Weekly Scripture Reflections
June 3, 2007
The Solemnity of
the Most Holy Trinity
Barbara Blesse, O.P.
Readings: Proverbs 8:22-31 Psalm 8: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15
The setting was unusual for the conversation that evolved. As a campus minister at a small university, it was my turn to be present while the Praise and Worship group set up their instruments and spent four hours musically inviting students to focus their hearts on God. For a variety of reasons, not many students came. But one young man did…a Protestant Pentecostal. He was feeling drawn to the liturgical life of the Catholic tradition and, with gospel music all around us, our conversation moved in the direction of his processing this attraction. For some strange reason…perhaps the Spirit’s prompting?... I recalled an insight from my “Problem of God” class with Jack Linnan, CSV some years before here at CTU and I began sharing the richness of the term “perichōrēsis” as it attempts to describe the mystery of Trinity.
The concept of “perichōrēsis” originated with John Damascene and
Eastern theology and the term is related to the Greek word “perichōreō” which
signifies cyclical movement. This notion suggests that the relationships
within the Trinity resemble a divine dance in which the three “Relations”
(Father/Creator/Parent, Son/Redeemer/Word, Spirit/Life-Giver/Sustainer) “hold
hands” in a joyful expression of unity and love. Each “Relation” is
continuously and consistently, generously and graciously, giving love and
receiving love as they dwell within one another. This particular symbol of
Trinity models both diversity in community and unity in diversity…realities that
we are invited to embrace in today’s world as we gradually grow in global
awareness and a greater sense of our place in the cosmos. Our Trinitarian
God bids us in Jesus…and empowers us through the Holy Spirit…to join this
joy-filled divine dance through faith and through our choices to collaborate
with God.
Today in Proverbs, the wisdom of God speaks of this joy proclaiming that
when the Lord established the heavens, wisdom was there…playing before God all
the while…playing on the surface of God’s earth…finding delight in the human
race. Paul in Romans reminds us that our Triune God makes it possible for us to
participate in this divine dynamic: “…we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace
in which we now stand…because the love of God has been poured out into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” As dance
partners, we are receivers of God’s extravagant love and we gladly respond to
God’s summons to also pour out our love for God in loving service.
Theologian Elizabeth Johnson describes this truth in this way: “[This] circular dynamism within God spirals inward, outward, forward toward the coming of a world into existence, not out of necessity but out of the free exuberance of overflowing friendship. Spun off and included as a partner in the divine dance of life, the world for all its brokenness and evil is destined to reflect the triune reality, and already does embody it in those sacramental, anticipatory moments of friendship, healing, and justice breaking through.”
The next time God invites: “May I have this
dance?” How will you respond?
Barbara Blesse, OP
Director of Biblical Study and
Travel at CTU
© 2007 Catholic Theological Union