LAKE JAMES
NORTH CAROLINA
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LAKE JAMES NORTH CAROLINA
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Trinity Sunday + June 3, 2007 + St. Paul’s Church, Lake James
Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, had as his religious and educational advisor (in fact, as a sort of Prime Minister) an English Benedictine monk and Deacon named Alcuin. [This would be in the 8th century, incase your recollection of world history and where Charlemagne firs in is a bit hazy.] Alcuin, as is typically the case with Benedictines, understood the liturgy to be of great importance, and one of his huge achievements was to put together a sacramentary, that is a collection of texts for worship. One of those, entitled “Of the Holy Trinity,” became increasingly popular and, by the 10th century, was included in a French diocesan calendar as a festival to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. 200 years later, St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, popularized the feast in England, and finally, in the 14th century, it became part of the universal calendar. Today, not only along with some 80 million fellow Anglicans, but even more, with millions upon millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ of other Christian Traditions, we celebrate that Feast of the Holy Trinity. But why? What does the dogma of the Holy Trinity have to do with the way we think,or the way we live our lives? Some years ago, a 12 year old boy died of cancer of the brain. His case would normally only have been of interest to his family and friends, except that his parents, in a last-ditch attempt to try anything to save his life, had appealed to a court to permit them to try what was then a very controversial treatment. You may remember its name: “laetrile.” The news media gave the case wide publicity. I remember it because a young parishioner of mine, having watched the saga unfold on the television news, came to me in great distress. In the direct way children can have, she asked “Father Zadig, is God mad at that boy? Was he very bad, or is God punishing his family for something terrible they did?” In her own way, that youngster was asking the same question priests (and, I am sure, ministers and rabbis also) hear so often, which is “Why is this happening to me, or to my wife, or child, or…(you name it)? What have they – or I – done to deserve this?” Those anguished questions reflect a picture of a god who punishes by sending sickness and calamity – a god from whom I hope we all shrink in horror, because the God in whom we, as Christians believe, is not a celestial bully or a petulant tyrant who sends pain, illness, or death to express divine anger. The Christian understanding of who God is and what God is like is not something created by theologians or philosophers, but rather, is based on God’s self-revelation. We know God to be Blessed Trinity not by human logic, but by the teachings of Jesus, the eternal Son of God. What we celebrate on this festival day is the kindness of our Creator who chose to reveal to humankind important truths about the God we worship. For example, by revelation, we understand that God is not merely a far-off stranger, an abstract being, an intellectual construct, or an impersonal cosmic force. Instead, we rejoice that God is loving, cares about each and every person and, perhaps most amazingly of all, actively offers us divine grace, that is the spiritual strength to become the people we are intended and created to be. The hymnal has a wonderful hymn, possibly written by the great 5th century missionary Saint Patrick, in which we are taught that Christians are not simply people who believe in the existence of a being called “God” the way you or I might believe in the existence of a city called “Boston” or an element called “oxygen.” No, Christians are people who are called to have a personal relationship with that God, to bind unto ourselves the strong Name of the Trinity, the power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation, Baptism, and death on the Cross for our salvation. By invocation of the Three-In-One and One-In-Three, we are to be strong to relate to others as Christophers – that is, Christ-bearers to them, but also to see Christ in them as well. The reality of God being Three-In-One and One-In-Three is at the heart of the Christian Faith. The Creed of Saint Athanasius, which is printed in the back of the Book of Common Prayer, outs it as bluntly as and words can. Listen to them now: “The Catholic Faith is this: that we worship One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity…for there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit, yet there are not three gods, but one God.” So, on this Feast of the Holy Trinity, we do not just affirm a doctrine, we celebrate the very essence of God! How important is that for us? Saint Paul puts it so clearly, writing that “we are members one of another.” As baptized Christians, we are part of the Body of Christ, a living organism, or, in popular terms, a community. Being part of a community is not just a nice thing if one happens to be an extrovert, or if one simply likes people. Because community is an integral aspect of who and what God is, so our very human need for one another reflects the reality that we are created in God’s image. If God’s own being involves relating in love of the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, think what that implies for us and the way we are intended to live our lives. Ask yourself this: why does the Church teach that attending and participating in Mass every week is something we not only should do, but need to do, and not just when it is convenient or we are in the mood? Let me offer three reasons. (1) We need to offer worship to God the way any lover needs to express love to the beloved. If we don’t need to do that, can we honestly say that we love – either God or someone else? (2)We need to be part of the celebration of the Eucharist because it is a chief way God has chosen to provide us with that grace which alone can enable us to be more the people we are called to be, to live the lives God wants us to live, and which, in our best moments at least, we want to live. (3) We are not designed to be totally self-sufficient, to live lives in complete isolation from others – quite the contrary! It is in community, in the company of our brothers and sisters in Christ, that we both receive and give the kind of support each one of us needs. The reason we take the time after the liturgy to get together next door in Fitzgerald Hall is not because we have nothing better to do, not because we are bored, and not even because we’ll get some delicious food. It is because only by being together, getting to know each other and what is happening in our lives, can we be of real help to others and also receive help in our times of need. In giving us this wonderful Feast of the Holy Trinity, the Church is teaching us both about God, and about our selves. May we really hear that teaching, and may we show our acceptance of it in our lives.
+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Reverend Alfred T. K. Zadig, Sr.
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This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM |
