No: in God 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 and 1 = 3 and 3 = 1.

Don't try to understand this at home. St. Augustine of Hippo, a great mind/thinker (philosopher and theologian) was once walking along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea contemplating the Mystery of the Holy Trinity as he went along. He was trying to understand the Doctrine of Three Persons each of whom is Fully God in One God.

Suddenly, he saw at a distance small figure of a child playing in the sand of the shore. The kid had made a hole in the sand, and was running back and forth to the Sea and back to the shore. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. He was cupping the seawater with his palms and running back to pour the water into the hole he had dug in the sand.

St. Augustine watched him as the kid made these endless trips. Finally he could hold himself and asked. “Kid! What do you think you are you doing?” The kid replied, “I am trying to empty this sea into this hole. Don't you see, each time I pour the water in the hole, it disappears. So, as long as I can pour this sea water into this bottomless hole, I can empty all that water in it.”

“Kid! Kid! Kid! Oh! Kid! You have plenty of time in your hands apparently with absolutely nothing to do with your life. How in the Heaven's name do you every think that you, with those tiny-tiny little palms, that can ever empty this immense sea into this tiny little hole?”

The kid replied, “And so are you, Mr. How do you suppose that with that small head of yours, that you can ever comprehend the immensity of God?”

Right when Augustine thought he might grab the kid, his palm grabbed nothing but air. The kid had disappeared into the thin air. It was an angel disguised as a child.

LESSON:

The point of this revealed doctrine is not to satisfy our mental curiosity. Rather it was intended for Worship/Relationship. God revealed himself and his own constitution to inform us (to give us an idea of) how his is composed. The importance of such as self-revelation is to inform our worship of him. This is true for each and every revealed doctrine. It serves to direct (like a map) our worship of / our relationship towards / our interaction with God.

EUCHARISTIC REAL PRESENCE

If you believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist, you will have adoration. If you don't believe in the Real Presence like some people do, you won't have Adoration. If you belief in Mary as the Mother of God, Assumed body and soul into heaven, conceived without sin, you are going to have high regard for her. If she is none of those, you won't have Marian devotions. If you belief in the Communion of Saints, you will communicate with the Saints in Heaven. If you don't you won't have All Saints day.

NON-CATHOLIC FRIEND

That explains why other churches don't have the feasts as we do, except Christmas. One friend of mine told me, “I went to the Catholic Church once, and I have never been so lost from the moment it started till it ended. I said, Catechism, Catechism. Unless you know WHAT and WHO, you won't know HOW and WHEN.

The Belief in the Trinity has informed our worship. People always try to be like the god they worship. People, who worship or believe in a Warrior God, tend to be Warmongers. People, who worship or believe in a god of pleasure, tend to be Pleasure-Seeking. People who worship or believe in a god of Wrath, tend to be Vengeful, and people who worship or believe in a god of love, tend to be Loving. LIKE GOD, SO THE/LIKE WORSHIPERS. SHOW ME YOUR GOD AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE.

In the First Reading it says that God passed before Moses proclaiming:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious/kind, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Upon that revealed knowledge Moses worship accordingly: “Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth, and worshiped.”

You see where our rituals come from? Why we genuflect or bow? Do you or can you see that anywhere? Upon understanding God as Lord as “Slow to anger and abounding in love”, Moses could now pray and say: “Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

You see, the role of doctrines or the right understanding of God and how he relates within himself in three persons, and how he relates to us, informs us in how we must worship such a God. That's the role of the Catechism we spend so many hours on. Without Catechism, the tragedy is you can't worship. You can't know how to. You can't know what appropriate moves to make. As God, so the worshiper.

MOM and DAD

If you know who your Mom or Dad is, you will know how to address them. You won't address them like any one else out there because you know how they relate to you. When you know who your Uncle/Aunt, that informs how you relate to/with them. If you know the role of your Uncle/Aunt in your life, you will know how to interact properly with them.

GREETING WITH A HANDSHAKE, HIGH-FIVE, WHAT TO SAY. When you meet a stranger or an acquaintance, the ritual of approaching them is by saying “Hi!” first; then proceed to “Handshake”.

But when you meet a person you know very well, your ritual of greeting will be a “High-Five.”

OUR BODIES ARE THE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Revealed Knowledge that our Bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, inform how we should treat our bodies with reverence and how we should use them for worship.

Similarly, knowledge of God, informs how we worship. That's the purpose of such feasts as these.

The same is true for the Feasts of the individual Saints. To know how to relate/communicate with them. If you know St. Anthony of Padua, you will know how to pray for his assistance with lost things. If you know St. Jude Thaddeus, you will know how to implore his aid in hopeless cases.

OUR PRAYERS ARE TRINITARIAN IN NATURE because we know God as such: One God in Three Persons.

That is why we make the SIGN OF THE CROSS:

• As we enter the church.
• Before and after meals.
• Before and after any and every prayer.

By the same token, our liturgy (Mass) always starts with a Trinitarian greeting: “The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father and the Fellowship/Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always.” (2 Cor. 13:13). It is taken verbatum from St. Paul's letter in the Second Reading.

The Mass also ends with the Trinitarian Greeting: “May the Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

ROSARY:

“Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.”

In the Second Reading, based on the understanding of who God is, St. Paul instructs the Corinthians:

“Brothers and Sisters, put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.”

He said this because his understanding of God was that God was a Communion of Persons. So, as in the Godhead the Three Persons agree with one another, St. Paul can say, “Agree with one another.” Because there is Order within the Godhead, he can say, “Put things in order.” Because the 3 persons in the Godhead live in peace with one another, they are not rivals, St. Paul can say, “Live in peace and the God of Love and peace will be with you.”

Your Faith informs you Liturgy, as you Liturgy says a lot about your Faith (what you know). The revealed Truth that God is God the Father, informed the Apostles to prayer as Jesus taught them, “Our Father who art in heaven....” You know what to say when you know who you are talking to. You don't know what to say when you don't know who you are encountering. That revealed Truth tells us that God is Family now. That's why we invoke him before meals. We won't eat without informing them that dinner is ready. To neglect saying Grace is to leave other family members upstairs when dinner is ready downstairs. It's a violation of family norms.

When you know the revealed truth that God is the Holy Spirit as well, then you have prayer to God the Holy Spirit. “Veni Sancti Spiritus, Veni Creator: Come Spirit, the Creator.”

ALL THE SACRAMENTS ARE TRINITARIAN IN NATURE.

• BAPTISM: At Baptism our souls/we are branded with his insignia, initials. We are incorporated into his family.
• MATRIMONY IS TRINITARIAN: The mystery of the Godhead is manifested in the husband and wife becoming one in two persons. Each distinct persons but one flesh, and the child solidifies such a oneness.
• CONFIRMATION:  We receive the spirit that helps us pray when we can't. It gives us what to say and how to say it. It gives us how to worship. It gives expression to our worship.  It gives utterance to tour worship. It gives us how to communicate with God.

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