One word sums up the life of St. Theresa and the life of the Holy Trinity — love. Theresa loved God, and patterned her life after her spouse, Jesus Christ. Indeed, her “Little Way” is nothing more than the imitation of Christ who revealed to us the Most Holy Trinity. St. John relates the words with which Jesus revealed the Holy Trinity to His followers. “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine…. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
In this passage of St. John’s Gospel, we have the revelation of the Most Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a deep mystery that ordinary Christians, saints, theologians and Doctors of the Church have been contemplating from the time of Christ right up to our own day. It is a mystery that we will never fully fathom, and yet we can grow daily in our understanding. Understanding the mysteries of God can be likened to a water fountain. We go back time and time again and receive water at a water fountain; yet, it is never the same water that we receive. It is similar when we contemplate the mysteries of God. Through contemplation we receive insights into the mysteries of God, and each time we take the time to consider these mysteries we receive different and deeper insights.
St. Theresa chose Trinity Sunday to make a total gift of herself to God. She chose this day, above all other days, because she understood the mystery of the Trinity as communion and self-giving love. The Father continually gives Himself in love to the Son, the Son continually gives Himself in love to the Father, and this dynamic self-giving love is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. What better feast could St. Theresa have chosen to totally give herself to God than the feast of the Trinity, which is essentially the communion of three persons in constant self-giving, self-sacrificing love?
We, too, are called to communion and self-giving love. In his Apostolic Letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte,” our Holy Father outlines so beautifully a pastoral plan for the Church in the Third Christian Millennium. In this document, the Holy Father identifies many areas in which we as a Church need to focus, but it is on holiness and communion that he concentrates most of his teaching. He wrote, “Communion is the fruit and demonstration of that love which springs forth from the heart of the Eternal Father and is poured out upon us through the Spirit which Jesus gives us, to make us all ‘one heart and one soul’…. To make the Church the home and school of communion: that is the great challenge facing us in the millennium which is now beginning, if we wish to be faithful to God’s plan and respond to the world’s deepest yearnings…. [O]ur thoughts could run immediately to the action to be undertaken, but that would not be the right impulse to follow…. [W]e need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are being built up” (No. 42-43).
What does a spirituality of communion mean and how do we promote its development in practical ways, within our families and in the parish? Using the Holy Father’s description, let us discover how we can make this spirituality of communion real.
“A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us…” (no. 43). Do we consciously increase our awareness of the Trinity, for example, when we pray both liturgically and non-liturgically? Is not the Sign of the Cross a reminder of the Trinity? the Apostles’ Creed? the Nicene Creed at Mass? Do we recall every day that we are Temples of the Living God, that He dwells within us through grace: Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
“A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as ‘those who are part of me.’ This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship” (no. 43). How can we live out this advice within our families, in this parish and beyond this parish? Are we sensitive to others, celebrating their accomplishments and sharing their difficulties? Can we look beyond our own needs to those of others? I am told that as a parish community you are indeed mindful of those in need. In doing this, you are truly fostering a spirituality of communion.
“A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God….” (no. 43). Do we find ways to develop the potential in others: our children, our fellow parishioners? Do we seek to contribute to the welfare of the community in which we live? Do we build up the Body of Christ by our fidelity to Church teaching and our witnessing to the Gospel of Life and Love?
“A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each other’s burdens’ (Gal. 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy” (no. 43). We know from experience how easily we can fall into these sinful attitudes and actions within our family and in our interaction with co-workers and parishioners. The more we open ourselves to God’s amazing grace and forgiving love in prayer, both here and at home; the more we continue to be formed in the “little way” of love which St. Theresa lived and followed; the more will we promote a spirituality of communion.
This call of the Holy Father to the Church entering the Third Christian Millennium to love and communion echoes the life and teachings of St. Theresa of Lisieux. It is the call to imitate the Most Holy Trinity through communion and self-giving, self-sacrificing love. I invite you to dedicate your lives to live in love in imitation of the Holy Trinity — that love which was made manifest for us in the life of Jesus Christ, and was echoed in the life of St. Theresa. As the Pope reminds us: “Love is truly the heart of the Church as was well understood by St. Theresa of Lisieux.”
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
