Our Father, Our Mentor	06/15/03	Click to Print
Most Holy Trinity	Father Tim Lemlin
Three small children were determined to have a puppy. Mom protested because she knew that she would end up caring for the dog. True to form, the children solemnly promised that they would take care of the puppy. Eventually, she relented and they brought their little puppy home. The children named him Danny and cared for him diligently - for a time. But, sure enough, as time passed, Mom found herself becoming more and more responsible for taking care of the dog. Finally, she decided that the children were not living up to their promise so she began to search for a new home for Danny. When she found one and broke the news to the children, she was quite surprised that they had almost no reaction at all. One of them even said rather matter-of-factly, "We'll miss him." "I'm sure we will," Mom answered, "but he is too much work for one person and since I'm the one that has to do all the work, I say he goes." "But," protested another child, "if he wouldn't eat so much and wouldn't be so messy then could we keep him?" Mom held her ground, "It's time to take Danny to his new home." Suddenly, with one voice and with tears in their eyes, the children exclaimed, "Danny? We thought you said Daddy!" We celebrate today a theological construct that we call the Trinity: three persons in one God. It's mind boggling for some who derive pleasure from trying to mentally understand everything. It's a non-issue for others who simply dismiss it as irrelevant. Yet, the Trinity does have a vital place in our lives. The primary way by which we come to know God is through God's relationship with us. Admittedly, we usually reconfigure who God is, transforming God into the person that we want God to be. Hence we hear in today's first reading from Deuteronomy that God specially chose Israel from among all the nations "by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors…." This image of God requires the people to keep God's "statutes and commandments." This is a pre-requisite for the Israelites and their children to "prosper," and have "long life on the land" which God is giving to them. It is a "tit-for-tat" mentality, which clearly contains a threat that if the Israelites don't keep God's statutes and commandments they will no longer be God's special people. Since God is understood as their protector against the other nations this would mean certain death to the Israelites.