Holy Trinity by Balen Hendrick
Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday
Today is Father’s Day as well as Trinity Sunday, and St Augustine is not only one of the four great Fathers of but also the first theologian of the Holy Trinity. He wrote the Church’s first complete work on the Holy Trinity, De Trinitas. But more about that later. For now, consider this dollar bill. On the back is the great seal of the United States of America with the words E Pluribus Unum. What does that mean? It means: “from many, one.” It refers to the original 13 colonies who united to form one federation. we now have 50 states, all united under one flag. But each state is unique. It’s the best way to run any human enterprise. Unity in diversity, diversity in unity.
It’s the best way to run any human enterprise because it’s the way God is himself. Three in one. One in three. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, hinted at in the Old Testament but fully revealed only by Jesus Christ, is the core doctrine of our faith. But how can we understand it? If you put 3=1 on a math paper, you will get an F.
How to comprehend the Trinity?
Back to our friend St. Augustine. He was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this when he saw a little child on the shore. The child was pouring little buckets of water into a hole in the sand. Augustine drew up and said to him, “Boy, what are you doing?” He replied, “I am trying to fill this hole with the sea.” “How do you think,” Augustine asked him, “that you can put the immensity of the sea into this hole with your tiny cup?” The little boy looked straight at Augustine and asked: “And you: how do you think that you can put the immensity of the mystery of God into your tiny head?” With that the child disappeared.
God is always greater than our capacity to comprehend, but He has revealed himself as three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That’s why we begin every prayer with this profession of his Triune nature.
The Trinity as Family
St. Augustine tried to come up with images that helped us understand his nature. He came up with the idea of the plant, which has roots, stem, and branches, but is one plant. St. Patrick borrowed this idea from him to use the shamrock at about the same time in Ireland. But Augustine’s best image was that of the family: Father, Mother, Child. The Father loves the mother, and the mother loves the father, and the fruit of their love is the child, whom they both love, and who loves them.
Today is Father’s Day as well as Trinity Sunday, and St Augustine is not only one of the four great Fathers of but also the first theologian of the Holy Trinity. He wrote the Church’s first complete work on the Holy Trinity, De Trinitas. But more about that later. For now, consider this dollar bill. On the back is the great seal of the United States of America with the words E Pluribus Unum. What does that mean? It means: “from many, one.” It refers to the original 13 colonies who united to form one federation. we now have 50 states, all united under one flag. But each state is unique. It’s the best way to run any human enterprise. Unity in diversity, diversity in unity.
It’s the best way to run any human enterprise because it’s the way God is himself. Three in one. One in three. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, hinted at in the Old Testament but fully revealed only by Jesus Christ, is the core doctrine of our faith. But how can we understand it? If you put 3=1 on a math paper, you will get an F.
How to comprehend the Trinity?
Back to our friend St. Augustine. He was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this when he saw a little child on the shore. The child was pouring little buckets of water into a hole in the sand. Augustine drew up and said to him, “Boy, what are you doing?” He replied, “I am trying to fill this hole with the sea.” “How do you think,” Augustine asked him, “that you can put the immensity of the sea into this hole with your tiny cup?” The little boy looked straight at Augustine and asked: “And you: how do you think that you can put the immensity of the mystery of God into your tiny head?” With that the child disappeared.
God is always greater than our capacity to comprehend, but He has revealed himself as three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That’s why we begin every prayer with this profession of his Triune nature.
The Trinity as Family
St. Augustine tried to come up with images that helped us understand his nature. He came up with the idea of the plant, which has roots, stem, and branches, but is one plant. St. Patrick borrowed this idea from him to use the shamrock at about the same time in Ireland. But Augustine’s best image was that of the family: Father, Mother, Child. The Father loves the mother, and the mother loves the father, and the fruit of their love is the child, whom they both love, and who loves them.
Fatherless America
Today is Father’s Day, as I said, and we live in “Fatherless America,” to quote from the landmark book by David Blankenhorn. Over half of America’s children grow up without a father at home, which leads to grave social and economic problems. It is the task of both men and women to regain this lost fatherhood. Children deserve a Dad, even if he is not perfect. Fathers are a very good thing, and to build up our fathers, we turn to the Holy Trinity. Jesus, son of the Father, lived and died to please his father, to obey his father, to love his father. In the Bible, Jesus most often refers to himself simply as “the Son.” He has no identity apart from His Father, who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,” in the words of our first reading. We have nothing to fear from this father, and everything to love.
“The Father so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned.” No man can be an authentically good father without looking to the father of Jesus Christ. When we pray the Our Father, as at every Mass and in every rosary, we confess our devotion to God the Father, the Father of all mercies.
A Good Man and a Good Father
A priest friend of mine, Fr. Blaise Berg of the Diocese of Sacramento, lost his father last Monday. I went to the funeral Mass on Friday, and Fr. Blaise preached his father’s funeral homily. His father, Walter Berg, had been married 68 years, and raised 12 children with their mother. He founded Sierra Gold Nursery in Yuba City, one of the largest in our state. He certainly had much to worry about. But his son recalled how he rose early every morning and greeted his breakfast table with the words, “another beautiful day in Sutter County.” He brought strength and courage to the family table, blessing God the Father every day for his gifts. He believed in the providence of his heavenly father, recognizing the blessings as a good steward of the earth and his family. He led his large family in the ways of God.
May St. Joseph, father of the Holy Family and our patron saint, help us trust the providence of our God and Father, and so ourselves be good fathers.
Today is Father’s Day, as I said, and we live in “Fatherless America,” to quote from the landmark book by David Blankenhorn. Over half of America’s children grow up without a father at home, which leads to grave social and economic problems. It is the task of both men and women to regain this lost fatherhood. Children deserve a Dad, even if he is not perfect. Fathers are a very good thing, and to build up our fathers, we turn to the Holy Trinity. Jesus, son of the Father, lived and died to please his father, to obey his father, to love his father. In the Bible, Jesus most often refers to himself simply as “the Son.” He has no identity apart from His Father, who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,” in the words of our first reading. We have nothing to fear from this father, and everything to love.
“The Father so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned.” No man can be an authentically good father without looking to the father of Jesus Christ. When we pray the Our Father, as at every Mass and in every rosary, we confess our devotion to God the Father, the Father of all mercies.
A Good Man and a Good Father
A priest friend of mine, Fr. Blaise Berg of the Diocese of Sacramento, lost his father last Monday. I went to the funeral Mass on Friday, and Fr. Blaise preached his father’s funeral homily. His father, Walter Berg, had been married 68 years, and raised 12 children with their mother. He founded Sierra Gold Nursery in Yuba City, one of the largest in our state. He certainly had much to worry about. But his son recalled how he rose early every morning and greeted his breakfast table with the words, “another beautiful day in Sutter County.” He brought strength and courage to the family table, blessing God the Father every day for his gifts. He believed in the providence of his heavenly father, recognizing the blessings as a good steward of the earth and his family. He led his large family in the ways of God.
May St. Joseph, father of the Holy Family and our patron saint, help us trust the providence of our God and Father, and so ourselves be good fathers.
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