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Feast of the Holy Trinity, Year C – 2022

One day, I heard someone say with much conviction: “We must let God be God!”
Perhaps this is what today’s celebration is meant to remind us of: Let God be God…

Accept that God is…
so much greater than we can picture,
so much wiser than we can understand,
so much more powerful than we can realize,
so much more surprising, than we can imagine,
so much beyond all that our human mind can perceive…

Today’s feast of the Holy Trinity is the celebration that:

God is a Father relating in a unique way to his Son, a relationship lived within their common Spirit.
 
We cannot imagine, understand or realize this – no human being can.
But this statement must be corrected –
one human being has understood: Jesus, he who was truly one of us,
God-made-man, God-become-human.

While we do not understand God,
because of Jesus, through him, we share in God’s life.

As we are told in the 2nd reading, in the letter that Paul wrote to the Christians of Rome (Romans 5:1-5):

“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, 
who has been given to us.”
 
This reveals the real meaning of what we believe,
of who God is,
and of what he has made us to be!

 

Note: Another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-sainte-trinite-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: YouTube 

 

16th Sunday of Year C – 2019

The texts offered to us in the Bible sometimes present us with… the world upside down!
This seems to be the case in today’s 1st reading (Gn.18:1-10).

Abraham sees three people nearing his home – three passers-by unknown to him.
In such a case, we would expect the strangers to present themselves and ask for hospitality if they need it.
This is not at all what we see happening.

First, in those three personages, Abraham recognizes the Almighty –
the ONE God he worships.

Then, far from being asked for assistance, he is the one who begs the visitors
to accept the hospitality which he offers them in a truly warm manner.
He describes for them what his welcome entails –
a festive meal that would surely delight hungry pilgrims!

The icon often used to evoke the Holy Trinity is, in fact, an illustration of this scene: 
the three visitors at table having been served the promised meal.
Reflecting on the text and the scene it describes, two questions arise:

  • Do we recognize God when he comes to us… and in whatever form he choose to reach us?
  • Do we welcome him as generously as Abraham did?

The answer to these two questions could well bring about some amazing change in our life…
Of course, this supposes that we accept to be sometimes surprised by God –
a God we may think we know and yet…

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/16e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2019/

Source: Image: etsy.com

Feast of the Holy Trinity, C

There are things we try to describe and we just can’t express what we have in mind, or what we have seen. There are situations we do our best to explain to others and it seems we simply don’t have the words that would make people understand what we want to say.

Of course, this applies especially to… God! Scripture scholars and theologians do their best to tell us who God is, what his nature and his attributes are but even their most profound language falls short of what would need to be said.Huts, www.ceed-trust.orgimagesL0SUB5UL sun, www.stockphotos.ro

A true story from an African country conveys much wisdom in this respect. A group of Christians had gathered to share the gospel on the eve of Trinity Sunday. The person responsible to prepare the meeting soon confessed: « The Holy Trinity, who can explain that? I tried to prepare something to say but I just don’t know what I could say. So, instead, let us practice our hymns for tomorrow. » At this point, the catechist inspired, no doubt, by the Holy Spirit, said to those present:

“I can explain something about the Holy Trinity. » And he went on: « If at mid-day I am in my hut with the door closed (there are no windows in a hut) what do I see? I can see the rays of the sun passing under the door and going everywhere. Then, I know the sun exists and I feel the heat which warms me. This is the Trinity:

– the sun is the Father;
– the rays are the Son whom the Father sends;
– the heat which warms me is the Spirit.”

A prayerful silence followed…

Source: Images: www.stockphotos.ro; www.ceed-trust.org