Today is the feast of the Trinity – Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker. We celebrate the fullness of God – “God who gives us sun, when we expect rain, dreams when we expect a storm…God, who plays with us, turns us sideways and around. (Michael Leunig, A Common Prayer)”
Throughout Christian history, people shared visual images of the Trinity. Patrick used the shamrock. The German monks developed the pretzel with three twist. Each caught an aspect of the mystery of the Trinity.
The image above is a copy of an icon created by the Russian monk Andrei Rublev (d.1430). The figures are obviously related. They have the same look. They are ageless.
The Father is represented by the figure (looks like an angel) on the left. We know this because behind the Father is a house. In my Father’s house there is room for everyone.
The Word Incarnate, Jesus is in the middle. There is a tree behind him. An old hymn tells us that Jesus died for us on a tree. Jesus has two fingers on the table, perhaps to signify the two natures in Christ, perhaps to point to the bread and cup.
The third figure is the Holy Spirit, whom we invoke in every Eucharistic Prayer: “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy that they may become for us the Body and Blood of Christ.” A community of love – united around the table.
Most of us, looking at this icon, are so engrossed in these figures that we fail to see an additional important feature of the icon. There, between the feet of the Father and Holy Spirit is a stool, drawn up to the table – an invitation to you and me to come, sit at the table of God’s very intimate life. Come and sit. Be one with God.
Even as we celebrate the God who has created, redeemed and sustains us, we are invited to be one with God.
These days when the world suffers immensely because of the coronavirus, science, technology, medicine and every other good human construct we can name are in a battle to conquer the beast who threatens life so relentlessly. In the days and months ahead, aspects of life will be uncertain. We will know instability and unrest. Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeaux says, “this is a time of profound planetary adjustment.”
Going forward, we will have to depend on every resource possible and on one another to not only survive, but to love and grow. But more than that, let’s remember to rely on God, no stranger to love and intimacy, who invites us to the very family table of God. For centuries, in good times and bad, the words of St. Athanasius (296 – 373) have resonated in the believing community: “God became human so that humans might become God.” We are at the table of God.
Today, let’s act on that belief and nor despair. We are becoming one with God in a profound way in these turbulent times.
~Sister Joan Sobala
