GUIDE TO PREACHERS ON TRINITY SUNDAY

By NOEL OGADIMMA ONYEULO

Dear Preacher and Reader,

I plead to heastily declare that this writeup cannot replace the Sunday homily which I provide. Instead, it is a kind of guide to preachers on how not to preach the Trinity. Succintly, there are two dogmatic anchors upon which every theology and doctrine of the Catholic Church on the mystery of God hinges. One is the Christological dogma and the other, the Trinitarian Dogma. The Christological dogma teaches on "Christ, the Second person of the Blessed Trinity, Incarnate Word, the revealer of God to men and the Revealer of men to themselves". On the other end the Trinitarian dogma which states "That we worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence". This means that the three persons are not three God. Though subsisting in an indivisible nature and can only be understood in their relationship to one another. In that, the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit and vice versa but remains one in Substance. This is the theology undiluted! It is a mystery, revealed in the scriptures and so needs the full submission of the Will and Intellect and the whole 5 senses of the believer even when it seems incomprehensible. Yes, it is of this incomprehensible nature of the mystery of God that St. Augustine says " sit comprehend is non est Deus" meaning "if you understand Him, He is not God". Thus, Bruce Ware, in his book, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit writes, “The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important distinguishing doctrines of the Christian faith and therefore is deserving of our careful study, passionate embrace, and thoughtful application.” The Believer is required to believe what God has revealed in faith while seeking to understand in other to nourish and appreciate the wisdom of God which surpasses all we know of Him.

So, what is required of the preacher on the Teaching of this Dogma?

Firstly, the Preacher is required to state first and fore most the Churches teaching on the mystery of the Trinity. The Doctrine of the Trinity is truth revealed in the Scriptures, the preacher is required to support this teaching with scriptural passages.

Secondly, this is not a time to show your Philosophical expertise otherwise you run the risk of falling into heresy. Remember, most heretics were great thinkers. It is by trying to express their philosophical expertise on the grounds of reason based on this teaching that many heresies emanated.  Hence, the preacher needs to be informed on the missing links in the teachings of the heretics so that he doesn't fall into any of them.

Thirdly, spare yourself from so much analogies. It is true that analogies can help us grasp the idea of the teaching on the Trinity. But at the same time, all analogies limp! Permit me to say that many heretics arrived at their heresies through analogies. For instance, the analogy which says that the Trinity is like the substance water which can exist in many states; ice, liquid and gas. On the surface, this analogy do seem to help. But the problem with it, is that,  it can very easily fall into one of the ancient heresies that the church fathers and writers of the Athanasian Creed were so keen to distance themselves from. Water can exist in three different states but not all at the same time. It is either liquid or gas or solid ice. But God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all co-exist, at the same time. The Father did not cease to exist in heaven, while Jesus the Son was active on Earth. Historically, the heresy is called Modalism.

Fourthly, the preacher is required to lead the people into understanding the message of love which abides in the Trinity. This message is the anthropological consequence of the message of the Trinity. The language by which the Trinity subsists in itself is the Language of Love. God is love and we too his people must abide in His love by loving one another. Persistently, he invites us to share in the life of the Trinity. The love shining forth from the life of the Trinity is a call for us to live in communion with God and with one another. Hence, love is the utmost manifestation of the presence of God in the life of a Christian in an eminent degree.

Fifthly, the people should be led into understanding that all their activities of the day should begin and end in the Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the 3 persons of the Blessed Trinity. It is by invocation of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity in words and deeds that the Christian share in the Trinitarian Communion which is defined in Theology as the "Divine Perichoresis".

