Northern LightsREADINGS: Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalm 8: Rom. 5:1-5; John 16: 12-15

On this feast of the Trinity, the heart of our Catholic faith, we offer a few reflections on this mystery of relationship — loving and ever-unfolding — that is the life of our God.  
Try as we might, we will never plumb its depths.

Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.

from Pope Francis, “A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation,” Laudato Sí (2015)

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Some years ago in a talk on “The Charism of Charity: Today and Into the Future,” Sr. Mary Ann Daly predicted that in years to come, our charism would be (or need to become) more diverse. She invited her audience to explore the question, “How can we model the unity of the Trinity that is expressed because of, not in spite of, their diversity?” She challenged all to “recognize the charism in people & places we don’t own… How do we recognize it when it looks different from how we usually perceive it?”

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St. Louise de Marillac expressed her devotion to the Trinity in this prayer: “I adore You, Most Holy Trinity, one God in three persons and I thank You for all the graces that, in Your goodness, You have bestowed on me. I give You my heart and all that I possess so that henceforth I may accomplish Your holy will.”

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SC Associate Maureen Reiser reminds us that we honor the Trinity every time we make the sign of the cross. She says that “an early Church Father, Tertullian (c. 250), the first to coin and use the term ‘trinity,’ writes, ‘In all of our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.’ ”

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God For Us, we call You Father,
God Alongside Us, we call You Jesus,
God Within Us, we call You Holy Spirit.

You are the Eternal Mystery
That enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,
Even us, and even me.

Every name falls short of your Goodness and Greatness.
We can only see who You are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

– Richard Rohr, OFM

Image: Colorful Northern Lights over starry night sky
By Aomarch