Living into the Mystery of the Trinity

Trinity Sunday (Year B)

Isaiah 6.1-8; Romans 8.12-17; John 3.1-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 22:25)

 

Prepare to be baffled! Because, yes, it is Trinity Sunday. That one day a year when we have the opportunity to take a deep dive—or at least attempt to—into one of Christianity’s most important, yet most baffling, doctrines: the Trinity. So, what is the Trinity? First, I will give the obligatory overview, and then attempt to find some way to explore it in hopefully a more understandable way.

 

According to the doctrine of the Trinity, we believe in one God who is comprised of what theologians rather unfortunately refer to as three “persons.” “Persons” is really a misleading label, as we are not dealing with corporeal humans, Jesus notwithstanding. In actuality, the Greek term that we have translated as “person” is more aptly translated as “being” or “substantive reality.” Or, as applied to the Trinity, “individual reality.” Of course, we know that these three “persons” are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three “persons” are distinct, but at the same time are of one substance or essence or nature. Despite being distinct, each “person” is wholly God. One God in three distinct “persons.” Three “persons,” all the same essence and nature, all the same God.

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Our Potential in the Holy Spirit

Day of Pentecost (Year B)

Acts 2.1-21; Romans 8.22-27

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 24:30)

 

The event we celebrate today—the coming of the Holy Spirit—hardly needs any explanation. It’s all laid out there in the second chapter of Acts. Well, maybe a little backstory is needed as to why the disciples were all gathered in one spot. They were gathered to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot—the ancient harvest festival that happens fifty days after the Passover. Hence the other name for this day—the name that we know—Pentecost, which means fiftieth day. A celebration that had, over time also taken on additional meaning: the commemoration of God giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. So, while we are not specifically told as such, the day would have already been filled with celebration, even if nothing else, nothing extraordinary, happened. There is that humorous little quip that “they are filled with new wine” (Acts 2.13). Being a harvest festival, which apparently could get pretty lively, it is entirely possible.

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Re-Boot

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 1.15-17, 21-26; John 17.6-19

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 23:55)

 

Once again, the lectionary for today provides a wonderful backdrop for what is going on in the life of the contemporary church. Specifically, what is going on here at St. Gregory’s. Today our parish makes the shift from solely doing online worship as we have been for the last 14 months, to reopening to in-person worship. To be more accurate, we are shifting to hybrid worship—combining elements of in-person worship with online worship to provide a broader, more accessible worship experience for all. In short, we are in transition.

 

At its core, this is what we see going on in our readings for today—in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles and in the selection from the Gospel according to John. Both readings deal with a shift, or an impending shift, in the way the early church would function. And even though the nature of the transition was very different from what we are dealing with, both these readings have something to offer us, to help as we move forward.

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Abide in My Love

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

John 15.9-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 9:10)

 

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a parishioner about the confusing nature of some of our Gospel readings this time of year. Specifically, the fact that we are in Eastertide, but the Gospel readings in the last half of the Easter season—after we exhaust the post-resurrection appearances about three weeks in—are actually from Holy Week. In some ways, this sets up a bit of a disconnect. Seven weeks ago, we did Holy Week, with Jesus’ Passion. Then we celebrated Easter. And now we are back to Holy Week, at least in our readings, with selections from Jesus’ Farewell Discourse—his final words to his disciples before his crucifixion.

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