EIGHT SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

EIGHT SUNDAY OF YEAR C

1st Reading Sirach: 27:4-7; 2nd Reading 1 Cor. 15:54-58; Gospel Luke 6:39-45

THEME: DON’T JUDGE PEOPLE BEFORE YOU TRULY KNOW THEM

By: NOEL OGADIMMA ONYEULO

A 25 year old boy seeing out of the train window shouted, “Dad, look the trees are going behind!” His Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 25 year Old’s childish behaviour with pity. Suddenly, the boy exclaimed again, “Dad, look the clouds are running with us!” The couple sitting beside this time couldn’t resist and said to the old man… “Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?” The old man smiled and said… “I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.” Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them: The truth might surprise you!

Friends, how often do we judge people without truly knowing them? The story above encapsulates the message of today’s readings. 

In the first reading, Sirach exhorts us to watch our speech because it is from our speech that our inner self is tested and often reveals. Ones we open our mouth we reveal ourselves. Therefore, Sirach admonishes us not to praise people before they speak, for this is the way people are tested. When we gossip, make hasty conclusions and rash judgments against people, we tell people a lot more about ourselves than those we are condemning. This emphasis on speech spurs us more to develop more our listening capacity and not allowing the inner noise of self-righteousness to distract us from knowing the true situation of events and things. This teaching is also relevant in a world lacking integrity of public relations like ours today. Our politicians betray us by speech making. For them, speeches and promises made during the campaign period have nothing to do with the time of office. It is also the case with some men of God whose lives are at variance with their speeches. This reading from the Jewish sage exhorts us to be men and women marked by the integrity of our speeches and actions.     

In the second reading, St. Paul ends his discussion on the resurrection of the dead with the hymn of the victory of Christ over death. Paul reminds us that God will destroy death forever, and if we are to share in this victory and live forever with the Lord, then we must take all steps necessary to give our hearts and lips to what is good. Hence, Christ is so much interested in purity of heart and speech because they help to decide our final judgment.

In the Gospel from St. Luke, we meet Jesus in his own words challenging our careless and malicious judgment against one another. Last Sunday, Jesus told us not to judge or we would be judged as such. This is not a prohibition on admonishing others when they are committing sinful behaviour or a cover for immoral behaviours. What is being forbidden by Jesus is not judgment as such but negative, destructive judgment. The statements that follow the prohibition on judging indicate that it is an elaboration on the Golden rule- the idea that we should treat others the way we would love to be treated. What Jesus means is that God will judge us at the final and particular judgment. It is only a question of how we would love to be judged. In our right minds, we would love to be judged with mercy, compassion and forgiveness. This is the way Jesus wants us to treat others. In this context, Jesus does not want us to be uncompassionate, unforgiving and unmerciful towards others. He wants us to be like him. There are times when we are expected to give constructive, helpful criticism. But, we cannot pass judgment unless we have some vision and understanding. How can the blind, those without understanding, presume to give leadership to others who are blind? Jesus asks us. The result is inevitable: “Both will fall into the pit.” However, it is necessary that one should speak from genuine knowledge, accurate data and to the people who can do something about it. The same applies to everything else we like to pass judgment on. It is important to emphasize further that the Gospel is in no way saying we should not have opinions or that we should not express them or admonish others. What it is saying is that we must avoid having such a high awareness of the shortcomings of others that we lose the ability to see and accept our own shortcomings. This tells us that the real solution is for me to change. We ought to respond in a positive way rather than think negatively of the other or find fault in them. We personally must be in charge of my own life and stop trying to change others. We can recollect what Fr. Antony de Mello used to say, “When I change, my whole world changes”. And, not only that, when I change, other people are likely to change but, even if they do not, my attitude towards them will not be the same.

Finally, the disciple is not above the teacher. This is to say that our judgments should be like those of the merciful Jesus. The one who is fully qualified will be like the teacher: judging to save and help, not to knock down and destroy. If we are to avoid blindness we need to walk in the footsteps of people who can see and judge mercifully with love. This is precisely the challenge of today’s gospel for each one of us.

