WE CONTEMPLATE THE TRINITY

REFLECTION FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY YEAR A

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 11:13).

We contemplate today that God is three persons in the one God. In His Trinity of Persons, God is one. So the solemnity of the most Holy Trinity equally exalts that God is one. We swim with joy in this ocean of mystery; the mystery of all mysteries. Because the one God is Trinity, His perfection in Himself: perfect unity, perfect love, and His is Almighty and completely ‘other.’ Our praises add nothing to His greatness. Because He is Trinity in nature, God is the ultimate source of all life, beauty and goodness. This mystery is testified in the Scriptures, proclaimed by the Fathers of the Church, and for all time believed as dogma in the Church. Here is the source and end of contemplation; the Most Holy Trinity!

We contemplate with love and joy as the beauty of the Trinity shines on us. Pause, take a breath and think about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in perfect Unity as One God. The mind understands in faith but does not comprehend; silent love deepens as words disappear, but the mystery remains. If God were not Trinity by now human mind would have explained Him away in theory and science! We rejoice today that God has communicated Himself to us as Trinity in the one God.

We contemplate how God in His Trinity of Persons is a personal God. He is in perfect communication with Himself. Let us create man in our image and likeness (Gen 1:26). Because He has perfect interpersonal communication in Himself as Trinity of Persons, God reaches out to us as a personal God and draws from us to a personal response. Because He is, I am! So we worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We surrender to His majesty all our soul, heart and mind. So He sanctifies our memory, understanding and will. Though these powers can be distinguished in us, they cannot be separated in the human person. Only when we internalize our faith in God as personal can we begin to make sense of it all.

Therefore, we are capable of contemplation in the first place because we have the imprint of the Trinity in us. That is why we are able to contain love, peace and unity within us, and be capable of interpersonal relationship. Hence, we can have personal reflection; a self-examination of our intentions, actions and purposes in life. This is a Trinitarian blessing. But, how many times do we examine our conscience? How often do we pause and allow silence to flood our heats? It is very easy for one to lose himself in life demands and the noise around, and not to be in touch with this Trinitarian imprint in him.

So we learn from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Her personal response to the mystery before her led her to deep silence—a contemplative woman—who stored up all these things in her heart (Lk 2:51). Like Mary, the Trinity overshadows us. Our soul rejoices as we contemplate the Trinity today. Yes, God is One and Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Sunday June 7^th, 2020.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

From the achieve: My reflection on the Trinity last year. click below

https://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2019/06/in-praise-of-mystery-of-trinity.html

THE SOUL OF LOVE

REFLECTION FOR THURSDAY OF THE 9^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(2 Tim 2:8-15; Mk 12:28-34)

1.0. The Order of Love

Love is as real as it is elusive. We have strong passion to love as well as to hate! It is generally acclaimed that the language of love is universal, yet we never can fully understand what it says. However, if we listen in meditation to the discussion between Jesus and the Scribe, we shall see how love is concrete or instituted. It is the human will or desire, which is in motion that makes love appear elusive.

Before now, the Pharisees and the Herodians came to test Jesus with Ceasar’s coin. Afterwards the Sadducees arrived to ridicule the resurrection. Today the Scribes, who seemed to be the more educated, questioned Him about the greatest commandment. Jesus was pleased with this question, and He answered immediately that the first and greatest commandment is to love the one Lord and God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind and strength. “The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself.”  The numbering is important if we are to grasp the language of love. God comes first; He is the source and destination of love. But where does human love reside?

2.0.  The Soul of Love

Love is in human heart, soul, mind and strength (flesh). Notice that love is not in words! But words can express what is in the silence of the heart, soul, mind and strength. When all our heart, soul, mind and strength are in touch with the love of God, then the whole person is taken up in love with God. Thus every other commandment will fall in place since all aspects of the person cannot go contrary to the love in which it dwells. The love of God is a consuming fire! (Cf. Heb 12:29). Therefore, to love my neighbour as myself makes me a means to pass on God’s love to my neighbour. We see here how love is structured and instituted in the human person in so far as he is suspended the love of God.

Meditating further on the discussion between Jesus and the Scribe, we come to understand that love is devotion. It is the rendering of all principles of our existence first to God, and secondly, the communication of the whole self to our neighbour. Hence, we cannot claim to love if our heart and soul are not involved. True love must be related to peace of soul. And lovers continue to speak to each other even in silence! That is why the greatest means of speaking to God is through contemplative prayer. Love in the soul is the soul of love.

3.0.  The Glory of Love

“When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God.’” Love is like the cloud of heavenly glory that envelops us and our neighbour in God. It is a taste of God’s kingdom. That is why we must never use love to deceive or hurt anyone since God is love. Such hurt cries to God for vengeance! Abuse of love begins when one cuts himself off from the love of God through sin and worldly life. But he who dwells in love dwells in God (1 Jn 4:16). If we are true to God, our love will be true. Then we see that love is not elusive but has a solid root in God, with authentic expression in our neighbour.

Lift up your heart to God today; let your soul savour the sweetness of God’s presence. Love God with a human heart; feel this energy of divine glory within you. Pause in meditation; be silent and imagine the beauty of God’s love for you. Put aside the worries of life for a moment, and let your heart, mind and soul fly to God’s love for you. Then step forward and show some acts of love to those around you. For “If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure with, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.”

Fr. Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Thursday June 4^th, 2020.