CATECHISM LESSON: God is Trinity

Continuing Chapter 5. What is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life? Many today might well reply it is a person, Jesus Christ. That answer is incorrect. The Church teaches us that the mystery of the Trinity is what is central to our faith.

Interesting thought we might think about too often: People of the OT times did not have the experience of the Trinity as we know it. For them God, Yahweh, was learned from the scriptures that God was one, unique. He had no equal. He created the world, established a covenant with the people. He is, as we have heard, the Father of the poor, the orphan and the widow.

OT scripture time and again gives praise and glory to the universal power of God. Then, in time, there comes the man Jesus. With his presence upon the earth we encounter God in a different sense. Jesus revealed God as Father. God has a relationship to his only begotten Son. Read St. John's gospel, Chapters 13-17: you will find that Jesus refers to God as 'Father' forty-five times. Jesus is divine as is his Father.

Prior to his passion this son of God made a promise to all of us: I will send the Holy Spirit to teach, counsel and guide. The appearance of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and elsewhere in the NT is considered to be evidence that the Holy Spirit is the third person of this Holy Trinity.
So, we can say that the Holy Trinity is God's revelation of himself as Father in an intimate relationship with Jesus, his Son, and the Holy Spirit. This unique reality includes THREE truths of our faith.

First: The Trinity is ONE. Each person is fully God. Three gods are not part of this theology. We believe in a unity of Persons and one divine nature (p52).

Second: The Divine Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are distinct from each other. Each is not an expression of an appearance or mode of God. Each is an identifiable person. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God in a way that is distinct from the others.

Third: The three Divine Persons are in relation to each other. Catch this third truth. It takes few minutes to sink in ... as much as a mystery can sink in! The distinction for the other two that each possesses is understood by our human minds as we see that distinction only in reference to the others. God cannot be Father without His Son, nor can His Son be the Son without the Father. Then in the Holy Spirit we find a relationship to both Father and Son because both sent the Spirit to the world.

Enough for today. This is an important lesson for establishing a strong basis to our faith. This is essential today because, unfortunately, much of our catechetical instruction occurred years ago. If you are like this blogger, time and quantity many have pushed this learning deep, deep within our memories. Since the Trinity gives illumination to all the other mysteries of our faith, we should have a clear an understanding of this mystery as is humanly possible ... so that we can gain so much more in our understanding the other mysteries of our faith and why we say we are who we are as Roman Catholics.

DAILY REFLECTION: Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To understand the feast in today's world, the following priestly experience might be of some help.

One of my brothers often talks to me about his children. They are good, young people in their twenties. Like most people their age, they have been a challenge to my brother at one time or another. Yet, whenever we talk about any one of them, even when my brothers is seeking some advice, I admire the love he has for each of them. He goes out of his way to teach them. He has worked very hard to provide for them. Like many, I suppose, they love their Dad, but I suspect they have no idea of the depth of his love for them.

It is this type of love that reminds me of the love Jesus has for all of us despite our own ups and downs. In today's readings we read about the Good Shepherd. The Church offers us this image of Jesus. It is the Jesus who cares for us, who loves us. This is the heart of Jesus we consider today.

And what does the Sacred Heart of Jesus mean to you today?

Dancing with the (local) Stars!

Ballroom dancing has come alive again thanks to the TV reality show, Dancing With The Stars.

This evening I read an article in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia weekly newspaper that addressed this very topic. The writer shared with her audience how strongly the phenomenon has taken hold in Philly, Dave Clarke's city of young dancers.

This posting is an early announcement of a planned Ballroom Dance for the parish just before Ash Wednesday of 2008 ... it will be a Mardi Gras dance.

Through the assistance of the co-chair of our Pastoral Council there may be four or five weekends of "ballroom dance lessons" in Hess Auditorium. The teachers will be members of the GW University Ballroom Dance team!!!

The venue for the Dance is being searched at this time. Most likely it will be an embassy if at all possible. Now we cannot be as good as our parishioner, Joanne Doyle, the Senior of the Dance Floor in the DC area, but lessons will make the evening a marvelous outing.

So, let's get this dancing shoes out and the legs and lungs in shape. A more formal announcement will be made before the end of the summer.

Some News about the Jesuits

In a little more than six months the elected members of each Jesuit province, world-wide, will gather in Rome to participate in a General Congregation (GC) for the Society of Jesus. A GC is the supreme authoritative body within the Society. This particular Congregation will convene to elect a new Superior General for the Order. Father Peter Kolvenbach, SJ, is the first Superior General to petition the Holy Father to step down from the leadership position. Traditionally the Superior General will lead the Jesuits until his death. Fr. K's immediate successor, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, was relieved of his position due to health issues that made it impossible for him to fulfill his duties as the Superior General.
Fr. Kolvenback came to Rome in 1981 from Lebanon where he had taught for many years to be the Rector of the Orientale, a Jesuit house of studies for eastern rite churches. Only in that position a few years, Fr. K was elected Superior General by the last GC of the Jesuits.
In January, as the world-wide representatives will gather in Curia Generalis on the Borgo Santo Spirito, just a few blocks from the Holy Father's residence, the Fathers will elect a successor.
While stationed in Rome in 1981, this blogger worked closely with Fr. K in setting up a fund raising operation for the Orientale. He is quite the man because he is truly infused with and lives out the Ignatian charism. A man of prayer, he has done much to bring a deeper sense of Ignatian spirituality to the Society in contemporary times.
In 1959, when this blogger left DC to join the Society of Jesus, there were some 36,000 Jesuits throughout the world. Today, in the Catholic World News, there is a report about the number of Jesuits serving the Church today. The posting follows:

Jesuit order diminishing in numbers
Rome, Jun. 14, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Jesuit order diminished in size by 364 men in 2006, the Fides news service reports.
In the last calendar year, 486 men joined the Society of Jesus. But 472 Jesuits died, and 378 men left the religious order, accounting for the drop in numbers.
There are 19,216 Jesuits in the world today, by the latest count. The average age among Jesuits worldwide is now over 57.

