Holy Trinity 05

Holy Trinity
May 22, 2005

"... Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, "The LORD... a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity... "If I find favor with you, O LORD, do come along in our company... pardon our wickedness...and receive us as your own." (Exodus 34:4-9).

The Most High, on the sacred mountain of Sinai, tells Moses his name, passes in front of him and speaks to him of his true nature, "rich in kindness and fidelity". Moses invites God to pardon his people's failings and to "come along in our company". Our God is a lover, "merciful and gracious", not a wrathful, punisher. Our God wants to come along with us, rather than to be feared from far. There is only one God, the one who loves and welcomes us and wishes to be loved and welcomed in return. This was a revolutionary new idea about the relationship between God and human beings and it is the basis of our faith to this day. This is the foundation of all authentic religion and spirituality.

Many, if not all, of us have our own stories of religious experiences in which we see clearly, if only for a moment, the closeness and goodness of God. I have remarked often in these reflections of how I experience this in the presence of people I love and who love me. That is a typical religious experience of a grade A extrovert. Many of us will have similar visions of in solitude, in church, in some beautiful spot at the ocean, mountains or desert. Religious experiences are where they are to be found.

Our faith from Moses onward to the present day has acknowledged how poorly we often maintain this link between God's presence and our response. We seem to have a way of turning something good (religion) into something divisive and destructive. Contrary to Freud and Marx, religion is not the enemy of human progress; ignorance and perversity is. Religion is far more than or denomination. "A religion" is not something to which one "belongs". And we give religion a bad name when we use it to justify the rightness of our own nationalistic identities, social class values, or cultural and political prejudices. The purpose of religion is not to ensure public order or even public morality. This civic religion has little to do with true religion, unless it is based on a mystical intimacy with God and corresponding ties of mutual love and respect.

St. Thomas defined religion as the virtue (habit) "by which one gives God what is due to God and lives in appropriate relationship to God". Religion in spirit and truth is the pure gift of God's own self to us, and our response to it. It is our privilege and responsibility to acknowledge our dependence on and partnership with our creator. The One God (Father, Son and Spirit for us Christians) is the only source and purpose for all religious organizations, rituals and traditions.