Essence

"Sisters, I am telling you... whatever image you use to describe the Holy Trinity, it is wrong."
Fr. Hy Nguyen stated matter-of-factly. "The shamrock, the triangle, the what-ever."
We looked at him in disbelief.
We were in our annual conferences and had asked Fr. Hy to return because he was a clear and succinct speaker.

"Whatever you teach your students, it is wrong," he repeated.
"Well, Father, St. Augustine taught that God the Father is the Lover, Jesus is the Beloved, and the bond of Love between them is the Holy Spirit," Sr. Eileen contributed.
"Yes, another image. Poetic. Beautiful. And yet, still an image. It is not the reality," Fr. Hy emphasized. "We have always learned that the three Persons of the Holy Trinity is equal, but different. How is this so? We cannot explain. It is the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Yet, we can say that it is the humanity of the Second Person that makes him differently than the other two Persons."

More silence.
"So, you see. Humanity is not sinfulness. If it is, then Jesus cannot become human. It would mean he became sin."
"Father, what is the essence of humanity then?" Sr. Irene asked.

"To love and to be loved. To be human is to love and to be loved."

I always told my students if you remember one thing your teacher taught you the whole year, it would be enough. I am going to choose to remember the essence of being human.

To love and to be loved.

ps. A line from Meister Eckhart, a 13th German mystic: "When God laughs at the soul and the soul laughs back at God, the persons of the Trinity are begotten. When the Father laughs at the Son and the Son laughs back at the Father, that laughter gives pleasure, that pleasure gives joy, that joy gives love, and that love is the Holy Spirit.
ps2. Photo credit http://www.myspace.com/grumpy1962

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