Trinity: Christians Trying to Fathom God
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity -- May 30, 2010
Proverbs 8:22-31 II Corinthian 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
Second reading
Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
The word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw Him, they worshiped Him, even though some of them doubted. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Introduction Liturgical cycles
The Nation’s liturgical cycle begins tomorrow, May 31, with Memorial Day summoning us to remember our war dead, and initiating the season of summer with picnics in parks. The cycle peaks with the Fourth of July celebrating our freedom. It wanes with Labor Day and the falling leaves of autumn. The cycle ends with Thanksgiving Day as “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go” to give thanks for family and food. The Church’s liturgical cycle began with the Father sending the Son in the Advent-Christmas season. It continued with the Son returning to the Father in the Easter-Ascension season. The cycle peaked last Sunday with the feast of Pentecost which has the Father and the Son sending us the Holy Spirit. So at the end of her cycle the Church positions a feast dedicated to the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.
A war over the Blessed Trinity!
In the eleventh century, theologians fought a theological war over the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. The fierce dispute was about whether the Holy Spirit proceeds equally immediately from the Father and the Son (according to the Western Church), or whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son (according to the Eastern Church). Imagine, staying awake all night over something like that! In 1014 the Western Church officially declared that the Holy Spirit proceeds equally immediately from the Father and the Son, and not from the Father through the Son. That declaration was the straw which broke the camel’s back. In 1054 the Western Church (Rome) officially broke away from the Eastern Church. To this very day the two are not in communion with each other. Imagine, going to war over the Blessed Trinity--that family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit who are always in loving communion with each other, and who invite us to join their love circle.
A tug of war
There’s always a tug of war between mystery and theology. Mystery says God cannot be fathomed. On the other hand, theology says, “That might be true, but I’m going to try anyway.” And so there’s Islamic theology: that’s Muslims trying to fathom God. And there’s Jewish theology: that’s Jews trying to fathom God. And there’s Christian theology: that’s Christians trying to fathom God. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is the Church’s most renowned and prolific theologian who wrote volume after volume about the unfathomable God. At the end of the day, however, he felt the tug of war between God’s mystery on the one hand and his attempt to fathom it on the other. As he was offering Mass on the feast of St. Nicholas, December 6, 1273, a profound mystical experience came over him, and he declared to his long-time secretary that he could write no more. “All that I have written,” he said, "seems like straw to me." The renowned and prolific Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968) had for his bottom-line Deus totaliter aliter: God is totally other: He is totally other than what we think, say, or write about Him. Despite his bottom line, Barth proceeded to write volume after volume about the ineffable God. But at the sunset of his life, he too made fun of his theological pretentiousness and said, "The angels are laughing at old Karl Barth.”
Having God down pat
Sometimes in the tug of war between mystery and theology, God’s mystery happily wins over theology, as it did with unpretentious Aquinas and Barth. Sometimes, however, it’s man’s pretentious theology that wins over God’s mystery and destroys it. Whenever we have God down pat, whenever we have Him neatly figured out, then we have destroyed the mystery of Him who “lives in unapproachable light.” (I Tim 6:16) Then, in fact, we have tamed our God, have cut Him down to size and have Him doing our bidding. Such a God we cherish as an obedient child.
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a thirteenth-fourteenth century philosopher, theologian and mystic, didn’t have God down pat; mystics never do. A friend writes: “Eckhart had an insight which most Catholics and worshippers of all types fail to grasp. The insight was that God is MYSTERY. When it comes to God we simply do not know. That stance, however, is beyond the ken of most people. It thwarts their desire for certainty. It pains them not to be certain about and cozily comfortable with an easy list of the things to believe. Anybody who insistently calls attention to God’s mystery will be hated by those who have God down pat. You know what they did to Meister Eckhart[1].”
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a thirteenth-fourteenth century philosopher, theologian and mystic, didn’t have God down pat; mystics never do. A friend writes: “Eckhart had an insight which most Catholics and worshippers of all types fail to grasp. The insight was that God is MYSTERY. When it comes to God we simply do not know. That stance, however, is beyond the ken of most people. It thwarts their desire for certainty. It pains them not to be certain about and cozily comfortable with an easy list of the things to believe. Anybody who insistently calls attention to God’s mystery will be hated by those who have God down pat. You know what they did to Meister Eckhart[1].”
