'Trifecta' of Blessings

 The Most Holy Trinity
~~~ Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 ~~~ Psalm 33 ~~~
~~~Romans 8:14-17 ~~~ Matthew 28:16-20 ~~~

Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.

In horse racing there is a type of bet called a trifecta.
For this bet you must correctly pick the first three winners.
Not only must the winners be selected,
but they must be in the correct order.

God gave us the three persons...
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
There is no need consider any other gods.
There is no need to bet on the top three.

Our doctrine teaches that the Trinity
is the description of God...
three persons in one.
Belief in the Trinity is the very root of the Catholic faith.
We profess it each time we pray the Creed.
We Baptize in the name of the Father,
 the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We begin most of our prayers
by marking ourselves with the sign of the cross
calling to mind the three persons. 

I am with you always, until the end of the age.

God chose us to be his heirs.
We are his adopted sons and daughters.
His love for us far surpasses that of any physical parent.
He promises to be with always...
in the good times and in the bad times.
His love for us endures until the end of age.

God brought us into this world and he will be the one
 who takes us back to himself.

My prayer is that when the final breath comes;
we may come to a deeper understanding of exactly what
these words have meant and mean.

Belief in the Trinity...
“The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery
 of Christian faith and life” (CCC 234)

There is only One God.
He sends us a 'trifecta' of Blessings.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If we could understand our triune God,
Saint Augustine says...he would not be God. 

Every day our blessings come in triplets.
If one does not get to you there are two more chances.
Be Ready to Receive them.

~~~ Peace~~~

Love Times Three

Most Holy Trinity Sunday

 

~~~ Proverbs 8:22-31~~~ Psalm 8 ~~~ Romans 5:1-5 ~~~ John 16:12-15 ~~~

 

The wisdom of God has always been present as we find in the words of Proverbs today.

Wisdom was present before all of the things of earth were created by God.

Wisdom is not physical or tangible; wisdom is of the spirit.

 

We may believe that the Spirit only came into being after the Resurrection,

but if we believe in the Trinity we must see otherwise.

The three persons in one would indicate that all persons of God

are and were in existence for all times.

 

When something is revealed to us it does not mean it was newly created.

The Trinity is so totally united as one that they merge seamlessly together.

Distinct yet one...can anything we know compare?

 

I was his delight day by day,
playing before him all the while,
playing on the surface of his earth;
and I found delight in the human race.

 

Wisdom played with God during creation.

What a joyful scene to picture.

Wisdom found us to be pleasing...delightful.

The entire Trinity loves us and desires us to be happy.

Wisdom was even the delight of God.

Playfulness and humor are part of God.

He passed this same ability on to us; in fact laughter is good for our health.

 

 

It seems that our existence is validated by the Spirit.

God found us to worthy of saving.

Jesus, doing the will of the Father,

 found us worthy of salvation through his death.

The Spirit finds us worthy to remain with us here and now.

 

Paul writes, because we have been justified by faith,

and have peace from God, we have grace.

This grace gives us the strength we need to give glory to God

in good times and bad times.

 

Paul writes to the Romans...

...affliction produces endurance,
and endurance, proven character,
and proven character, hope,
and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

 

We are the bearers of hope to all of the world because we have been loved.

We have been loved by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We are loved uniquely by the Trinity.

Three is stronger than one.

 

Whenever you see something that represents three...a tripod...a tricycle...etc.

remember that you are loved times three...

You are loved by the Mystery of Trinity.

The Mystery of Three

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ John 14:7-14 ~~~

 

There is a cross called the Trinity Cross that depicts the three persons...

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

 

This a great mystery of faith...three persons in one God.

The disciples could not grasp this concept no matter

how many times Jesus tried his best to explain it to them.

 

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

 

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...

 

Every time Jesus says that he comes to do the will of the Father he is

revealing his union with the Father.

When Jesus promises to send down the Holy Spirit after he returns to the Father

he is revealing his connection with the Spirit.

 

The union of the three is something unique unto God.

Things unique to God are not meant for us to comprehend.

They are matters of Faith.

 

234. "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.

It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith,

 the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching

in the 'hierarchy of the truths of faith'. [GCD 43.] The whole history of salvation is identical

 with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men

'and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin'. [GCD 47.]"

 

This is what the catechism says about the Trinity.

 

 

All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread...

The disciples were disappointed that the Jews were not becoming believers

so they turned to the Gentiles...that would be most of us.

 

They had to move on in order to spread the good news as efficiently as possible.

They could not dwell in the disappointment.

So we are told...

So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them
and went to Iconium.
The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

 

Whenever I need to let go of something that has irritated me this image

of shaking the dust from my feet comes to mind.

