{"id":3211,"date":"2016-05-22T12:02:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T19:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2016-09-22T19:20:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T02:20:03","slug":"an-icon-of-the-holy-trinity-homily-for-trinity-sunday-year-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/an-icon-of-the-holy-trinity-homily-for-trinity-sunday-year-c","title":{"rendered":"An Icon of the Holy Trinity – Homily for Trinity Sunday Year C"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andrei<\/a>

Andrei Rublev – The Trinity<\/p><\/div>\n

Not long ago we celebrated the Ascension,
\nand this was the first year we could celebrate that feast
\nwith the beautiful icon of the Ascension greeting us
\nas we walked into the Church.<\/p>\n

On this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity
\nI am reminded of another icon,
\nperhaps the most famous icon of them all,
\nthe icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev.
\nRublev painted, or wrote, this icon in 1425
\nfor the church of St. Sergius near Moscow, Russia,
\nand it\u2019s regarded as one of the highest achievements of Russian art.
\nBut more than that, it speaks to the heart about the Holy Trinity.<\/p>\n

Icons are windows to the divine
\nthat speak to the heart,
\nrather than to the head.<\/p>\n

Lately I\u2019ve been reading the book Contemplating the Trinity<\/em><\/a>,
\nby Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.
\nFr. Cantalamessa has been the preacher to the papal household
\nfor more than thirty-five years.
\nIt has been his job to preach Advent and Lenten meditations
\nto the last three popes.<\/p>\n

His book Contemplating the Trinity<\/em> is a collection
\nof some of these meditations,
\nand he begins by speaking about Rublev\u2019s icon of the Holy Trinity.
\nHe writes,
\n\u201cLengthy contemplation of this icon can yield more insight into the Trinity
\nthan reading whole treatises on it.\u201d*<\/p>\n

If I had a copy of the icon to give to each one of you
\nI would simply hand it out
\nand invite you to contemplate it for the next few minutes,
\nrather than listen to me.
\nAlas, all I have is this rather small reproduction to hold up as I speak.<\/p>\n

But I will share with you what I\u2019ve learned so far about this icon
\nand what it has to say to us about the Holy Trinity,
\nand maybe you can take the time to look it up online this week
\nand contemplate it.<\/p>\n

First of all, though it\u2019s called the Holy Trinity,
\nwhat it actually depicts is a scene from the book of Genesis
\nin which three angels appear to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre.<\/p>\n

However, many early Christians saw these three angels
\nas a prefiguring of the Trinity
\nand that is how Rublev chooses to portray them in this icon.<\/p>\n

The icon beautifully expresses the dogma of the Trinity,
\nthat God is one in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
\nThe figures in the icon resemble each other very closely,
\nand yet they are distinct.
\nThe icon is composed as a circle,
\nemphasizing the unity of the three persons.
\n\u201cAll three are wearing blue garments
\nas a sign of the divine nature they have in common.\u201d
\nBut they each also have another garment on of a different color.
\nThe Father, represented by the angel on the left,
\nwears a garment of almost pure light.
\nThe Son in the center wears a dark garment
\n\u201cas a sign of the humanity with which he has clothed himself.\u201d
\nThe Holy Spirit on the right wears green,
\nsince he is \u201cthe one who gives life.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Fr. Cantalamessa points out one thing
\nthat is especially striking in contemplating the icon, and that is
\n\u201cthe profound peace and unity that emanate from\u201d it.
\nHe says, \u201cA silent cry comes forth from the icon:
\n\u2018Be one as we are one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBe one as we are one.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is the message of this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
\nIt is a reminder that the Father, the Son and Spirit are one.
\nAnd it is a reminder that we are to be one as they are one.<\/p>\n

The unity of the Holy Trinity is what the world desperately needs today.
\nBecause we are not one.
\nWe are fractured by divisions that seem to be getting wider,
\nliving in a world that seems to be getting more and more polarized.<\/p>\n

And yet we all want unity.
\nWe all have within us the desire to be united, to be one.
\nWe don\u2019t want political gridlock or intolerance.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s celebration of the Holy Trinity calls us to recommit ourselves
\nto ending division and to build unity in our diversity.<\/p>\n

