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Reflection: Pentecost

Faith and Values

Reflection: Pentecost

After Pentecost, we have the Solemnity of The Most Holy Trinity.  The tri-une God, three –in-one, One God, three persons sharing the one nature.  We can get tied up in knots trying to understand the nature of the Trinity and think of the shamrock and all kinds of examples to get our heads around this Mystery of the Holy Trinity.  We must remember it is a Mystery and try to forget about the complexities of natures and persons and see that the Trinity is essentially a mystery of love.  As we are told in the first reading from Exodus; “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, Lord, Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger,rich in kindness and faithfulness.”

The legend is told of the great Saint Augustine walking along the seashore of North Africa trying to grapple with the mystery of the Trinity.  He saw a small child running to the sea with a shell, scooping up water and running back to the sand.  He watched the child for several minutes and then ventured over to see what was happening.  The child had dug a hole in the sand and was filling it with water from the sea.  Augustine asked the child what he was doing and the child replied he was emptying the ocean into the hole.  The great scholar scoffed that this was impossible.  The child looked at him resolutely and said, “I have more chance of doing this than you have of understanding the mystery of the Trinity!”  the child then disappeared.

The great Augustine realised the Trinity is a mystery of love and not some complex puzzle, enigma or problem to be solved.