Holy Trinity – Holy Family
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We begin all our prayers with this blessing.
Understanding everything about the Trinity is impossible for the human mind. However, since the second century, we have been blessed with the insights of gifted spiritual writers, theologians and the Holy Scriptures to help our understanding of the Trinity in our lives. To this end, I offer you in this reflection the expertise of some of these gifted writers. These will be quotations that I invite you and encourage you to reflect on each one and even discuss with your family and/or friends. You might be surprised at the wonderful insight you will have about the Trinity.
St.Patrick – Catholics grew up with the story of St Patrick using the three-leaf clover to explain the Trinity. Can you recall this lesson and how you understood or still understand this mystery?
Fr. Richard Rohr, ofm in an interview with Google staff member on his book “The Divine Dance” uses the symbol of a fidget spinner to help understand how the Trinity is One in Its diversity. The toy has three sections attached to a bearing and when spinning it is becomes ONE object. The Three Persons of the Trinity are ONE God -each person having a responsibility.
I recall a Byzantine Deacon beginning our meetings with: “In the Name of the Father, who created me, in the Name of the Son, who redeemed me, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies me. Amen.”
Gretchen Filtz, a Lay Dominican, “When we reflect on the nature of the Holy Trinity, we see that the human family itself teaches us about God. The Trinity is a loving, self-giving unity of three Divine Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit- in One Divine Being. Their loving union is procreative, in that the Holy Trinity brought creatures into existence to share in their divine love for all eternity. Likewise, a husband and wife join in a loving, self-giving, procreative union. Therefore, it is not merely individual man and woman that bear the image of God, but also the human family itself, because together they form a union of love from which proceeds the fruitfulness of children. For this reason Pope Benedict XVI called the human family an Icon of the Holy Trinity.”
Fr. Albert Haase, ofm – “The Father is only a father because he has a Son whom he loves; the Son is only a Son, because he has the Father whom he loves; the Father and Son share an intimate relationship of love because the Holy Spirit binds them together. God is a trinity of loving relationships.”
On this Feast of Holy Trinity and Fathers’ Day, you are invited to reflect on how your family can be more like an icon of the Holy Trinity in its self-giving love.
Sister Celeste Hupert, CSFN
