A Feast to End the Month

Today is still May 30th, Sunday and the Feast of the Holy Trinity. I found a reading from Pope Benedict on the Trinity which is so clear. It was his talk given last year on Trinity Sunday. He says the "strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: love alone makes us happy because we live in a relationship, and we live to love and to be loved. Borrowing an analogy from biology, we could say that imprinted on his genome, the human being bears a profound mark of the Trinity, of God as Love."
One of the early Christian bishops, St. Gregory Nazianzen was also a poet. I found a few his poems printed in an older pamphlet from England. I presume permission from the publishers of this work to share it with you as we conclude the Feast of the Holy Trinity:
Glory to God the Father,
And to the Son who reigns over all.
Glory to the all-holy Spirit to whom all praise is due.
This is the one God, the Trinity,
who created all existence
Who filled the heavens with spiritual beings,
The land with creatures of the earth,
the oceans, rivers and springs
With water's living things.
From his own Spirit he gives life to all that lives
So that all creation can sing out praise
To the wisdom of the Creator,
The solitary cause of their life, and their enduring.
But more than all others,
And in all things,
Rational nature shall sing out
That he is the great king, the good Father.
And so Father, grant to me,
by spirit and soul,
By mouth and mind,
In purity of heart,
To give you glory. Amen. (from Saint Gregory Nazianzen: Selected Poems, Translated with and Introduction by John McGuckin, SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation, Fairacres, Oxford, England, 1986)
Tomorrow is another beautiful feast, that of the Visitation. We commemorate Mary's visit to her cousin St. Elizabeth. For those of you who have ipods or phones we now offer an application of the Rosary. I think it is really cool--you can choose from a myriad of religious art or contemporary photos for your reflection, you can see words from the Scripture, and you can hear hymns sung by our Daughters of St. Paul Choir, and of course, you can pray along with the Sisters. Here's a link to get your download: www.downloadsforcatholics.com.
The Visitation is the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. I can picture Mary and Elizabeth dancing for joy as they share their good news with one another. N.T. Wright's book "Luke for Everyone" highlights the theme of joy in this gospel episode (Luke 1:39--56). I enjoyed Bishop Wright's insights on this favorite mystery of the Rosary. The book is available at Pauline Books & Media.
Have a good rest of the week. May our visits bring Jesus and joy to those we meet, just as Mary's visit brought joy to Elizabeth and the baby in her womb.