Father, Son and Spirit

The story is told about a husband who told the doctor at the intensive care unit: “Please save my wife. She is only 30…” Suddenly the monitor beeped, her hand moved, and her lips mumbled and said: “I am 29!”

In today’s Gospel (John 16, 12-15), Jesus said to His disciples: “I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” How little, how incomplete is our human knowledge. And how vain are our thoughts, words and concerns. Let us not be so self-centered, and let us not be proud.

Today is Trinity Sunday. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are far greater than us in knowledge, and in love. How shallow we are, as when, in our story above, we are concerned of our age in the face of death, or when we are focused on money, popularity and pleasures instead of living truly meaningful lives.

We still have much to learn about true loving. The Trinitarian loving is based on respect, equality, constant reaching out and endless giving. Our way of loving is so limited, well calculated and very conditional.

Try this prayer. I call it Presence Prayer which you can say anytime during the day to become aware of and acknowledge the presence of the Trinity.  Slowly repeat: “Father, You are here… Jesus, You are here… Holy Spirit, You are here…” This prayer has such a calming and healing effect. Try it now.

Going through a medical checkup involves a lot of waiting and lonesome moments. It is the presence of the Trinity that gives us the patience, the courage, the assurance and the hope.

Thank you to those who prayed for good results of my recent PET (positron emission tomography) scan. Yes, very good results. Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank you, Mama Mary. Thank you, St. Ezekiel Moreno (patron saint of cancer patients). And thank you, dear friends, for your prayers, support and concern.

This text message made me smile: “Father, I heard you had your pet scanned. Was it your dog? Is he ok?”

There is a story about a father who pointed to a plane up in the sky to his son. “It’s so small,” the boy said. Next, the father showed him a plane parked at the airport, and the son said: “Wow. It’s so huge!” Lesson? Those far from God see Him small and regard Him small. Those near to God see Him big, and regard Him with big honor and respect. And, by the way, if you are far or you feel far from God, guess who moved?

Whenever I hear someone talking tough and proud against God, with all due respect, I say deep inside, “Man, you do not know what you’re talking about.”

Happy Father’s Day! Someone pointed out that the words friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, business friend, all have an “end,” but family has no end. Happy Family Day!

We honor today, God, our loving Father, the one who loves us the most. He is the one we need to love more.

More and more, I personally realize what Trinitarian love is, i.e. God loves us in spite of our sins, and beyond our righteousness. God’s love is not conditioned by who we are, or by what we do/do not do. He just loves us. And that’s that.

Think about this: “Do not let anything or anyone steal your peace and joy. Choose to be happy and grateful. Do not let circumstances or people dictate how you think or feel. There is a God. We are all creatures. There are no greater gods among us.”

A moment with the Lord

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank You for loving us the most. Help us to love You more. Amen.

jorbos@inquirer.com.ph