62: The practical use of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception #2

Immaculate Conception

(continuation of previous post)
To me, the historical context of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is very important in order to understand it fully, and we should strive to understand the “political”, practical, thread in it.

Again, being specialised in “Spiritual Theology”, I am essentially interested in the practical spiritual impact of the Proclamation of a Dogma, any Dogma.

First: what is a “Dogma”?

The word “Dogma” we use, is a word inherited from the Greek Philosophers. A dogma for them is a universal principle which founds and justifies a specific practical conduct, and which can be formulated in one or in several propositions. A Dogma (especially amongst the Stoic Philosophers) is like a sentence of practical wisdom that one will meditate, ponder upon, and put into practice: it essentially impacts the daily life.

The use of the word “dogma” crossed from the cultural philosophical use amongst the Greeks to early Christians.

- Was that an error? Would that have meant a deviation of the right understanding of Jesus’ message?

- I am not sure it is the case. Let us have a closer look.

For early Christians (the first centuries), the “dogmas” were something very practical. It appears as well to be the same for the non-Greek christians: the Apostles themselves who were Semites.

A very early example of the implicit use of the idea of a “dogma”

See for instance how saint Matthew in his gospel presents the Trinity as a “Dogma”, i.e. as something to put into practice. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is the Great Charter (Carta Magna) of the newly baptised. Remember we are baptised (i.e. immersed) in each Person of the Trinity. In the Sermon of the Mountain, saint Matthew dedicates a section for each person of the Trinity: Mt 5:17-48 is offered to put the Son into practice, Mt 6 is to help us put the Father into practice, and Mt 7 is for us to put the Holy Spirit into practice. Each Person is a “dogmata”, not a sentence thought, but a Person in whom we are supposed to meditate upon, to enter, to be immersed in.

“Being Baptised” meant simply that the Father did Baptise (immerse) us, in the Trinity.

- How would this happen?

- For the first Generation, God the Father was considered to have like two hands: st Irenaeus says that the Son and the Holy Spirit are the Hands of the Father (remember that Irenaeus is disciple of the disciple of saint John). So “Baptism” would be seen as follows:

The Father takes us in His Hands and holds us tight: as a result we shouldn’t escape from His hands. How? But a set of practices that would help us remain immersed (baptised) in the Son, in the Father and in the Holy Spirit (in that order, see 2 Co 13:13).

To “be Baptised” for the first generation of Christians implied to put into practice the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity. The “Dogma” of the Trinity was practical and vital.

Therefore for the Catechesis of the first Christians (i.e. the Sermon of the Mountain), a whole chapter was dedicated to approach each Person of the Trinity in a practical way.

For a mnemonic reason, remember that each hand has 5 fingers, so you’ll find the 5 points (one per finger) to remember about the Son in Mt 5 and the same for the Holy Spirit: five sections in Mt 7.

Easy to count, easy to remember, easy for meditation, easy to put into practise. The whole “Greater Charter” (Carta Magna) of Christianity, i.e. the Dogma of the Trinity, is all comprised in this Sermon, the Sermon of the Mountain.

The historical background of the dogma

- Would dogmas change?

- Obviously: no.

- Would we have new dogmas?

- Obviously: no.

- So why do we have “new” dogmas?

- We don’t. We just proclaim a truth as a “dogma” when we see it, after a long development, under a clearer light. (Theological note: Even if it is the Pope who proclaims a Dogma, the proclamation is an act of all the Church, as you'll see below, the Pope makes a consultation first in order to "sense" the "feeling of the faithful". The infallibility of the Pope draws its principle from the infallibility of the Church and not vice-versa.)

I would ad to that last reply something important to my eye: a Dogma, as we just said, has a direct practical use to it. It is not “one more truth to proclaim”, it is one more thing to put into practise, one more thing we already put into practise but the use of which today is much more urgent, this is why it is underlined by the Faithful, the Church, the Pope.

- So why that urge to proclaim Mary as the “Immaculate Conception”?

