Lover, Loved, and the Love

This weekend was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and for those of us who have no idea what a Solemnity is, I turn to Fr. Vincent Serpa O.P. "A Solemnity is the highest rank of celebration and is identified in the calendar with an S. Easter, Christmas, All Saints day, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, and other celebrations of events in our Lord's life on earth and certain saints are solemnities. the Gloria and Creed are always said on such days. Solemnities are like Sundays, though most of them are not days of obligation." Now that I know what solemnity means it is now time to turn to what the Holy Trinity is.

In order to talk about the trinity one must talk about St. Augustine, in fact one of his depictions of the Trinity is this posts title. The trinity is the one substance and three persons of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I could take this time to do a multitude of things, from going on a rant about how the readings for this weekend did not seem to be the most fitting for the celebration of the Trinity, or I could go down a deep theological explanation of the complexities of the trinity. Referencing early church Christological councils, and of course using my limited knowledge of Greek to talk about, Ousia, Hypostasis, Phusis, Physis, Prsopon, and of course the Hypostatic Union, or how we would be lost without the latin idea of Communicatio Idiomatum. Now while I am sure that certain readers would each uniquely and individually like one or the other of those things to follow, but instead of playacting to an audience that just wants to see me rant, or one that just wants deep theological points to be made I instead will grasp for the ever illusive middle way. What follows will be a brief comment on the trinity with a story of Augustine followed by my own story of experiencing mass this weekend.

The Trinity is a complex idea that has been, is being, and will be wrestled with by many believers. While three distinct persons they are one substance not co-mingled not confused and mixed up within each other but perfectly united, united in love. Augustine as I said has to be talked about, he wrote a tremendous amount an a wide range of matters of faith, from his own Confessions to the City of God, and his four hundred pages, and over 30 years spent writing those pages devoted to the trinity. While I have read no where near all of this, I obviously find the image of Lover, Loved, and Love to be one that not only beautifully depicts, but also shows the complexity of the trinity.

However my favorite teaching on the trinity is that of Augustine on the beach.

"The great Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate [about the Holy Trinity], endeavoring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.

He was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand.

The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are doing?”

“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile. 

“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine. 

The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”

This is my favorite aspect of learning about the trinity, no matter what when it comes down to it, as I spend restless hours wrestling with the complex idea of the trinity only to find more questions than answers I am given this comfort. 

Now while I said earlier, the readings for this weekend in my opinion were seemingly terrible, and did not fit with such a celebration. While the gospel contained a great, single line about the trinity ("Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Mt 28:16-20) the first and second reading seemed to be selected at random (now I'm sure, and I hope someone can explain to me how they really are fitting). 

The reality about going to mass on Sunday is that I was not looking forward to it like I should have. I had just gone shopping with my mom at Meijer and Sam's club, as if one wasn't torture enough. My goal was to spend the day reading and watching Netflix, which is what I did all morning, so I really can't complain too much. While I was not eagerly going to mass I am certainly glad I did. In addition to being a part of the mass and experience the Eucharist and all that other good stuff that happens at mass no matter where you are or what weekend it is, Fr. Bernard gave a, if I may be so bold, kick ass homily, reminding us of the Lover, Loved, and Love unity of the trinity bringing together and binding these three persons together in one same substance. In addition to this however going to mass at this particular time, on that day at that church I found myself coming together. While walking into the church I ran into my friends Patricia and Eric, I had not seen them in weeks. Next up our friend Alex wanders in, someone I also hadn't seen in weeks. After mass as we walked out I then ran into my friend Mary, someone I hadn't seen in months, and after that I saw Mckenzie and LG, persons I went to high school with and had not seen in years. 

In this moment, having experienced the Eucharist having listened to the word of God as ill fitting as it seemed, listening to Fr. Bernard's kick ass homily, and then seeing all these people I know, love and have missed truly painted a picture of how the church brings us together in love. A similar love that brings the trinity together. In this moment I understood without knowing the definition, what a solemnity was why it was important, and the importance of a unified trinity in love.