Mt 28:16-20 Most Holy Love
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The Eleven Disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
O most holy Trinity, Undivided Unity; Holy God, mighty God, God immortal, be adored.
They saw him, worshiped him, but they doubted. They doubted??? How in the world could the Apostles have doubted if the Lord was standing right in front of them? Were they thinking this was a mirage or that they were out of their minds?
Some people might not understand what the Apostles felt. I do. It’s not hard for me to believe they doubted. And I want to give the sacred writer all the credit in the world for being honest about it. I can understand their doubts because even though the Lord has done some incredible, amazing, and even miraculous things for me, doubt still finds a place in my heart. It's not hard for me to remember how incredibly hard it was for me to accept His call. I thought to myself, “Is this possible? Does the Lord really want me to do this? I must be insane!”
Why does anyone doubt? Why do “I” doubt? The answer is frightening. It’s because “I” am one…and alone.
Yes, man is one and alone. I have no “other” inside of me to bounce an idea off of me. I am not a “trinity” of persons; “I am” one person. My thoughts, my words and my actions are mine alone just as my death is one and alone. “I” am alone, just like Adam was alone.
The two shall become one. For this reason, when God created man in his own image, he created man and woman. God said (in the plural), “Let us create man in our image.” And he did. He created man and woman. He created marriage. And by doing so, he made it possible for the two to become one. How amazing this is! I can actually be more one when I am two than when I am alone. Now we catch a glimpse of the mystery of the Holy Trinity that we were created from. Now it’s not so hard to believe that God can be more One by being Three Persons than by being alone.
But it gets even better…God said to Adam and Eve, “multiply”.
Not only do two people become one spiritually, emotionally and psychologically, but they become really one, physically. So much so, that you have to give it a name nine months later. Now the “image” is completed: three persons, one holy family. This image is so beautiful it often gets repeated time and time again. And then it becomes a disaster!!! But let’s not forget what God said, “in our image.” It’s not perfect, but it’s very close to the real thing.
Mystery. The fact that the Holy Trinity is a mystery should not scare us; it should not even amaze us. So let's never doubt it. The Holy Trinity is not a mystery because it doesn’t exist. After all, it’s not the only mystery that exists. Don’t you realize we are surrounded by mystery?
I surprised a lot of people the day I told them I was going to the seminary. They were shocked, but not as shocked as I. I think the one person I shocked most was myself. That’s when I realized that I am a mystery to myself.
We are a mystery to ourselves and we are a mystery to each other.
No matter how long you have been married, you will always be a mystery to your spouse and visa-versa. Moms and dads do not be taken aback when your child comes up to you and screams, “YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!!!” They are right. You don’t know them. And neither do they know you. They do not know your deepest fears, your deepest pains, your greatest desires or your worst fears and nightmares. They don’t know the joy you experience or the sadness you experience. They don’t know because they can’t live what you live. So much of who we are will remain a mystery. We can spend an entire lifetime revealing ourselves but we will never be able to reveal it all.
But Christ showed us the way. He revealed how to reveal oneself: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. The more you love, the more you reveal who you truly are. But the more you sin, the more you hide who you really are.
So then why does God remain a mystery? When it comes to the mystery of God, it’s a little different. God remains a mystery not because the Lord sins or because he does not love. The reason why the Lord remains a mystery is because His love overwhelms us. Yes, how He can love us so much is more than remarkable; it is incomprehensible.
And yet, we know enough to know that God is LOVE and God continues to love us.
When I was a young girl I used to ask my dad so many questions about God and most of his answers were "It's a mystery". I used to wonder why God was so much of a mystery. My Dad could never explain it to where I could understand. Your explaination is one that I can understand. My dad's love for me and my siblings was also overwhelming as well. I don't know why I never saw it that way before. Thanks for your meditation. God Bless you Father.
ReplyDelete“They saw him, worshiped him, but they doubted. They doubted??? How in the world could the Apostles have doubted if the Lord was standing right in front of them? Were they thinking this was a mirage or that they were out of their minds? .............................................................................
ReplyDelete………………………………….Yes, man is one and alone. I have no “other” inside of me to bounce an idea off of me. I am not a “trinity” of persons; “I am” one person. My thoughts, my words and my actions are mine alone just as my death is one and alone. “I” am alone, just like Adam was alone.”
I have to disagree. You and all the other Christian ‘experts’ keep telling us we are not alone. We keep hearing that The Holy Spirit dwells inside us.
What about the evil spirits? We keep hearing that they exist too. We know from the Bible that they can be inside us just as they were inside many whom Jesus expelled them from. And if they are not inside us, they are definitely all around us, whispering in our ears, or maybe shouting.
I don’t want to dispel your idea that the Holy Trinity have each other to ‘confer’ with. I believe they do. But I believe that we have God within us to ‘confer’ with, but His voice is not the only one ringing in our ‘ears’. We all know He whispers like the wind, so His voice may not be the loudest or the most prominent, like the squeaky wheel, the one that gets our attention. Yes I believe we are in there too. We are in there listening, hearing the soft, gentle, patient voice of God but we most likely are also hearing the blaring voice of the evil one telling us lies, making us doubt, doubt what is right in front of our eyes.
At least in my experience this seems to be more feasible. I KNOW I’M NOT ALONE (Inside there and with this experience)!
I do understand what you are saying about the Holy Trinity. The Father and the Son’s love creating the Holy Spirit just as the man and woman’s love creates a new life. I’m not saying I “UNDERSTAND”, but I believe I get the point you are making and it is a beautiful way to make that mystery a little more easily understood.
I actually have to say that the more deeply I delve into my faith and the spiritual things in life, the more mysteries I uncover. I don’t mean figure out. I mean the more mysteries I become aware of. In fact the more I open my eyes, the less I see. And the less I see the more faith I need. And until the faith catches up, I DOUBT.
I was totally intrigued and astonished when I read about the pain of doubt, the pain of aloneness in reading John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, (Thomas Merton), St Catherine of Siena and other mystics of the Church. Each with a different situation of experiencing this pain, but it was the same pain of doubt and aloneness. Thomas Merton once said that you really are not a person of Faith if you have not gone through the “great doubt”. This is where real Faith begins. Enduring and persevering in this painful, absolute aloneness where no one can help you no matter what, is where we experience Jesus in His abandonment from His Father.
DeleteIt lasted quite a while for me. I was married and surrounded by great family and great friends. But I was so alone. I only knew the fear of God, there was no Love, no inspiration, no looking forward to anything. It was the greatest purification of my life…. so far. But I would not trade that experience for the world!!!! I thank God every day of my life for that experience, b/c it has led to this union with God, only glimpses, which continues to reside in me, giving me that Faith that I had prayed for, for so long.
Mysteries continue to unfold. “I will manifest Myself to those who love me, who live according to my Word.” John 14: 21-26. Painful as it is, Jesus does continue to reveal Himself to those who Love Him. It is only through the cross that we will reach Him. It is in dying w/Him that we will rise w/Him to become more like Him.
I continue to pray for you Father.