Trinity Sunday 2020
The opening God prayer of the Mass:
At this point of our Sunday liturgy (after the Readings) the presider generally gives a homily, that is, a reflection on Holy Scripture, particularly the gospel of the day. Today, instead of the homily, I would like to share with you a simple reflection on the opening prayer of our Mass. I want to speak of the Mystery of the Trinity in relationship to us. The inner life of the Trinity, the Communion we call the Triune God, is a Mystery of Mutual Loving Relationships and yet, through our baptism, we are invited into the life of this Eternal Communion.
As I share with you, I invite you to listen from the heart with the ears of your heart and soul. What resonances do you notice?
The opening prayer begins with a greeting of respect, which is the usual manner of our liturgical prayer; and then we address God with words that speak of the nature of our relationship with this same Ineffable Mystery, our Triune God:
God, we praise you:
Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Saviour, Spirit of love.
You reveal yourself in the depths of our being,
drawing us to share in your life and love.
One God, three in Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
A beautiful, straight-forward prayer to the Mystery of life and love we name Trinity. There is a sense of deep respect and confidence in the prayer. Each person of the Trinity is given an attribute in relationship to us: all-powerful Father, Christ, Lord and Saviour, Spirit of Love.
In the sacrament of baptism we are plunged into the life of the Mystery we call the Trinity: something dynamic, eventful, and absolutely ineffable. Our baptism may not have appeared to be that momentous but that is the fact of our faith – a divine energy of love and life at the centre of our being.
Just as there is the practice of removing our shoes when we stand on holy ground, our response to this realisation might be to be silent before Mystery: a silence that is respectful, listening, revealing, and ultimately loving. For it is the Father who is the Silence in the Mystery of God! I am reminded of the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was on his way to martyrdom in Rome at the beginning of the second century and he wrote in one his letters to his Christians: ‘There is the murmur of living water within and it says, “Come to the Father!” What is the murmur in our own hearts? Jesus knew that murmur. He said, “The Father and I are one.” Could I be called to a similar relationship?
A respected spiritual master, Fr. Thomas Keating, has said, “Silence is the language of God”.
What is the quality of silence in our lives? Not any kind of silence but a silence wrapt in a deep presence and listening.
Our Christian community is once again coming to understand this posture of silence. It is apparent in the Christian meditation movements that are emerging worldwide. It is a practice of meeting regularly and praying together in silent presence to the Indwelling Mystery of our Loving and Life-giving God. This contemplative movement is mostly a movement of lay people and it is growing throughout the world. I believe it is a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Churches of today.
The call to this is contained in our baptism. Dag Hammarskjöld, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, hints at this in these words from his diary, Markings:
“We all have within us a centre of stillness surrounded by silence, and as I go about my daily work, as I wait, or speak, or as I work or rest, I remember those words of T. S. Eliot, “that words after speech should reach into silence!” And so I enter that silence within and move from that silence into the centre of stillness, and then I look and I listen and I love.”
(Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings)
In this inner world I am drawn to share in God’s life and love.
James Macaulay, one of our esteemed Aussie poets, says it simply but emphatically,
"Incarnate Word, in whom all nature lives
Cast flame upon the earth: raise up contemplatives
Among us, men (and women) who walk within the fire
Of ceaseless prayer, impetuous desire.
Set pools of silence in this thirsty land."
The meditation movement seeks to restore the practice of honoured, prayerful silence in our community faith-life. It helps us to honour the presence of God within his creatures.
The second part of our opening prayer reads:
“Be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.”
It speaks of a need for a felt presence of God in our work-a-day world, the ordinariness of our days and nights. It speaks of a sense of immersion in the world, but asking the presence of God, in whose image we are formed and in whom we live and move and have our being, to help us be co-partners with God in a life-giving loving relationship with our world.
‘Your love brings to life!'
May this be the quality of our presence to the world and to one another -- the presence of a loving relationship that gives and nurtures life.
Religion is not just “serious” business, doing good, carrying out our duty, separating ourselves from greed. The heart of the religion of Christ is relationship, a celebration and communion in the joy of love. We human beings are made for celebration. The Eucharist reminds us of that.
There is a lot in this simple prayer! May it live on in us beyond this feast-day liturgy. May we awaken more and more to the profound Mystery of life and love that is at the heart of our being and at the heart of our faith:
The Mystery of God’s own life as revealed to us through Christ and the Spirit.
Let us pray the opening prayer once more:
God, we praise you:
Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Saviour, Spirit of love.
You reveal yourself in the depths of our being,
drawing us to share in the Mystery of your life and love.
One God, three in Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
Frank Gerry SVD