THEOLOGY  AND  THE TRINITY

INTRODUCTION

Today is Trinity Sunday - so the title of my homily is, “Theology and the Trinity.”

T and T….  Theology and the Trinity

OUR GOD IS THREE PERSONS - BUT ONE GOD

Our God is a Trinity: Three Persons - but One God.

That’s quite an act of faith. That’s quite a belief. That’s quite different from all other religions. 

Yet we’re monotheists - mono meaning "alone " or “one” - "Theos" meaning  "God' - so one God - but 3 persons.

If we come into this church through the main doors, we make that act of faith in the vestibule before coming into this main part of our church - putting our hand in the holy water font - and making the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

It moves me when I see a parent coming into church - teaching a little kid that act of faith - right from the beginning - lifting  a little kid up - to take the holy water - in which he or she might have been baptized - and saying, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

A father was telling me just last evening at the baptism of his daughter how his little son would crawl over to the stainless steel bowl of water they have in their kitchen for their dog - dip his hand in the water - and make the sign of the cross. We learn so much by imitation and example.

We Christians learn that belief - that teaching - right from the beginning.

As this dad was telling me about his son dipping his finger in the dog water bowl - I noticed how much his two sons look like him.

The scripture text: “made in the image and likeness of God” hit me when I noticed the resemblance of the father to his two sons.

Save that text - for when I get into some theology of the Trinity - later on in this sermon. Relax I’m aiming for 10 minutes.

FIRST SOME THEOLOGY

I’ve discovered that many people have in their homes a copy of C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity. This 1943 book - based on a series of radio talks - came out in separate parts  - and then was put into a small book.

People have been buying it ever since. When I used to give convert instructions - way before R.C.I.A., I used this book, Mere Christianity, as my instruction book and it wasn’t even Catholic.

It’s a remarkable book - a paperback - still available in Barnes and Noble - and still well worth - not just buying - but reading and studying it. It presents theology.

In Book 4, in the first chapter, entitled, Making and Begetting, C.S. Lewis gives two marvelous examples about the importance of theology - when it comes to religion.

The first example goes like this. C. S. Lewis tells the story about giving a talk on theology to the R.A.F. the Royal Air Force of England - and this old timer - got up and said, “I’ve no use for all that stuff.  But, mind you, I’m a religious man too. I know there’s a God I’ve felt him; out alone in the desert at night: the tremendous mystery. And that’s just why I don’t believe all your neat little dogmas and formulas about Him. To anyone’s who’s met the real thing they are seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!”

C.S. Lewis then says, “In a way I agree with the man.”

I would add that I’ve heard that same sort of comment from lots of teenagers and lots of adults.

They are not here in church with us this morning. Some actually might be out in their sailboats or walking park trails or enjoying the boardwalk or sitting on a back porch with a cup of coffee looking at the rain - or they are at Ocean City  - if it’s not raining.

I heard a niece say clearly to me that playing tennis on a Sunday morning - and then coffee and talking with my friends afterwards about life is much more life giving than sitting in some church with some priest telling me what to do from a pulpit.

I’m sure we’ve all had similar experiences.

Then C.S. Lewis follows up his comment of agreeing with the R.A.F. gentlemen who had a God experience in the desert at night. He begins to theologize - meaning “words” from “logos” about God “Theos”.

He says there is a world of difference between standing on a beach - looking out at the Atlantic Ocean - hearing the waves hit the beach - feeling the salt sea air - compared to looking at a piece of colored paper called a map.

Then he says, however,  the map is based on what hundreds and thousands of people sailing the real Atlantic have found out.  It gives massive amounts of experiences as real as what the one guy standing on the beach has experienced.

Then comes the kicker. If you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. The person on the beach can be content as  long as he simply loves walking on the beach. Glimpses at the water are much more fun than looking at a map. Then C.S. Lewis, the Englishman, says, “”But the map is going to be of more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.” [page 136]

His obvious message is that theology is like the map.  It is based on hundreds - all kinds of people’s - experiences of being in touch with God.

NOW BACK TO THE TRINITY

In the book of Genesis, we have a great statement that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

When I was going for one of my Master’s Degrees at Princeton Theological Seminary, I almost too a semester’s course on just that phrase: We are made in the image and likeness of God. [Genesis 1:27]

That would have been about 15 two hour classes on just that phrase, “Made in the Image and likeness of God.”  It’s one of my lifetime regrets that I didn’t take that course, but we can’t do it all.

I mentioned earlier about the father I met last evening at the baptism of his daughter - and how his two sons were made in his image and likeness.

I heard the same thing about my brother and I looking alike and we both looked like our dad.

Anybody who has taken the time to observe family dynamics - knows ways people are like their moms and dads - and ways they are not.

In this homily let me present one small way we can be and live in the image and likeness of God.  Remember I said, one could take 13 weeks of 2 hour classes on such a theological theme. A sermon is 10 minutes - at times.

A stress in this homily is the call for all of us to be theologians - to stop babbling about religion - and do some deeper thinking about our religion.

The Book of Genesis also says, “It’s not good to be alone.”

