Greetings. I hope you week has gone well for you.

Today we celebrate one of the “MYSTERIES” of our faith, that being three Persons in one God.

Life is full of mysteries.  Some we are able to solve. sometimes they cause us to have to sit and ponder on which would be the best way to solve it. Some, as a friend of mind said, “Some mysteries we have to live rather than solve.”

There is a story about St. Augustine. One day he was walking along the beach contemplating the Holy Trinity and trying to figure out how there could be three Persons in God.  As he walked along, he came across a youngster with a pale and a little shovel. He had dug a hole in the sand and was running down to the sea and filling his pale with water. He then ran back and pored the water into the hole he had made. Well as you would imagine the water just went down into sand and the hole was empty. Once again, he ran to the water and again filled his pale. Augustine watched this for a number of times. At long last he asked the child what he was doing? The child looked up at him and said, “I’m going to put the ocean into this hole. Well, Augustin looked at the child with a smile on his face at the innocence of this child and said, “Look at the size of the ocean and the size of the hole. You will never be able to put that big ocean into this little hole.” At that the child looked up at Augustine and said, “Augustine, it would be easier to put this ocean into this hole than for you to figure out the mystery of the Trinity.” At that the child vanished from sight. Needless to say, Augustin got the point.

St. Seraphin of Sarov says regarding the Holy Trinity. “In spite of our sinfulness, in spite of the darkness surrounding our souls, the Grace of the Holy Spirit conferred in Baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, still shines in our hearts with the inextinguishable light of Christ . . .  and when the sinner turns to the way of repentance the light smooths away every trace of the sins committed, clothing the former sinner in the garment of incorruption, spun of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. It is this acquisition of the Holy Spirit about which I have been speaking.”

And God may be saying, “Check and Check Mate.”

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the

Franciscan House of Prayer.