St Augustin worked on a book about the Trinity for nearly 30 years. One day when he was walking on the beach and meditated on that great mystery he saw a little boy running to the water and back. When the Saint got closer he noticed that boy was using a shell to carry water from the ocean to pour it into a hole in the sand. ‘What are you doing?’ asked Augustin. ‘I am going to pour the entire ocean into this hole’ replied the boy. ‘It is impossible my child – answered the bishop – the sea is too great to fit into this small hole.’ ‘You are right. - answered the boy - It would be easier to draw all the water out of the sea and fit it into this hole than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.’
My Dear Sisters and Brothers! Fellow believers in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Only a messenger from heaven could dare to call St Augustin a man with a small intelligence. The volumes Augustine wrote could make you think that he did nothing else but wrote day and night. However he was a bishop too, a busy bishop who dedicated a lot of time to shepherding the people entrusted to his care.
Another Christian thinker while reflecting on the story made an observation that the child could tell Augustin that while it was impossible to transfer all the water from the ocean into a small hole, Augustin could still go for a swim in the ocean.
On this Sunday when the Church directs our focus to the Most Blessed Trinity we are not doing a course how to understand the Trinity. We would be like that little boy trying to move the ocean, but because of our baptism we remind ourselves that because of our baptism we can participate in the life Father, Son and Holy Spirit share. Remember the words of Jesus from today’s Gospel: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Baptism means immersion, even if most of us have been baptised by having water poured on our heads. Baptism is an immersion in the life of the Trinity.
The Baptism powerfully incorporates us into our origins. The Book of Deuteronomy spoke of ‘the time God created man on earth’ and from the Book of Genesis we treasure the belief that the first people were created ‘in the image of God.’ Because our origins are in the vision and action of God, whom we profess today as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in our DNA we have our profound sensitivity to the beauty. Personally I define beauty as something so captivating that you forget to take a photo of it. However apart of so many beautiful things in this world there is something which captivates us even more: having relationships. Just think how popular love stories, friendship stories or family stories are. Why do Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and many other platforms enjoy such a success? Because, deep in us, there is a Divine DNA, which inspires us to reach out to others, to search for good relationships. We do not come from a lonely god. We come from ‘God who is love’ as St John the Apostle put it. Even before anything was created so that God could love it, God was love because he has been the Trinity.
Do you want to strengthen your faith in the Trinity? Contemplate the love of a husband and a wife which expresses itself in giving life to their children. Contemplate strong friendships where people help each other to mature and to become the person they did not think they could become. Contemplate the grief of a husband, or a wife, or child, or a mother, or a father, or a friend etc. upon losing a loved one. All those emotions tell us that we come from God who is a loving relationship and he loves it.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers! Fellow believers in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Only a messenger from heaven could dare to call St Augustin a man with a small intelligence. The volumes Augustine wrote could make you think that he did nothing else but wrote day and night. However he was a bishop too, a busy bishop who dedicated a lot of time to shepherding the people entrusted to his care.
Another Christian thinker while reflecting on the story made an observation that the child could tell Augustin that while it was impossible to transfer all the water from the ocean into a small hole, Augustin could still go for a swim in the ocean.
On this Sunday when the Church directs our focus to the Most Blessed Trinity we are not doing a course how to understand the Trinity. We would be like that little boy trying to move the ocean, but because of our baptism we remind ourselves that because of our baptism we can participate in the life Father, Son and Holy Spirit share. Remember the words of Jesus from today’s Gospel: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Baptism means immersion, even if most of us have been baptised by having water poured on our heads. Baptism is an immersion in the life of the Trinity.
The Baptism powerfully incorporates us into our origins. The Book of Deuteronomy spoke of ‘the time God created man on earth’ and from the Book of Genesis we treasure the belief that the first people were created ‘in the image of God.’ Because our origins are in the vision and action of God, whom we profess today as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in our DNA we have our profound sensitivity to the beauty. Personally I define beauty as something so captivating that you forget to take a photo of it. However apart of so many beautiful things in this world there is something which captivates us even more: having relationships. Just think how popular love stories, friendship stories or family stories are. Why do Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and many other platforms enjoy such a success? Because, deep in us, there is a Divine DNA, which inspires us to reach out to others, to search for good relationships. We do not come from a lonely god. We come from ‘God who is love’ as St John the Apostle put it. Even before anything was created so that God could love it, God was love because he has been the Trinity.
Do you want to strengthen your faith in the Trinity? Contemplate the love of a husband and a wife which expresses itself in giving life to their children. Contemplate strong friendships where people help each other to mature and to become the person they did not think they could become. Contemplate the grief of a husband, or a wife, or child, or a mother, or a father, or a friend etc. upon losing a loved one. All those emotions tell us that we come from God who is a loving relationship and he loves it.
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