- This is exactly my point: the historical context of the proclamation is very important to understand the reason and mainly its application in daily life.

Let us remember few facts that will help us situate historically the “proclamation” of the Immaculate Conception of Mary by Pope Pius IX:

Pius IXth

1- Pope Pius the IX^th is witnessing the end of the “Middle Age” political system, and the new spirit of the French Revolution invading the spirit of the Italians and most of Europe.

2- These changes are quite drastic and, with all the good will of the Pope, are seen and felt as a threat to the normal order of things.

Pellegrino Rossi

3- The Pope’s life is under serious threat. His Prime Minister, Pellegrino Rossi, has been assassinated (15^th of November 1848), the Swiss Guards are disarmed, making the Pope to a prisoner in his palace.

Then on the 24^th of November 1848, the Pope then escapes in disguise as a regular priest to Gaeta, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies leaving Rome to the radicals and the mob.

4- At Gaeta, in a very small crypt, the Pope prays during 9 months. He had a great devotion to Mary under the name of the “Immaculate Conception”. (You can visit the Church (“Santissima Annunziata”) and the crypt also called “Cappella d’Oro”)

Cappella d'Oro in Gaeta where Pius IX prayed for 9 months

It is during this time that the Pope formed the decision to start the process of consultation that will lead later to the declaration of the Dogma of the “Immaculate Conception”.  He published his Encyclical Letter, “Ubi Primum”, the 2^nd of February 1849 to the bishops of the Catholic Church asking them for opinion on the definition of a dogma on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.

The Pope remained in Gaeta till the 4^th of September 1849.

Time of total distress

The Pope’s Prime minister is killed, his life is under threat, he has to escape, and he does it in disguise. This tells us the degree of distress the Pope is in.

It is quite obvious that the only practical help he could find was in Mary, not only that, but “Mary the Immaculate Conception”. In a situation of darkness, of total darkness, where the future of the Church is under serious threat, the traditional political order is upside down and threatened to disappear, where evil is trying to kill… the Pope turns in prayer to the Immaculate, the only Creature after Jesus that was never defeated by Evil. We can say that the Pope found the solution for his distress.

Do you see the practical, spiritual and political situation in which is born the desire to proclaim solemnly Mary as the “Immaculate Conception”?

He is in fact declaring that he found The Solution for his distress, he wants to present the solution, and he wants to say what happened to him and how she helped him.

He wants to say that this is the will of God to put in the Centre of the Church the First Sign of His Victory, the New Eve, the one that was never defeated by Evil. She is at the heart of the Church, real source and proof of Hope that God gave us.

You’ll notice that in the definition of the Immaculate Conception, it is said that this “grace”/ privilege comes directly from Jesus’s salvation, from Jesus’ Cross. I like to see Her, first Saved Person, and mother, with Him, of all the saved, I like to contemplate Her coming out of His Side, New Eve, totally pure.

The first sign of Jesus’ victory on the Cross is Mary. The prototype of all the Saved people, is Mary.

The mother and the “Mould” of all the saved, is Her as well. She generated the Head, and generates each person in the Body.

God put this Sign (the Immaculate) right in the centre of his Church. Mary is the only one who believed (see previous posts), Mary is the Prototype of Jesus’ Disciple and follower (see previous posts).

All of us, like the Pope and like that moment in the history of the Church, we reach the darkest point in our spiritual journey, and we all lift our eyes, in the darkness, to the Star of the Sea, Mary, the Only Immaculate Point in the Dark Sky, “gift of Jesus for us”, “capacity to believe” given by Him to us.

The role of Immaculate in the “Dark night of the spirit”

Now this is more technical here. According to saint John of the Cross, the “Dark night of the spirit” is the deepest and final purification the faithful should go through before reaching the “Union with Jesus” (See his book "The dark night", especially the second part). You might recognise it in the “Great trial” mentioned in the book of Revelation (Rev 9:14-17) or find it in a more plain way in: what the Apostles (or any Jesus’ follower) have to go through when Jesus is about to start his Passion: all your hopes about the Messiah-Saviour will vanish, all your life, your spiritual life seems to go and disappear in the land of oblivion.

