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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life with Ashes

Image
It was time to move. Goodbye to Allen Parkway and hello to Florin Wood. Our family was moving from Houston to Sacramento. This was over 20 years ago and the day comes back with ashes. And a smell. My dad had piled all our old clothes, furniture, and knick knacks into a huge heap in front of our yard. He poured gasoline generously and lighted it with a smile. My mom looked on regretfully. All seven of us kids were delighted with the dancing flames. The neighbors didn't care. We lived in what they called the ghetto part of the world and since we were not shooting at anyone, we were okay. "We're starting a new life," my dad reassured mom as our van entered the highway. "No need to hang on the old stuff." "It was pretty dinky, wasn't it?" my mom replied hesitantly. Our years in Houston were our first years living in the United States, far away from the land of our origin, Vietnam. What dad burnt was the few possessions we accumulated fro
Read more

Teddy Bear

Image
"Dear God, I love you so much, I want to give you everything. You can have my Mom, my Dad, my sister, my teddy bear. No, I take it back. You can have everyone, but I want to keep my teddy bear." Love, Little Boy. Fr. Roch hardly lost a beat in his lecture of sin as he told his joke. Sin is putting ourselves above God. Not willing to let go. In actuality, God never wants everything. He just wants the teddy bear. What we think is necessary. Photo source: www.funkyfriendsfactory.com
Read more

Bingo!

Image
Sisters at Salerno's Artichoke Lucia.  Baked with Italian cheeses and breadcrumbs. Grilled fillet salmon on a bed of blanched spinach and mushrooms, topped with pine nuts. 8oz. marinated and charbroiled steak topped with sauteed mushrooms; served over linguine. Saturday night at Salerno's. It was time to "open community." Every year we choose a venue to celebrate the beginning of our time together as a religious community.  This year the venue chose us. "Bingo!" An almost audible gasp escaped from the surrounding tables. Sr. Leslie Thu at our table had won another bingo game. A Knight of Columbus member handed her a sealed envelope. Her eyebrows arched in delight. It was a $50 Walmart gift card. We cleared our cards and another round started. It was the Knights of Columbus Sisters Appreciation Luncheon. It was on a early Sunday afternoon. They had sent the invitation two months ago. Sr. Jacinta Ngân had "highly encouraged"
Read more