When my little nephews asked me why I am bold I answered that it is because of my religious curiosity. It started early. In my arithmetic classes we were taught that 1 + 1 + 1= 3. However in my religion classes we were taught that 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. To make it apparently clearer for us it was described as Trinity. Then my religious curiosity kicked in. I started scratching my head. How can 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 while our math teacher was saying that it equals 3? Later I heard that Jesus said to his disciples that he would make them fishers of men. An uncle of mine was a fisherman and I knew what he was doing with the fish he caught. I thought to myself that I wouldn’t like to be caught by Peter, John and James. They could grill me alive. However everyone around was still saying that it was wonderful that the Apostles were fishers of people. Then my religious curiosity kicked in. I started scratching my head again.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers!
As you can see I have been doing it a lot and for a long time now. However apart from sacrificing my hair for the growth of my religious knowledge I have learnt something else. Faith is not a product of my brain alone. It is the outcome of the love of God which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. That’s why we can claim to know God because the Bible teaches us that knowing God is about sustaining a relationship with God. Do we know everything about this relationship from the outset? We all are slow learners in this department. That’s why Jesus said to his disciples: I still have many things to say to you, but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth. What the point of knowing truth if the truth doesn’t impact your life? During Jesus’ trial Pilate asked: What is truth? He learned nothing because he ignored the truth incarnated standing in front of him – Jesus Christ – whom he was sentencing to death.
As I mentioned before we are all slow learners in this believing department. We come across many setbacks in our learning about God too. It can come from our own processing the mysteries of faith. It can also come from other people challenging our beliefs. However those difficulties, those sufferings bring patience, patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. As we come to know people by sharing life with them as we come to know God by sharing the life of the Trinity. Perseverance is crucial as it is a face of commitment without which there is no chance for a relationship, and faith is a relationship with God.
Our God is very good at relationships because he is a relationship: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. St John the Apostle explained it very precisely when he said that God is love. This also applies to the time before the universe was created and before the first people were fashioned. God is love even before he had a chance to have us to love. God is love because he is a communion of Divine Persons. God is not a single. God is not alone. God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is love because there are no divisions among the Divine Persons. There is no jealousy. There is no contradiction. Listen to what Jesus said: Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Here Jesus gives us a glimpse of the dynamic of the Blessed Trinity. However he has done more. He has given us Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which incorporates us into this relationship of love. We not simply develop or gain intellectual knowledge of God but we live in him, in whom we have been baptised.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers!
As you can see I have been doing it a lot and for a long time now. However apart from sacrificing my hair for the growth of my religious knowledge I have learnt something else. Faith is not a product of my brain alone. It is the outcome of the love of God which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. That’s why we can claim to know God because the Bible teaches us that knowing God is about sustaining a relationship with God. Do we know everything about this relationship from the outset? We all are slow learners in this department. That’s why Jesus said to his disciples: I still have many things to say to you, but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth. What the point of knowing truth if the truth doesn’t impact your life? During Jesus’ trial Pilate asked: What is truth? He learned nothing because he ignored the truth incarnated standing in front of him – Jesus Christ – whom he was sentencing to death.
As I mentioned before we are all slow learners in this believing department. We come across many setbacks in our learning about God too. It can come from our own processing the mysteries of faith. It can also come from other people challenging our beliefs. However those difficulties, those sufferings bring patience, patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. As we come to know people by sharing life with them as we come to know God by sharing the life of the Trinity. Perseverance is crucial as it is a face of commitment without which there is no chance for a relationship, and faith is a relationship with God.
Our God is very good at relationships because he is a relationship: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. St John the Apostle explained it very precisely when he said that God is love. This also applies to the time before the universe was created and before the first people were fashioned. God is love even before he had a chance to have us to love. God is love because he is a communion of Divine Persons. God is not a single. God is not alone. God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is love because there are no divisions among the Divine Persons. There is no jealousy. There is no contradiction. Listen to what Jesus said: Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Here Jesus gives us a glimpse of the dynamic of the Blessed Trinity. However he has done more. He has given us Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which incorporates us into this relationship of love. We not simply develop or gain intellectual knowledge of God but we live in him, in whom we have been baptised.
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