Ven. Fr. Marie-Eugène

Now, a great catholic Master, the Venerable Fr Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus OCD (1894-1967) (his process of Beatification is on the verge of reaching completion), in his great book “I want to see God”, says that Mary plays a fundamental role in this crucial moment were everything in our “spiritual life” seem to disappear. He quotes saint Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort, saying that the presence of Mary all together 1- makes that time of deep purification lighter, more bearable, and 2- is essential for this turning point in our spiritual life (the deep purification). In fact, for the first time, we are called to make a pure act of Faith, and in order to do so, we learn to use “Mary’s faith”, or better said: we ask her to “believe for us”. In doing so, we let her grow in us, and transform our spirit at the image of hers, being now for the first time capable of “believing as she believes”.

We are then starting to follow “the only one who believed in the Resurrection”, “the one around whom the distressed apostle gathered in order to draw from her the pure faith in Jesus”.

In a way, pope Pius the IX^th is saying to us: in these great times of distress, the Church continues not with the strength of papacy, or any human strength, but through the help God put in Mary, the Immaculate. God had his victory in her, and is offering to each one of us this same Victory, by putting Mary in the centre of Jesus’ faithful. Mary said “Yes” to God in the darkest moment of history (when Jesus is dead): she believed in the Resurrection; and God gives us her “Yes” so we can use it and overcome the darkness. (Note: John-Paul II made all this very clear during his Pontificate)

Does it make more sense now to believe that Mary is Immaculate Conception? Do we see better how practical is that “dogma”?

31: The Spiritual Journey 5/11

In this 5^th diagram (see below), we continue our deepening of Jesus' descent in us. Doing so is the first step in trying to understand the complete shape of our “spiritual journey”. In order to “understand the Way” itself (the steps of our Spiritual Journey) we have first to understand “what Jesus did for us”, “how He opened the way for us”, "how He became the Way for us". As you see they are both directly related. Understanding Jesus' journey helps us understand our journey, through the new way He opened for us (about the "new Way" He opened for us see He 10:20; Is 35:1-10; Is 11:15-16).

Remark: As you see, “real dogmatics” lead to “real Spiritual Theology”. They are two sides of the same coin, totally adapted to each other, they match perfectly. They attract each other, they call upon each other. They sift each other as well, in the sense that when dogmatics become too abstract (i.e. not “practical”) it should be revised, purified; remember “all Theology becomes Economy”, according to the Father's adage. Both, Dogmatics and Spiritual Theology, put together, they constitute “Integral Theology”. We'll come back to “Integral Theology” another day.

Immersion

This fifth diagram we are about to study is all commanded by this quote from saint Luke where Jesus says: “I have to undergo an Immersion” (Lk 12:50). As you can see, the verb “immersed” is preferred to the word “baptised” that you'll find in the majority of the translations. "To immerse” translates the verb "to baptise”. So, it is better to put “immerse” in order to remember what it means and not to jump into rapid conclusions (about "baptism") that are not in the text.

Mystical dimension

Jesus' choice of the verb "to be immersed in" is very deep and opens in front of our eyes a whole mystical dimension to the operation of salvation He undergoes. Here we will explore some of its angles. "mystical dimension" means that we are invited to dive in the deep waters of the expression, and not to fall in the trap of just giving it the reading or interpretation that our brain today can grasp. It is a real mystery. Like an ocean, the mystery invites us to dive in it and explore it. A "mystery" is not dissuasive (it doesn't deter us), it incites (it invites us). "mystical dimension" means that it is not "one dimensional", but it has many dimensions and implications. "mystical dimension" means that "salvation" (the immersion) is not a mathematical, or a juridical operation, it implies the existence of a real interaction between Jesus and us. He mystically reaches each one of us during His lifetime and more especially during his Passion and Death. Deeply, and invisibly (but truly), He touches us, transforms us, and is united mystically to us - He does it of course from His part, and we will have to receive all what He does for us. Not being able to see it with the naked eye doesn't mean the eye of the soul and the eye of the spirit can't see anything. Blessed are the mystics who can see what is happening and can describe it and enrich our faith and love!

