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The theological term “dogma” is one of those rather formidable
sounding words, one that conjures up thoughts about matters so deep,
mysterious, alien, and distant from our human experience that we
oftentimes think it best to leave speaking about dogmatic concepts
to the professionals—the “dogmatists.” Or, at least, when we
speak about a dogma, we’re
careful
utter our words “dogmatically” so that, if what’s said isn’t
understood by anyone else, at least we’re
sure that
what we said surely sounded good!
How far this understanding of dogma is from how the Church
understands dogma and why, as a Catholic community, we celebrate the
dogma of the Most Holy Trinity each year on the Sunday following
Pentecost.
For Catholics, dogma is not an idea imposed upon human experience
like an answer from the catechism explains some important matter of
faith. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church
defines the Trinity this way:
We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the
“consubstantial Trinity.” The divine persons do not share the one
divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire:
“The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father
is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e., by
nature one God.”
“God is one but not solitary.” “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit”
are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for
they are really distinct from one another: “He is not the Father who
is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy
Spirit he who is the Father or the Son.” They are distinct from one
another in their relations of origin: “It is the Father who
generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who
proceeds.” The divine Unity is Triune. (#253-254)
Got the
“big idea”? Pretty straightforward dogma, no?
What dogma encapsulates is human experience and it explains
something people perceive but do not completely understand. It’s
sort of like looking at an object through our eyelashes—we see
outlines and shadows, but we don’t see the object clearly and
distinctly.
Dogma
puts into language—articulates in human words—an idea finding its
first origins in questions and reflection upon human experience that
real people had. We Roman Catholics oftentimes get things
backwards, thinking that the idea—what we once read in or memorized
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church—is what’s most
important. So, we reduce dogma to ideas and fail to enter into or
we forget altogether the experience from which the idea expressed in
the Catechism was derived. Remember this: absent the
experience, the idea is meaningless because when we enter into the
experience, we begin to discover the mystery and experience awe of
the divine that raised all of the questions and reflections and is
only alluded to in the idea.
So, let’s think today for a few minutes about the Most
Holy Trinity not as a catechism answer to a question we are
being tested about but, rather, as an experience in which we
perceive something we don’t fully understand. We’ve got a glimpse
of it, but not in its fullness.
So, what do we have? We glimpse:
·
one God;
·
a diversity of persons, who are three in number;
·
each of whom is motivated by perfect love for the others; and,
·
in such way that the entire mode-of-being of each is perfectly
united (in love) yet given three different expressions (as each
serves and to perfects the others).
Got the idea? Perhaps not clearly and distinctly...but, do you see
in your mind’s eye three persons who so love each other that their
perfection is brought to completion as they serve one another?
Now, let’s sharpen the idea a bit by thinking about the “trinity in
human experience” because, after all, a dogma that remains nothing
more that an idea―as
true and good as that idea may be―is
useless in learning how to live as God’s
sons and daughters.
Is
that not what marriage is as a sacrament? Three persons (a husband,
a wife, and God) so bound up in love (perfect unity) so that what
I want, how I feel, and what my
needs are must of necessity—that is, if the marriage is to be
flourish and its members to be perfected—give way to what “we”
need and is in “our” best interest?
Is that trinity in human experience what also makes for an organic,
vital living, and rich family life? A diversity of persons, so
bound up in love for one another, that each member willingly
sacrifices what one prefers for the good of all? Likewise, is
that trinity in human experience also what transforms a house into a
home, that is, a veritable Garden of Eden where there is no griping,
complaining, nagging, whining, and pestering because cooperation,
generosity, enthusiasm, and selflessness reign?
Is this trinity in human experience not also evident in our own
lives as God’s sons and daughters? Is not each of us a
multi-faceted individual who is composed of a body, a mind, and a
soul that when, these three facets work together as God created
them, we discover—and people can see it in us—our fulfillment and
happiness because our body, mind, and soul reveal who we truly
are—creatures made in the image and likeness of God? In people
like this, it is so easy to see God’s love animating them,
especially as they fulfill their vocations as loving spouses and
parents, as joyful religious sisters, brothers, and priests, and as
dedicated single persons.
