you WITHIN the Trinity

Thursday-Friday, June 1-2, 2017

From John 17:26: “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

This is Jesus’ wish for all who would believe in Him for all time. And it wasn’t until I read a wonderful book called “the Divine Dance” by Fr. Richard Rohr that I came to appreciate more fully the importance of this final petition of what is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” prayed to the Father before He was taken away to be crucified.

The fullness of the Trinity is contained in this one sentence. The love shared by the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit, the extraordinary beauty of the essence of the Trinity, that same Spirit that we ask God to bestow on us as we draw near the great feast of Pentecost this coming weekend. But notice, if you will, that this Spirit has already been poured out upon us and we taste of it whenever we open the eyes of our souls to see the beauty which God continues to pour out upon the world, as tired and polluted and war-torn as our world may be at this time in history.

I was reminded that as I drove home from an errand this afternoon. The road was flanked by lush green trees which were glistening in the spring sunlight, and as I enjoyed the view I couldn’t help but realize that I was gazing upon the beauty of the work of our Creator God, and I sang the first line of the ancient hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” (Come, Creator Spirit).

But there is yet more to consider: Notice, if you will, that Jesus Christ prays that we be included within the embrace of the Trinity. Father, Son, Spirit, and you, all tasting the same unfathomable love. It’s not a question of merit, or worthiness, of justification or redemption. All that is required is faith. And because of that faith (which itself has been given to us as a gift), the three persons of the Trinity take us unto themselves, now and for all eternity.

The Psalmist cries out somewhere, “Such knowledge is too much for me, so far beyond my understanding.” And that is fine. You don’t need to understand it. Simply experience it. Simply taste it. Simply gaze on those words and repeat them to yourself until they nestle within your soul, and you will find that so many of the troubled questions you have in your life will find a bit of resolution, and you will be at peace.

God bless you!

I will be on vacation for a while. The next Reflection will by on or about June 12.