It’s when we are in relationships - when we are connected - to each other - as family, husband and wife, friends, buddies, team mates, associates, that we get glimpses of God - and not just when walking on the beach.

Another key book that has influenced my way of thinking is Martin Buber’s book, I and Thou.

He says that many of our relationships are I-It’s.

He says if we treat others as its - and not thou’s - then we are all alone.

The loner is lost. The odd man or odd woman who is  out of touch with others - is losing out on one of life’s greatest blessings: relationships.

Relationships - and lack thereof - is where the action is or should be.

People can go through life without connecting - without looking another in the eye. We can be all alone without any connection.

I don’t know about you, but I am working on this every day - because I can be babbling here in the pulpit - or standing right in front of you - without any connection to you. I can make the other objects - and not subjects.

I can be talking about God - talking of God - without any connection to God - with God - in God - as well as others.

Relationships - connections - people - people with people - this is life.

Just sit on a bench in the mall or Ego Alley in Annapolis - or at the airport - or anywhere - and watch - look - notice - everybody is connecting to everyone with their cell phones.

Listen to the content of conversations - after weather, sports, politics, we are all talking about people.

Listen to our inner conversations - all day long - while driving - while at Mass - at work - we’re all talking to ourselves about people we’re related to, connected to, or having problems with - or supposed to be connected with.

QUICK QUESTIONS - AND END THIS BABY

Uh oh. My 10 minutes are almost up.

So a few quick comments.

Christian theology states and teaches and proclaims that God is 3 persons in deep, deep mysterious communion and connection with each other. This is so much - that they are one God - 3 persons.

Husband and wife - that’s the call - to be that with each other - two becoming one.

Family - that’s the call - to be that with each other. 3, 4, 5, more to be one with each other.

Friendships, relationships, that’s the call.

When we experience that - God is telling us - the sky at night in the desert - or the ocean - at the beach - in the early morning - is beautiful - beautiful - even playing a great game of tennis on a Sunday morning - but it’s in relationships - when people are connected - subject to subject - I to Thou’s - that we can have God experienced experiences.

When we get glimpses of that, we’re experiencing the theology of the trinity and a touch of eternity.

May 22, 2016

TRINITY SUNDAY PRAYER

          Lord, why are we so stiff necked,

          so stuck, as if our lives

          were carved in stone,

          concentrating only on the Ten Commandments,

          missing you in the ten thousand moments of every day,

          when you fill us with your grace and mercy,

          when you surround us

          as in a cloud of kindness and fidelity.

          Spirit, help us to mend our ways;

          help us to encourage one another. 

          You are a God of love and peace,

          always willing to be with us

          in our fellowship with each other.   

          Help us to live in harmony and peace,

          always meeting and greeting each other

          in your holy Kiss of Peace.

          Jesus, you showed us

          how much God so loved the world

          in sending you, the Only Son,

          always telling us that

          we don’t have to live and die in fear

          of condemnation, but that we can

          be saved by your name, Jesus! 

          You are our Eternal Life! Amen.

May 21, 2016

HEALING PRAYER

          Lord, I come now to pray

          for all those I have hurt

          down through the years.

          Down through the years

          there are those I have talked

          about behind their back

          and hurt their reputation.

                    Lord have mercy.

          Down through the years

          there are those I have lead

          into temptation -- temptations

          to anger and to lust

          and a long list of other sins.

         

                    Christ have mercy.

          Down through the years

          there are those I have walked by:

          the hungry and the hurting,

          the lonely and the strange.

                    Lord have mercy.

          Lord, I come now to pray

          for all those I have hurt

          down through the years,

          down through the years.

May 20, 2016

GRADUATION  FROM  CLUMSY 

Yes, he tripped a bit more than

other kids - he spilled his milk -

dropped his books - and he didn’t

do too well when playing catch 
with his dad in the backyard.

But, if his dad was disappointed,

he didn’t show it, so his son

didn’t know it - that is, till he got

into school - and that’s where he

got the nickname: “Clumsy!”

Yes, he hated it. He hated being

called, “Clumsy!” and it followed

him all through ES, MS and HS.

Bummer. Bummer. Bummer!

Who’d like to be called, “Clumsy”?

So when he graduated - no, he didn’t

trip on his way up to receive his HS

diploma - but yes, he chose a small,

small college, far, far away - with hopes

nobody would know him - as “Clumsy”!  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 19, 2016

GRIPES

Beware! It’s hard not to have some gripes -

the itch of strange behaviors - oddities  -
in others - that annoy us - that bother us.

Beware! They can grab us - they can

grip  us - they can crush us. They can be 
like a vise - squeezing us from both sides.

But, the worst beware - is not to be aware -

of our selfish  stuff - the sandpaper stuff -
that rubs odd grievances and gripes in others.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 18, 2016

WONDERINGS ….