And that begins with ourselves as individuals.
\nIt means asking myself, \u201cWhere am I divided?\u201d
\nWhat are the struggles within myself, what are the false faces I wear,
\nthe different parts I play?
\nHow do I balance work and home, leisure and responsibilities?
\nTo grow in the spiritual life is to be made whole,
\nto have unity of purpose and will
\nwhere our values and actions align.<\/p>\n

The family is also called to be one as the Holy Trinity is one.
\nThe husband and wife unite to become one flesh,
\nand it takes years of sacrifice, patience and love
\nto discover what that means,
\nand how to remain two individual people, and yet at the same time be one.
\nTheir children add to the diversity of the family,
\nbringing more life and more love,
\nbut also intensifying the challenge to remain one.
\nAnyone with children knows the hard work of keeping a family together.<\/p>\n

And as a faith community and as members of the human race,
\nwe are called to be one as the Holy Trinity is one.
\nBut it\u2019s a challenge.
\nAs Fr. Cantalamessa points out in his meditation,
\nwe try to bring everyone around to our point of view,
\nwhile everyone else tries to bring us around to their point of view.<\/p>\n

Or we finally give up and say everyone\u2019s point of view is right,
\nwhich really means that no one\u2019s point of view means anything.<\/p>\n

True unity doesn\u2019t come about by watering down our differences,
\nand it can\u2019t be achieved through force.<\/p>\n

It is the Holy Trinity that shows us the true path to unity.
\nIn the Trinity, \u201c\u2026each Person \u2018identifies\u2019 with the other,
\ngives himself to the other,
\nand sustains the existence of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can we follow the example of the Holy Trinity?
\nCan we identify with each other,
\nrecognizing our commonalities,
\nsuffering with each other, walking in each others\u2019 shoes?
\nCan we give ourselves to each other in service,
\nbearing each other\u2019s burdens?
\nCan we sustain the existence of each other,
\nstrengthening social structures, policies and laws,
\nto ensure that everyone\u2019s needs are met?<\/p>\n

Rublev created his icon for the church of St. Sergius.
\nSt. Sergius was an important figure in Russian history
\nwhose motto was,
\n\u201cthrough the contemplation of the most Holy Trinity
\nwe can overcome the hateful divisions of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his lifetime, Russia was invaded by a neighboring empire,
\nand St. Sergius was able to bring about unity among the warring chieftains
\nwho then worked together and liberated Russia.<\/p>\n

We are faced with invading forces of a different kind,
\nforces like poverty, prejudice, injustice, ignorance, and materialism;
\nbut we are called to be united just the same in order to overcome them.<\/p>\n

St. Sergius\u2019 motto holds true for us, just as it held true for him:
\n\u201cthrough the contemplation of the most Holy Trinity
\nwe can overcome the hateful divisions of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rublev\u2019s icon is easy to find online.
\nPerhaps we could take some time each day this week to look at it closely,
\ncontemplating each of the figures individually and as a whole,
\nasking the Holy Spirit for the grace to be one as the Trinity is one,
\nand to bring unity to our families, our community and the world.<\/p>\n

And, as Fr. Cantalamessa writes,
\nwe can do something even more blessed
\nthan contemplate and imitate the Holy Trinity:
\nwe can enter into it.
\nThe Trinity meets us every time we come forward for the Eucharist.
\nBy receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
\nwe are united with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

We enter into Rublev\u2019s icon and become one as they are one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*All quoted passages come from Fr. Cantalamessa’s book.<\/h6>\n
http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/stpeter\/SP-2016-05-22-551.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

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Subscribe: RSS<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not long ago we celebrated the Ascension, and this was the first year we could celebrate that feast with the beautiful icon of the Ascension greeting us as we walked into the Church. On this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity I am reminded of another icon, perhaps the most famous icon of them all, the icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. Rublev painted, or wrote, this icon in 1425 for the church of St. Sergius near Moscow, Russia, and it\u2019s regarded as one of the highest...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[349],"tags":[644,645,626,646],"class_list":["post-3211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homily","tag-andrei-rublev","tag-holy-trinity","tag-raniero-cantalamessa","tag-trinity-sunday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/017rublev-troitsa.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pOucj-PN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3211"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3214,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions\/3214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}