Once the dust is off of your feet you can free yourself more easily.

 

When I was young we would go to the beach on the weekends.

Before getting back into the car mother would teach us all

how to dust off the sand from our feet.

She did not want the car to be covered with sand.

 

When you hold onto things that are bothering you it is

equivalent to allowing the dirt and sand to remain

on your feet as a constant irritant.

 

So I encourage you to kick the dust off and move on whenever possible.

 

Easter Blessing...the mystery of the Trinity.

Who do You Pray to?

~~~ Acts 18: 23-28 ~~~ Psalm 47 ~~~ John 16: 23b-28 ~~~

"Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

ask and you will receive,

so that your joy may be complete."

Jesus is affirming the strong connection between himself and the Father.

Jesus is giving us permission to come to him in prayer with our needs.

Jesus wants us to believe that he is not the only one who loves us, that indeed the Father loves us as well. I think Jesus was trying to say no matter what image you may have come to believe about the Father...he too is love.

The Father is not the God of the Old Testament who destroys and sends plagues. No the Father loves each of us...he sent down his Son to be with us.

The Father sent his Son as a visible tangible sign of his love.

Today our country sends out diplomats to foreign countries way ahead of the President's traveling there. God sent his prophets ahead of to prepare the way, for the coming of his Son.

Jesus is encouraging us to believe that our prayers are heard by the Father

even as they come through the Son. Since the Father and the Son are one

our prayers are always heard by both.

It is easy to understand that a son, having a wonderful father,

would want others to love him and see him in the same light.

Who is God to you?

Who do you pray to; God the Father or God the Son, Jesus?

I must say I do usually pray to Jesus. It is easier, for me at least, to visualize talking with Jesus. It seems more natural to enter into a story from the Gospel and walk with Jesus and the apostles.

Prayer is about developing a relationship whether with God the Father or Jesus.

They are one and very soon we will draw attention to the third person of the Trinity; the awesome Holy Spirit.

This Kaleidoscope image reminds me of the Trinity.

The center symbolizing the Eucharist to me...the ultimate tangible concrete

reality of the unity of the Trinity.

"...the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me

and have come to believe that I came from God"

We have come to believe!

Whatever You Ask in My Name...

~~~1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ~~~ Ps. 19: 2-3,4-5 ~~~ John 14: 6-14 ~~~

Paul is diligent about keeping the facts of the Resurrection of Jesus in the minds and hearts of the Corinthians. In retelling the stories of Jesus appearing after his death, Paul is strengthening the faith of the people. In effect Paul is saying to the people...these things really happened and it will do us well to always remember. It will do us well to keep these stories circulating among us. Our faith will grow and we will be prepared to weather the tough times ahead when doubt intrudes into our hearts.

The psalmist also encourages us to keep the reality alive. "The message goes out to all the world..."

Today's gospel exemplifies the great patience of Jesus. He has been living with his apostles day in and day out for three years now and they still don't get it. Jesus has been telling them I have come to do the Father's will...I am one with the Father...

and finally I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

I think these analogies are most comforting. If we contemplate on Jesus...all that he said and all of his actions recorded in the Bible; then we too can come to know the Father. The Trinity is the beautiful mystery of our faith...three distinct persons yet one in the same.

This is not some illusionist slight of hand trick it is the greatest mystery.

The mysteries of our faith create the wonder and awe that keeps us coming back to the table, remaining in the flock day after day...through good times and bad.

When we believe we are participating in keeping this mystery alive for future believers.

"Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do..."

Whatever you do for the least is done for the honor and glory of God the Father and God the Son inspired by God the Spirit.

Make the intention today to be more conscious of how you are continuing the work of the Trinity.

To me this image captures the image of the Trinity the overlapping blue and brown colors illuminated by the white light of the Spirit.

Live like you believe!

John 3:16 "God so Loved..."

~~~ Acts 5: 17-26 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ John 3: 16-21~~~

The apostles were busy about the Lord’s work of healing mind and body. The Sadducees could not tolerate this lack of attention; they were so filled

with jealousy. They tossed them in jail again only this time God sent angels to release them to preach in the temple area. I can just imagine the frustrated officials saying to one another, ‘What ARE we going to do with these guys?’

John 3:16

 probably the most quoted verse in the Bible.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”

You can find this verse on everything from stationery to t-shirts....from mugs to manger scenes. It is unlikely that we could ever grasp the full meaning of just the first five words much less adding the last seven words.

God’s word through the power of the Holy Spirit brought forth the Son.

The Trinity at its best...for us

Divine Trinitarian Wisdom

Together in unity with one another

they created something that would forever hold our attention.

 

 

Love so great can only be returned through loving one another as best we can with all of our humanity.