At the end of the day, Eckhart was a mystic, and mystics specialize in not having God down pat. At the end of the day, it was Eckhart, not God, who was the obedient child.
A Muslim has God down pat
Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, is an ardent Islamic believer. With great fervor he professes that “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Anyone who doesn’t profess that is an infidel. That fervent religious spirit inspired in great measure the horrific event of 9/11 in which two 747s brought down two towers and murdered three thousand innocent infidels in Lower Manhattan. Bin Laden has his God down pat and has destroyed His mystery. He has tamed his God, has cut Him down to size and has Him doing his bidding. Such a God bin Laden cherishes as an obedient child.
A Reverend has God down pat
In October of 1998, near Laramie, Wyoming, two skinheads tortured and murdered Matt Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming and a gay man. At his funeral the Rev. Phelps, inflamed with homophobic hate, picketed Shepard’s funeral with a sign which read: “God hates fags and buries them in hell—Romans 9:13.” Phelps has his God down pat and has destroyed His mystery. He has tamed his God, has cut Him down to size and has Him doing his bidding. Such a God he cherishes as an obedient child.
We have God down pat
Less blatantly than bin Laden or Phelps, we also have our God down pat. When we know that God prefers Christians over Jews or Muslims, then we’ve got God down pat and have destroyed His mystery. When puritanical moralists know that sexual purity is God’s greatest moral value even before justice and peace, or when they know that God concocts AIDS to punish immoral sinners, then they’ve got God down pat, and have destroyed His mystery. When we are so privy to God as to know that He countenances no other birth control method than that of abstinence, then we’ve got God down pat, and have destroyed His mystery. Again, when we are so privy to God as to know His sexual preferences (i.e., He prefers male priests over female priests, or celibate priests over married priest), then we’ve got God down pat, and have destroyed His mystery. We have tamed our God, have cut Him down to size and have Him doing our bidding. Such a God we cherish as an obedient child.
A Jewish priest who didn’t love
In his first letter John writes, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I Jn 4:8)
Jesus told us a parable about a Jewish priest and Levite who did not love, and therefore didn’t know God. Both were on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Both had a doctorate in theology from the University of Jerusalem, and the priest was going to Jericho to deliver an important theological paper there. Suddenly they came upon a poor man waylaid by robbers and left half-dead. With a ton of theology in their head but not an ounce of love and compassion in their heart, they glanced at the poor man lying there and passed him by. (Lk 10:30-32) Despite their doctorate in theology, they didn’t know God, for John writes, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I Jn 4:8)
A Jewish CEO who loved
Conversely John writes, “Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.” (I Jn 4:7) Jewish CEO Aaron Fuerenstein’s fabric mill in Methuen, Mass burned down a few days before Christmas of 1995. He didn’t take the insurance money and run. Instead, he held on to all his 2000 employees (the majority of them Christians), gave them all a Christmas bonus and kept paying their health insurance and weekly salaries until the mill was rebuilt. This modern-day saint, who’s still in the Old Testament, quotes his prophet Micah who calls him "to act justly, with loving kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Mica 6:8) Though Jewish Fuerenstein doesn’t know the first thing about “the Holy Spirit who proceeds equally immediately from the Father and the Son,” he does, indeed, know God, for John writes, “Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.” (I Jn 4:7)
Conclusion Trinity – a good attempt
At the end of the day, Trinity (Christians trying to fathom God) is a good attempt. John says, “God is love.” (I Jn 4:8) But loving requires more than one person. So there’s a plurality of persons in God. God is a family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and all of them are busy loving one another, and they invite us to join their family of love.
Again, Trinity (Christians trying to fathom God) is a good attempt. It has rich overtones. It speaks of God as a loving Father. That lays an axe to bin Laden’s God who hates infidels, and to Rev. Phelps’ God who “hates fags.” Trinity also speaks of God as a Son born of the Father from all eternity, and born also in time of Mother Mary in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. Trinity speaks of a Son who in the fullness of time was born into the human condition and became Emmanuel – God-with-us. That’s a far cry from the gods of ancient Greece and Rome who were always up in their high heavens, and who not only were not with us but often were against us. Trinity also speaks of God as an abiding Holy Spirit who dwells within us. That’s the good news that on the arduous journey of life with its many twists and turns we are not alone, but are always more than our lonely selves.
[1] Meister Eckhart was tried as a heretic in 1327. Before the verdict was handed down Eckhart disappeared