I noted earlier that dogma is not an idea we impose upon human
experience like an answer to a question found in a catechism but an
experience that spurs an idea which serves to explain something
mysterious about human experience. In today’s case, the mystery of
the Trinity is an idea that emerges from within our experience if we
but reflect upon it. We can see, for example, the Trinity in rock,
solid marriages and families as well as in rock, solid human beings.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church gets at this idea about
the Most Holy Trinity emerging from within human experience where
the Catechism discusses
“relationships”:
Because [the three persons of the Trinity do] not divide the divine
unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides
solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: “In
the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the
Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they
are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in
one nature or substance.” Indeed “everything (in them) is one where
there is no opposition of relationship.” “Because of that unity the
Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son
is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy
Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son.” (#255)
At the same time, and why we as Catholics devote one Sunday each
year to contemplate the dogma of the Trinity, is that dogma—in
addition to helping explain the mysteries of human experience—also
sets a standard for each of us to evaluate our lives—that is, to
discern whether and to what degree our human experience is giving
rise to the ideas that Catholics believe explain human existence as
God’s sons and daughters. Again, if dogma is merely a matter of the
mind―an
intellectual matter―it
is meaningless. For dogma to have its appropriate effect, we have
to contemplate the dogma and allow it to change the way we live our
lives. We have to take “The Dogmatic Challenge 1,” as it were.
So, for spouses: Do you fear the magic is disappearing (or has
disappeared) from your marriage? The dogma of the Most Holy Trinity
challenges you this week to do something rather straightforward and
simple: count the number of times the perpendicular personal pronoun
“I” passes from your lips. (You know, the “Oh honey, I’s….”)
The dogma of the Most Holy Trinity sets the standard for every
spouse: three persons, each of whom is motivated by perfect love for
the others in such way that their entire mode-of-being exists to
serve and to perfect the others. So, go ahead and take the dogmatic
challenge: examine yourself, quantify the degree to which you are
self-absorbed. Then, if you really want to get that magic back in
your marriage, make the necessary changes so that you will enjoy the
Garden of Eden again.
Likewise
for kids (and parents, too): Do you long for a better quality of
family life? Do you sometimes fantasize about running or jetting
away to escape to greener pastures where everything will be
perfect—just the way you want it—with absolutely no hassles,
demands, or responsibilities? The dogma of the Most Holy Trinity
challenges every kid (and parent, too) this week to do something
rather straightforward and simple: count the number of times when
someone in your family asks you to do something to better the
quality of your family’s life and you respond by groaning, moaning,
whining, griping, complaining, or devising clever excuses to delay,
put off, or neglect chipping in and doing your part to better your
family’s life. (You know, all of those “Aw com’on’s….” and the “But
I’ve got something else to do now’s….”)
For all of you kids (and parents, too), the dogma of the Most Holy
Trinity sets the standard: three persons, each of whom is motivated
by perfect love for the others in such way that their entire
mode-of-being exists to serve and to perfect the others. The dogma
of the Most Holy Trinity suggests that the greenest pasture is right
where you are, as you learn to put the common good ahead of your
selfish, self-interest. So, go ahead and take the dogmatic
challenge: examine yourself, your self-absorption, and the degree of
your self-love. If you really want to improve your family life,
make the necessary changes so that you will enjoy the Garden of
Eden.
When we—the Church—celebrate a dogma, we really are celebrating what
our human experience teaches us about God’s mysterious presence in
our daily lives. The God who is:
·
the Father—who creates and sustains us—like loving parents;
·
the Son—who redeems and saves us—like loving friends; and,
·
the Spirit—who sanctifies and strengthens us—like all of those who
love us.
The dogma of the Most Holy Trinity—a mystery of our Catholic
faith—is not revealed primarily through mystical experience and best
described by religious professionals who have great minds. No, this
dogma is revealed primarily to ordinary, regular, normal, and
imperfect people—people just like you and me—who are sincere in
their desire to live as sons and daughters of God. And, this
dogma is best describe by all of those people—and,
hopefully, you and me—who
sincerely pray, “Not my will be done but your will be
done…on earth as it is in heaven.”
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HOMILY
