“I have much more to tell you”
This coming Sunday the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. The readings begin with the Book of Proverbs, which has wisdom personified saying: "When the Lord established the heavens I was there... then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race." The Church Fathers and other saints throughout the history of the Church have seen in this hints of the Trinity, present from all eternity, and especially the Son, who would eventually become a human and delight in relationships with them on a human level.
The idea that God "finds delight in the human race" is additionally picked up in the Psalm response, where the author wrote: "What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?" Again, God is revealing to us that God loves humanity, and the Judeo-Christian way of thinking about this can be baffling. Why would God love us and take delight in us, mere creatures of his? In a world where gods of various other people interacted with humans as slaves or played with them as toys, the God of Israel cared for his people and asked them to do the same for others.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth." This shows us that the Holy Spirit continues to work in our midst and help us to understand more and more about God and God's goodness. The Church's teaching is that, in a special way, the Magisterium, present in the Pope and the College of Bishops, is where the Holy Spirit most clearly continues to guide God's people. There will not be any new revelation, for Jesus is the fullness of God's revelation to His people and there will be no other. However, the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church to learn from and understand what has already been revealed in order to come to a deeper understanding of the mystery that is God. The magisterium, as heirs to the Apostles, continues to guide and discern the movement of the Spirit in an authoritative way while we all encounter the Spirit and discern within our own hearts personally.
So, this week, as we celebrate the great mystery of our Triune God, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may be present among our leaders in the magisterium and in our own hearts, that we may grow more each day in our understanding of God and of God's love in our midst!
Want to prepare your heart and mind for Mass this weekend? Click here to find the readings this Sunday's Mass.