Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Sea of Galilee at Sunrise

Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Children of the Trinity

As I reflected on Trinity Sunday, my thoughts flowed along this path:  We believe that the one God is three divine Persons. We also believe that we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are God’s adopted children. It follows then, that we must bear a family resemblance. Of course, we will never be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent…or perfect as God is. There are, however, ways we can be Godlike. God is love, and so we can reflect love to the world—pure, unconditional, undying love. Although the Trinity acts as one in everything, we attribute a certain role to each Person, a role that it is possible to imitate. This is what I concluded…

We call God the Father the Creator. We resemble God in this way whenever we make something such as a new recipe, a piece of artwork, or a poem. As creator, God brings forth life. We bring forth life not only by bearing children, but by nurturing the lives of other people, which include our family members, friends, and even complete strangers. We foster life by planting gardens, caring for pets, and supporting organizations that try to prevent the extinction of some species. We take a stand against abortion that snuffs out life at its beginning stages and we work for abolishing the death penalty. When we do these things, we take after our heavenly Father.

We call God the Son the Redeemer. This sacred Person became a human being and sacrificed his life so that we might live forever. We resemble God in this way when we give our time, talents, and money to improve the quality of someone else’s life. We might sacrifice our ego and let another person be praised for a job. We might sacrifice doing something that gives us pleasure (like watching a movie) in order to help someone else achieve a goal (like moving into a nursing home). We might stay up late at night to quiet a crying baby or minister to a sick person. We might donate blood or a kidney!

We call the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier, the one who enlightens us and makes us holy. We imitate the Holy Spirit when we teach someone about the faith, share a book about the faith, invite sometime to church or to a lecture or a course on the faith. We give a backslider a little boost toward holiness when we have the courage to point out a fault. And we influence people to become better persons by living various virtues ourselves.

If you were baptized, the Blessed Trinity dwells within you. The three Persons are active and loving in and through you. How have you been creating? sacrificing? sanctifying? Most important, how have you been loving?

The Carmelite St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, canonized in 2016, is one of our newest saints.  She composed the beautiful prayer to the Trinity given below. You might wish to adopt it.

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to become utterly forgetful of myself so that I may establish myself in you, as changeless and calm as though my soul were already in eternity. Let nothing disturb my peace nor draw me forth from you, O my unchanging God, but at every moment may I penetrate more deeply into the depths of your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it your heaven, your cherished dwelling-place and the place of your repose. Let me never leave you there alone, but keep me there, wholly attentive, wholly alert in my faith, wholly adoring and fully given up to your creative action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, I long to be the bride of your heart. I long to cover you with glory, to love you even unto death! Yet I sense my powerlessness and beg you to clothe me with yourself. Identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute yourself for me, so that my life may become a reflection of your life. Come into me as Adorer, as Redeemer and as Saviour.

O Eternal Word, utterance of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, to become totally teachable so that I might learn all from you. Through all darkness, all emptiness, all powerlessness, I want to keep my eyes fixed on you and to remain under your great light. O my Beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may never be able to leave your radiance.

O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, overshadow me so that the Word may be, as it were incarnate again in my soul. May I be for him a new humanity in which he can renew all his mystery.

And you, O Father, bend down towards your poor little creature. Cover her with your shadow, see in her only your beloved son in who you are well pleased.

O my `Three’, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to you as your prey. Immerse yourself in me so that I may be immersed in you until I go to contemplate in your light the abyss of your splendor!

 

 

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