God’s Presence in our Lives

 The doctrine of the Trinity describes the unique ways that we experience God’s presence in our lives. It is a confusing doctrine for adults, because it seems to imply three gods who are yet one God. When we speak of the mystery of creator and creation we can only understand the mystery by analogy, poetry and symbolic language. What we describe with the doctrine of the Trinity is an experience of God. 

We know about God through his creation and through his creative acts. When we make something, whether it is a piece of furniture or a special meal we are in touch with God as we shape something into a different form. The intense fulfilment of childbirth is another example of creative time. When we are creative, we feel whole and fulfilled. God is creating through us; we have a sense of being an instrument for the Divine. We call this way of experiencing God “Father’. 

We know God in the sense expressed in 1 John 4:16: ‘God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.’ God is as close to us as the healing love that is shared among his people. It was Jesus who proclaimed this reality by the power of love he showed in His life, death and resurrection. Using the metaphors of biblical language, we could say that we ‘meet Christ’ in the acts of love and healing. We know God through the ‘flesh and blood’ of his presence in our lives and through the power of love that leads us into deeper life. We call this way of experiencing and knowing God “Son” since Jesus is called the Son of God.

 Finally we know God through the inspiration that comes to us. Our secular use of word ‘spirit’   describes very well the experiences of God we feel through spiritedness and inspiration. As Christians we acknowledge the Holy Spirit as a lively and vigorous way of experiencing God in our lives. Thus we say we know God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Adapted from: Trinity Commentary, St Charles Borromeo, Cath. Church, Picayune, MS] 

In the first reading Exodus 34: 4-6 our three persons in God is described as a ‘a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in kindness and faithfulness’ Let this beautiful image of God speak to you and inspire you this week and with trust reflect on the Communion Antiphon: ‘You are sons and daughters of God, so God has given you the Spirit of his Son to form your hearts and make you cry our Abba, Father.’

                                                                                                                                                   Sourced by Marie Weatherall