• Best moment of my life so far?
• If I could design my own flag, what would it look like? Draw it….
• As I get older, do I find myself saying, “I don’t know about that….” a lot more than when I was younger?
• How do swans keep so white?
• How do black birds stay so beautifully bluish black - especially in the rain?
• When they moved from solid rubber tires to ones filled with air, were people nervous?
• Can people over 55 change?
• How about 45?
• Can I change?
• Tell another - describe to another - with specific details - one change I made in my life?
• Does it take a cross to get God across to people?
• Or does cancer and death create atheists?
• Is there anything on the other side of all this?
• Why do some ballpoint pens seem to last forever and some don’t?
• Which is the most important ingredient for a great meal: food, people, place, other _____________?
• Is the most important moment in life that moment of hesitation before wondering whether to tell a lie or some gossip or to hurt someone with a comment or to cheat?
• Why does negative political campaigning seem to work better than clear platform planks for the common good of all?
• Tell another about someone whom I was amazed with?  Because ….
• Are zoos for people or for the animals - and do animals mind?
• Treats seem to be the secret in keeping pets happy; how about people?
• Do we always have to have flaws - things going wrong - some ugly stuff in every heart and every basement - and the possibility of selfishness always waiting in the wings?
• Has anyone ever really written down their hoped for legacy before they died? Have I?
• Is prayer more speaking to God or listening in silence to God - that is, if we believe God communicates values?
• What do toll collectors think about when all alone on bridges, tunnels and toll roads - besides worries about losing their jobs because of  E-ZPass?
• Does everyone have at least 3 life changing moments?
• Does everyone have at least 3 wonderings?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

I  WANT  WHAT  I  WANT 

WHEN  I  WANT  IT 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 7th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “I Want What I Want When I Want It.”

Don’t we all?

Well, it all depends.

I read that it’s the addict’s creed.

It’s everyone’s need when someone does something we don’t like or they don’t do what we want them to do. Like, for example,  - pick up their dog remains and we step in it. Or, for example, - they walk down the main aisle in the middle of a sermon and the whole church is watching them - including the preacher.

Smile.

TODAY’S READINGS

When I got the idea for this homily from today’s two readings.

James is telling us in the first reading where wars and conflicts come from.

They come from right here [Point to the heart and head]. Right inside this me that I am.  We covet. We envy. We’re jealous.  We want.

We want what we want when we want it.

In today’s  gospel, Mark 9:30-37 -  the disciples are fighting on who is the greatest.

They don’t want to hear that this Jesus enterprise brings on the cross - the dying to self - the rising, the resurrection for others.

The call is not to be served, but to serve.

The gospel tells us about little children. They are all surprise. They are out of our control. They need service. They need attention. They need us. Talk about wanting what they want when they want it. Think of children.

So too dogs.  “I want a treat! Woof. Woof.”

DESIRE

Buddhism is not the only religion that gets at desire.

Jesus challenges us to get in touch with what we want.

Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst….

We could also add, “Feeling angry - when you hunger and thirst.

So once again, it all depends.

What we want is what we want: our will.

My will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.

This is everyday stuff.

I hate it to go to a restaurant or anywhere with another - or be in the other seat in the car - and the other is going crazy - with the line - with the waiting - with the traffic.

Where’s the waiter!  I want what I want when I want it.

I love the cartoon that says, “You want it when?”

Xerox that one. E-mail it to yourself. Hang it on your mirror. Magnet it to your refrigerator door.

On the NBC evening news  with Lester Holt they have been featuring the long lines at airports to get screened. In Chicago the line and the wait can be 3 to 4 hours and many are missing their flights.

Talk about terroism.  This started big time with 9 - 11 and we have been dealing with the after shocks ever since.

I don’t know about you. I am waiting for the tipping point and figure out new ways of dealing with all the  craziness of the human heart.  You want that? When?

When I drive through those wide overhead E-ZPass go throughs  - that can register 3 cars at once - I wonder if  airports will come up with a massive bomb sniffing xRay machine - that a crowd can walk through all at once.

THREE QUOTES

Listen to what James says again - but this time in the first chapter of James, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” James 1:4-5

Anwar Sadat said,  “Most people seek after what do not possess and are thus enslaved by the very things they want to acquire.” 

Logan Pearsall Smith wrote, “There are two things to aim at in life: first to get what you want; and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”

I would add a third:  The really wise learn how to deal well with not getting what one wants.

I remember hearing the Jesuit psychiatrist and priest, James Gill telling about a heart [or was it a stress specialist?]  in California who urges Type A people to do the following spiritual practice of how to deal the stress of long lines. 

I have done this ever since.

It’s a simple trick. When you see 3 lines in a bank or supermarket, always pick the longest line. Then when you get up to the front, jump off the line and once more pick the longest line. I’ve been doing this in Giant - Office Depot - wherever - ever since - even toll booths.

I'm not a Type A person - but if one is - an added practice is to try to recall your high school classmates by name while standing or waiting on long lines - or the capitals of all the states in the U.S. or whatever.

CONCLUSION

The thought for the day is patience.

Key game plan would be patience;

Key ways of being patient: the ability to laugh - the ability to wait - the ability to get there very early and close your eyes as you move up on the line - and if you really want to confuse others - go back and start again - on the longest line.