Peace be with you!
Fr. Freeh, with the help of parishioners Vicki Phillips and Pat Henry, advances the discussion of the Holy Spirit in context of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit.
So now it’s my turn to say a few words. And I have to ask: What can I say about the Holy Trinity in 1000 words or less, that hasn’t already said before?
A daunting task. Without conducting an exhaustive (or exhausted?) study of the millenia of spiritual giants whose paths I fear to tread, I’m pretty sure the answer is: Not one blessed thing.
So, I’m going to talk about me. And you.
Because the thing that struck my ear in Fr. Freeh’s reflection was the concept that Love happens between beings of equal stature.
Now put that into context of “God loves us.” He loves me. He loves you. And He desires us to love Him. Ergo…He considers us to be worthy of His love. This alone confers upon you and me an infinite value, because we are loved by an infinite God. There’s mystery in that. And more mystery in finding us worth His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
The same dynamic of the Triune God–God the Father’s Perfect Knowledge of Himself is the Son; the Perfect Love between the Father and Son is the Holy Spirit–drives the purpose of the human soul. (With apologies for such a simple explanation to the theologians who understand the intricacies of the filioque debate that split the Church into East and West.)
But East or West, the essential point remains the same: Small as we are, you and I are made to know God and to love Him.
Sadly, we’re confused. We get caught up in ambition for passing things, and measure our worth in terms of keeping up with the Jones’ net assets. We ignore the debt on the spiritual side of the balance sheet, and never see how the Jones’ yardstick divides us. Worse, we are blind to the immeasurable cost of the paradise lost.
While we live shadowed lives of minimal effort toward small ends, we are called to do no less than participate in the infinite light and life of God.
The truth is, whatever our lives are right now (and here I deleted the ever-growing list of all the labels and statuses that divide us) our lives can be greater, filled with truth and love… if only we desire to do what God wills, and do whatever we do for His purpose, with love.
How can we even begin to understand this? By beginning to live it, wherever we are, whatever our condition.
Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments
are liars, and the truth is not in them.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
My mistake was in thinking I had to say something new about the Holy Spirit. That’s not just a daunting task; it’s beyond possible. We don’t need to invent new things to say about the timeless truth of the immortal Godhead.
But each of us is a unique creation. When we obey God’s commands in our individual lives, we live something new. We become the unique expression of God’s truth and love wherever we go, whatever we do.
This is why He breathed His life into us–you, and me. And the Holy Spirit draws us along the paths of the spiritual giants. Paradoxically, the more we live out our unique vocation, the closer we are united with those who have gone before, those who journey with us now.
Because our true purpose–the purpose God had in mind when he created you and me–breaks all boundaries, all divisions of mind and heart, of social status, even of time and space itself.
When we are perfected in the love of God, He lays eternity in union with Him at our feet of human clay.
Good News Spirituality 