The very
Palpable Trinity
Don't you think that we often
look at the Trinity as an abstract distant “object”? Strangely, in the
early Church, the Trinity was a reality Christians were immersed IN all the
time. The Trinity was very palpable, lived, tasted: an experience. How did it happen?
“Immersed”,
according to the dictionary, is “to be covered completely in a liquid”.
The liquid
can cover you, but it may sometimes penetrate in you as well, no? (i.e.: oil)
It can
penetrate you, but it may transform you into it, no? (i.e.: chemicals)
Baptism was
done (and is still done in various Churches) by a triple immersion: one had to
be immersed a first time: “in the name of the Father”, a second time “in the Son”,
and a third time “in the Holy Spirit”, one God.
Note: in Greek, "baptised" means being immersed.
Note: in Greek, "baptised" means being immersed.
Baptism is
not about being immersed and then coming out. It is meant to be a constant
state of immersion. One remains baptised (immersed) all his life.
Saint Paul greets
his fellow Christians in Corinth this way: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Amen.” (2 Co 13:13) He mentions Jesus first: because Jesus is the one sent by the Father to reveal to us the Trinity , to open the Trinity to us; He is the entrance Gate to the Trinity. Then Matthew mentions the Father.
Then, the Holy Spirit. This is a very genuine primitive order. Indeed kept by Matthew in
his stunning presentation of the triple Immersion (Mt 5 through to 7).
Note: The
teaching on the Son (Mt 5), the teaching on the Father (Mt 6), and the teaching on the Holy
Spirit (Mt 7) are one teaching and not three.
To baptise
somebody is to introduce him/her IN the life of the Trinity, to immerse him/her
and to hand over to him/her the responsibility of remaining immersed. This depends
on us. The teaching on how to remain immersed in each Person of the Trinity is presented
by Matthew in his Gospel in the Sermon on the Mount:
- The Son: Mt 5
(right after the beatitudes)
- The Father:
Mt 6
- The Holy
Spirit: Mt 7
At the end of saint Matthew's Gospel (see the quote below), what Jesus asks
his Apostles to do is: to help new Christians remain immersed in each one of
the Persons of the Trinity. In order to do so there is a teaching that is all
one and triune: Mt 5 through 7.
It is our
responsibility to put into practice the teaching of each immersion, in order to
REMAIN immersed. (“Dwell in me” Says Jesus in John 15. We can say as well: “Dwell
in the Trinity”, Dwell in the Son (by putting into practice Mt 5) Dwell in the
Father (by putting into practice Mt 6) Dwell in the Holy Spirit by putting into
practice Mt 7))
The end of Matthew's Gospel and his three chapters 5 to 7 are one of the very first forms of
Spiritual Theology…: teaching people how to dwell in the Trinity, how to dwell in each of
the Persons of the Trinity. This is Baptism. Here is the text (end of Mt):
"Then Jesus
approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been
given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising (immersing) them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age." (end of Mt, and is as well the summary of
Mt 5-7)
Note: “baptising” and “teaching to observe” are in fact one thing, they mirror each other.
One last thing
A very early tradition, found in St Irenaeus (130-202), says that the Hands of the Father are the Son and the Holy Spirit. (St Irenaeus is the disciple of the disciple of St John the Evangelist.) Now, imagine the Father holding you, as a little baby with His Hands (the Son, and the Holy Spirit), immersing you, and always holding you.
This is one of the early spiritual ways of being for Christians. This is the earliest form of catechesis. Very practical. Understanding that God has two Hands - the Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that He holds us with them. We should never escape from His Hands. Each hand has 5 fingers. In order to remain in the Hands of the Father, we need to put into practise the 5 + 5 commandments we find in the Sermon of the Mountain:
You find the Son's 5 commandments in the second part of Mt 5, and the 5 of the Holy Spirit in the five sections of Mt 7. We need to learn to count on the fingers of each hand: 1, 2, 3,...5, then again: 1, 2, 3...5. This way, the Father can hold us, we are facing Him, and we can live the 7 sections of Mt 6, dedicated to the Father and having in it the "Our Father". (Please check Mt 5-7 text, with these divisions here) Counting, remembering, putting into practise, will allow us to remain in the Hands of the Father, all the time, Facing him.
So, when we say the Our Father, we say it in this position shown above. The Father is holding us - his little children - with His First Hand: the Son, and with His Second Hand: the Holy Spirit. We are Facing Him.
Hope that
helps not only your neurones but your “taste buds” as well. Let us taste the
Trinity: get your swimming trunks (Mt 5-7) and jump in the Triune Well.
Jean
Note: “Dogmata” for the Greek Philosophers was like advice, a great piece of wisdom to be put into practice, a short sentence, to reflect and ponder on, put into practice until it becomes part of us. The 3 dogmata (the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit) are indeed to be put into practice, by living Mt 5, 6 and 7.
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