“I have to undergo an Immersion”

Jesus has to undergo an immersion. All His Mission is to achieve this Immersion. All His life is a long Immersion, a long descent in us. When Jesus says it (Lk 12:50) He is obviously alluding to His Passion and Death. This is obvious. To a degree, this is the toughest part of his Immersion, so the global is named after the part.

We shouldn't reduce though the “immersion” to a limited moment of Jesus' life (his Passion and Death). The Incarnation itself of God, in a body-soul-spirit, is itself a first step in the long journey of immersion that the Second Person of the Trinity, God, is undergoing. As we previously said, this journey doesn't stop there, it continues until it reaches the very moment of Jesus' Death, where He reaches the bottom of our being, uniting himself totally to us.

This immersion covers not only the whole length of Jesus' life, it covers as well: 

- all humans (each human being)

- all places

- all times.

Nobody is excluded from this immersion. In this sense, any human being, in any moment in history, in any place in the globe, can contemplate a moment of Jesus' life and say: "this moment belongs to me, and I see my Lord entering in me, trying to offer me His transformative Spirit, in order to purify me and make me “His” ".

It covers as well all the human being. From the most exterior part of ourselves, to the most interior and deepest part of us: our spirit, passing through our soul. All our being is assumed, purified, transformed and saved by by the Son of God. He enters and enlightens all the parts of our being.

Blue: waters of our human nature

The blue colour used in this diagram, from light blue to deep dark blue symbolises the waters of our being where Jesus has to be immersed. This choice of colour helps us visualise better that journey of descent, from the most “light”, exterior part, to the most “difficult”, interior part of us.

5- Jesus' immersion in us

Washing our dirty feet

Another quote may attract our attention: “I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet” (John 13:14). This quote explains more specifically what the Lord performs mystically during His Passion. Here, the image the Lord is using is still “water” but in a different way, not a baptism but a simple direct washing. Of course the meaning is the same, because "to baptise" is to wash and purify. 

Here, the Lord is the one who uses the water of His Love and Sufferings, the water of His Human Nature, united with His Divinity and full of Holy Spirit, in order to wash and purify us.

He says that He is washing our “feet”. “feet” are the lowest part of our being, the part of the body that is most exposed to dirt. If He washes our “feet”, this means that he washed “all our being” (see John 13:10 “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean”). If the toughest part is done, this means that it is preceded by the easiest parts. Purifying our spirit is the toughest, then the soul, then our body.

This image of "cleaning the feet" sheds a light on the “immersion in us" He is performing. Immersion brings cleansing, immersion is cleansing. They, Purity brings Union.

Drinking the cup of our sins

Another image can help us enter in the divine meanings of this “Immersion”: “drinking the cup” (Matthew 26:39 “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

The “cup” here alludes to the cup full of our sins. It is a “bitter” cup. Sin is a distance from God. Therefore “drinking” the cup means that He integrates in Him, He experiences the distance between us and the Father, the darkness where we are (see Is 9:1:), the darkness we became. "Drinking" here shows how we are intimately assimilated to Him. We become part of Him. What a frightening concept to get that close to Darkness for a Being who is ONLY "divine LIGHT".

Carrying our sins

One final image can help us understand better the “Immersion” that Jesus is undergoing: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) He is the Lamb of God. The characteristic of the “Lamb of God” is his permeability, his “capacity of absorption”. He carries the sins. But not only the “sins”, He carries first and foremost all the Human Being.

Plus, one has to mention the capacity of exchange: He takes our being, He takes our sin, our darkness, and, in the same time, He offers His Divine Life. He communicates His Holy Spirit.