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

SIXTH SUNDAY OF YEAR C

1ST Reading: Jeremiah 17: 5 – 8; 2nd Reading: 1 Cor. 15: 12. 16 – 20; Gospel: Luke 6: 17. 20 – 26

NOEL OGADIMMA ONYEULO

noeldominor@gmail.com (The Mercifier Outreach)

THEME: TRUST GOD, NOT CIRCUMSTANCES

Friends, today’s readings are anchored on the consequences of rejecting God and the judgement that follows. In the first reading, we see the prophet Jeremiah exhorting the Israelites on the need to trust in God amidst all circumstances. The book of Jeremiah is designed to show the exiles and the reasons for the captivity of Israelites. They were in Babylon, not because God has forgotten his promises to Israel, but because Israel has been unfaithful to God. The book also taught the captives to wait patiently for the seventy years to elapse and not to seek a quick release through military or political power, by trusting in other nations for deliverance. Finally, the book encouraged the captives that after their bondage, there would come a time of restoration and renewal under the new covenant.  For Jeremiah, the Babylonian Exile was as a result of Israel disobedience, idolatry, immorality and rebellion against God. The people of Israel nursed a false sense of security and so were under the impression that just because the temple of the Lord was in the middle of Jerusalem, they were entrusted to trust in themselves and evil doings and at the same time ‘come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name (Jer. 7: 8- 10). This attitude is religious hypocrisy of the highest order! A first class sin crying to God for judgement! This necessitated the message of Jeremiah on God’s judgment on them. So, if they fail to repent from their sins and turn back to the Lord in pure heart and contrite spirit, disaster awaits them. According to the first reading, cursed is the man who placed his trust in man… and blessed is the man who placed his trust in the Lord. Our society is not unlike that confronted by Jeremiah. Are we guilty of forgetting the God we claim to worship? Is there a progressive deterioration of our moral fiber as we forget the one who gave us our resources in the first place? Unless this trend is reversed in our lives and communities, the consequences are unthinkable.

In the second reading, the point is made by St. Paul that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ remains the beacon of hope for all who believe in Christ. For St. Paul, death is not the annihilation of human destiny neither is it the end of life. By this, St. Paul warns that not believing in the resurrecrion of Christ will only give way to incredulity on Christian faith which will eventually end up in self-help and idolatry. This is because the resurrection faith is a testimony of the Almightiness of God irrespective of circumstance; the Almightiness which the greatest enemy of man - death- cannot stop. Christ's victory over death is an exaltation of the human suffering. So, if Christ has power over the last enemy of man - putting an end to death and revealing the resurrection- there is no circumstance he cannot overcome for his people. Moreover, death played the same role as the destruction Jerusalem played for the Jews. So as the destruction of Jerusalem did not bring to the end of the Jewish world, so the death of Christ did not bring to the end of Christianity. Christ's death and resurrection became the seed of imperishable life and hope for all in different circumstances for all ages. For if God can raise Jesus Christ from the dead, there's no human condition he cannot intervene.

In the Gospel, the evangelist Luke is said to be writing for the Jews, gentiles and whole human race. It is an inclusive Gospel. The import of the number ‘12’ Apostles is a consolidation of a gospel to the Jews; the Disciples, a consolidation of a gospel for the gentiles and the great multitude of people, a consolidation of the relevance of the Gospel even to those who do not know or believe in Christ. So, we see in his Luke's gospel a consolation for all circumstances irrespective of time and generation. Jesus had a long struggle with a people who are determined to go their own way just like the Jews in the time of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah’s teaching and Pauline exhortation are parallel to the message of Jesus, which says ‘you cannot save yourself!’ You cannot engineer a solution to sin, or to your present problems, or save yourself from death!’ All we need is to trust patiently in God’s restoration and renewal at all circumstances; rich or poor, and not exaggerating the extent human help can lead us. For the Psalmist exhorts today: ‘Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord… he is like a tree planted beside the flowing waters, that yield its fruit in due season, and whose leaves shall never fade; and all that he does shall prosper’.