Cardinal Walter Kasper has announced that a "summit" meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch

Alexei II may take place within the year.

Some Kasper critics believe the announcement is premature ... other similar annoucements from this leader (President) of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity with the same sentiments have not come to be.

Bishops' Conference With a New Office

Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck, a theologian and nationally known expert in Hispanic culture and ministry, has been named first executive director of the Office for Cultural Diversity of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Father Deck is currently president and executive director of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, Calif., a post he has held since 1997. Since 2000 he has also been superior of the Jesuit community of Orange County.

As part of the USCCB reorganization, approved by the bishops last November, the Office for Cultural Diversity will focus on the church's ministries with Catholics of Hispanic, Native American, African-American, Asian, African and Pacific origins, on new immigrants and on the pastoral care of migrants, refugees and travelers.

text taken from article of the Catholic News Service. June 14, 2007

Eternal Rest Grant to Her: Ruth Graham

Today the wife of Evangelist Billy Graham died at their home in the mountains of North Carolina. She was 87 years old. Daughter of a missionary in China, she wanted to work in Tibet but met Billy Graham ... and we know the rest of the story.

AP PHOTO: Chris O'Meara

DAILY REFLECTION: THURSDAY, June 14, 2007

Yesterday, Pope Benedict continued his study of the saints during his reflection for the Wednesday Audience in St. Peter's Square where some 30,000 plus pilgrims gathered together with the Holy Father.

Saint Eusebius of Caesaria

St. Eusebius of Caesaria --- Saint Presented in Audience Talk

Eusebius of Caesarea
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Continuing our catechesis on the writers of the early Church, we turn today to Eusebius of Caesarea. The many theological, exegetical and historical writings of Eusebius reflect the rich Christian culture of his time, which spanned the period of the last persecutions, the peace of the Church under Constantine, and the controversies surrounding the Council of Nicaea. He attended the Council as the Bishop of Caesarea and subscribed its teaching on the Son’s divinity and consubstantiality with the Father. Eusebius is best known for his Ecclesiastical History, which documented the first centuries of the Church’s life and preserved much precious evidence which would otherwise be lost. His Christocentric approach to history emphasized the gradual revelation of God’s merciful love for humanity, culminating in the coming of Christ, the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. Eusebius’ writings continue to inspire Christians in every age to let their study of history bear fruit in a greater appreciation of God’s saving works, a deeper conversion to Christ and a more generous witness to the Gospel in everyday life.

Daily Reflection: Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The recent remarks of Pope Benedict XVI last Sunday, Corpus Christi, are surely thoughts for prayerful consideration. I offer them to you for your reading and prayer.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION: RECOVERING A CAPACITY FOR SILENCE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2007 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square below.

In his remarks, the Holy Father spoke of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which many nations including the Vatican celebrated last Thursday, and which others have liturgically moved to today. This Feast invites us, he said, "to contemplate the supreme Master of our faith: the Blessed Eucharist, the real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the altar.

"Each time a priest repeats the Eucharistic sacrifice," he added, "he lends his voice, hands and heart to Christ, Who wished to remain with us and to be the pulsating heart of the Church. But even after the celebration of the divine mysteries, the Lord Jesus remains alive in the tabernacle and, for this reason, a special form of praise of Him is Eucharistic adoration." Outside Mass, this practice "prolongs and intensifies the events of the liturgical celebration, and makes it possible to welcome Christ truly and profoundly."

Benedict XVI went on to mention the fact that "in all Christian communities a Eucharistic procession takes place today, a unique form of public adoration of the Eucharist, enriched by the beautiful and traditional expressions of popular devotion.

"I wish to take the opportunity of today's Solemnity to recommend the practice of Eucharistic adoration to pastors and faithful. ... I am happy to note that many young people are discovering the beauty of adoration, both alone and in company. I invite priests to encourage youth groups to this end, but also to accompany them to ensure that community devotion is always appropriate and dignified, with suitable moments for silence and listening to the Word of God.

"In modern life, so often noisy and dispersive, it is more than ever important to recover the capacity for inner silence and prayer. Eucharistic adoration enables this to happen, not only around 'me,' but also in the company of the 'you' full of love that is Jesus Christ, 'God close to us'."
ANG/EUCHARISTIC ADORATION/... VIS 070611 (360)

Catechism Lesson

At the outset of Chapter Five of the new catechism for adults, we encounter a reality we mention often but perhaps fail to comprehend fully: God is not just mystery, he is holy mystery. In this distinction there is a real difference we should not overlook.

God, Timothy writes in his first letter in the Bible (1 Tim 6:16) "dwells in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen or can see." He is completely other. He is hidden, glorious and wondrous. Yet, he does not leave us without a way to know him: creation, prophets, Jesus Christ. Also through the Sacred Scriptures and the Church we are brought to meet God.

The catechism warns us not to confuse our understanding of the word mystery. It is not a Sudoko puzzle to be logically solved nor is it a grand mystery novel whose plot we try to unravel. "The mystery of God is not a puzzle to be solved. It is a truth to be reverenced." (Catechism, pg 51) Throughout the centuries the Church has taught us that the mystery of God is always present in our lives but it is beyond our comprehension. We cannot forget that God shows himself in different ways. First and foremost he shows himself through Jesus Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We come to know through our own experiences that this God, this unseen creator, is faithful to us, is forgiving and possesses a love for us which is also beyond our comprehension.