What a great weekend! This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. But, there's a couple of other things we celebrate as well.
One is Memorial Day. In honor of all those who gave their life in service to our country we will take a moment for silence and prayer.
Most Holy Trinity, we remember those who gave their life in service for our country. They all served in honor for the love of this country and their families. May all those who died as believers be among the people the Lord has chosen for his own. May they know eternal piece at the foot of your throne. We ask this, in the name of the Father, and the son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The second are all the anniversaries in May and June. Today is Janet and Herbert Breard’s 40th anniversary. How many of the rest of us celebrate our anniversaries during May and June?
Another anniversary celebrated this Friday wass Janet Goss and Deacon Bill’s 33rd. I began my anniversary celebration Friday morning with adoration. Friday Adoration at St. Lawrence begins at 6:30 a.m. Janet misses it because of work. I spent my hour with God praying for my family and thanking God for the past 33 years of life with my wife.
When I returned my wife had left I printout on the significance of the 33rd anniversary. First, the number 33 is the sum of the numbers represented by the letters in the world Amen. The A is 1. M is 13. E is 5. N is 14 and if you add those numbers 1 + 13 + 5 + 14 they equal 33. It’s probably not true for the word Amen in Greek or Hebrew or Latin or Aramaic; but, it's a nice thought.
Another, 33 is the number of Miracles reported in the Gospels. Yes, scripture says that there were many more miracles not written about, but 33 is the number recorded.
Thirty-three is also the number of years that Jesus was on the earth.
Spiritually, the 33rd anniversary is represented by meditation, contemplation, philosophy, and prayer. It’s appropriate then that I began my day with meditation, contemplation, and prayer at Adoration.
However, not in the printout about the 33rd anniversary is the two 3s. We celebrate and worship a Triune God. One God in three persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The 33rd anniversary calls to mind the Holy Trinity, twice.
The mystery of the Triune God is hard to wrap our heads around; one God in three distinct persons. In deacon formation we were told the one thing we can know about the mystery of the Trinity is love. God the father is the lover, the son (Christ the word of God) is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the actual love between the father and the son. The Holy Trinity, the Triune God is love - upon love - upon love.
I'd like to think that my 33rd anniversary was love - upon love - upon love - upon love - upon love - upon love.
This was the God the Moses knew. The one described as “The Lord who is God in Heaven above and Earth below; there is no other.
Moses knew the same God we know. Although Moses may not have been able to articulate the Holy Trinity or a Triune God, he knew God. The scripture that is credit to him tells us that in the very beginning God said let us make man in our own image. God spoke and begat the word and the Word was God. The Holy Spirit was part of that us, the Ruach, the breath, the spirit of God t was calming the waters of chaos in God’s creation.
Moses was led by the spirit of God. Scripture tells us those led by the spirit of God are sons of God. And in that we can cry “Abba Father.” Led by the Spirit, we become children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
We are heirs to that love - upon love - upon love that is the Holy Trinity. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
By the Spirit we are led to baptism.
I remember my baptism. Not my first one when I was a two-week-old at the Cathedral Holy Nativity in Biloxi Mississippi. I mean my second baptism.
My father, the baptist minister, preached about the importance of being saved, knowing God, and being born again in baptism. At 12 years old, I made the altar call. I knew God, I knew Jesus, but I wanted to know the Holy Spirit.
So one spring day on the banks of the Bayou Barbue near Emmanuel Community in Natchitoches Parish, I was baptized by the Baptist Church. I opened my eyes to look for the Holy Spirit t my father had preached about so many times. Instead, I saw beautiful. I saw a kaleidoscope of colors. The blue of the sky, the green of the trees, the golden sparkling reflections of the sun shining through the water. But, I did not see the Holy Spirit.
It wasn't until I made my first communion in my mid thirties that I experienced the Triune God in my life. As I received Christ on my tongue, it was like nothing I had ever experience. I truly knew Christ was part of me. I truly felt the presence and fire of the Holy Spirit. I knew what it meant to cry “Abba, Father.”
Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
We began speaking about anniversaries. Many, for one reason or another, may not celebrate this type of anniversary; but, remember, we are all chosen in love by one so much greater than any person. Each and every one of us is chosen by God. Chosen to be his own. Chosen to answer the call of Jesus Christ. Chosen to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are called in baptism to share the love upon love upon love that is the Holy Trinity.
In being chosen, we are to go and make disciples of the whole world.
Be good, be holy and preach the gospel of Christ. Living as one God has chosen to be his own; sharing the love - upon love by the way you live and love one another. Amen.
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