This is the double way action of the Holy Spirit: from one side: He purifies, and from the other He communicates Divine Life.

The Body of the Lamb absorbs our Body, His Soul absorbs and carries our soul, and is united to it, and His spirit as well.

The Pastor carries his sheep

An image that goes with this last one is the image of the “Pastor carrying on His shoulder his sheep” (Luke 15:1-7). The deep analysis of the “immersion” we are going through, suggests that in reality the Pastor (Jesus) is not only carrying us on His shoulder, but “in Him”... His Body carries our body, His Soul carries our soul and His spirit carries our spirit and brings it back to life.

(to be continued...)

15: The power of Christianity

Participating to His Resurrection

Saint Paul says that he would like us to experience the Power of the Resurrection of Jesus (Phil 3,10). One can expand a lot on the spirituality of the participation to Jesus’ death in order to participate to his Resurrection. We may call it rightly “Spirituality of Baptism” (see Rm 6,1-5). By contemplating Jesus Crucified, an exchange can happen: we give Him our burdens, our sins, our sufferings, our difficulties, and we take His Yoke: the Holy Spirit, that purifies and transforms our inner being. We, then, experience the Transformative Power of His Cross.

His Session at the Right Hand of the Father

Without questioning at all the validity, necessity, power and efficiency of this spiritual exchange, we may explore more of that “Power made available to us” by Christ and make one more step: delving in his “Ascension into heaven” and His “Session at the right hand of the father”.

In fact The Risen Son of Man, finishes His Journey not at the Resurrection, but at the Ascension and Session at the Right Hand of the Father. This is the final destination of His Humanity: the closest possible to the Father (in the Trinity).

The Unity between the Head and the Body in one Mystical Person

Let us consider our relationship with Jesus. In fact we have one Total Mystical Christ, composed by the Head, Jesus-Christ, and his Body, us. The Head is seated at the Right hand of the Father, and the Body is here on earth, but is deeply and mystically linked to the Head. The relationship between the Head and the Body is to be compared to a tie, a bond that is so powerful that it is unbreakable, indestructible. Divine Life, the Holy Spirit, is constantly flowing from the Head to the Body.

It is more than a union, it is a unity, a “mystical unity”, an identity. This is why Jesus identifies Himself with His Body, saying to Saul who is persecuting Christians: “why do you persecute Me?” (Acts 26,14).

How to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The Power to receive from Jesus is simply the Holy Spirit. All the Power of Christianity lays in the Communication of the Holy Spirit.

How can we receive the Holy Spirit in a more powerful way?

The more we Dwell in Jesus, the more we receive the Outpouring of His Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus said two things:

1- You should rejoice that I am going to (sit at the right hand of) the Father (see John 14-16), because I’ll be sending you the Holy Spirit.

2- (While I will be seated at the Right hand of the Father) “Dwell in Me” (John 15) because this is the way to receive directly from Me the Holy Spirit.

This is why the Priest, during the Mass, says: “lift up your hearts”; so Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, can take our hearts and put them in His Heart, so we are enabled to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Power of Christianity

Stephen says that he sees « the Son of man standing on the right hand of God » (Ac 7:56). Why this statement is perceived by the Jews who didn’t become Christians as blasphemous (see Acts 7:57-58)? While for us, Christians, being able to see the Son of Man at the Right Hand of the Father is the highest achievement, and the most powerful outpouring of God? Why Jesus’ victory (to sit at the Right Hand of the Father), reaching such closeness with His human nature to the very Nature of God, is blasphemous?
In may religions, including actual Judaism, it is not at all conceivable to be that close to God. It is blasphemous because God is considered as being only High, but never that Close to us His creatures. Or, said in a different way: our human created nature can never reach God, where He IS. Let us remember that the reason why Jesus is killed (I mean the decision made by the Jewish authorities at that time) is that He declared himself being God, equal to God (see the Passion according to S. John)!
What a privilege for us to know that this is not true!
What is Blasphemous to some is the highest Power to others. Let us at least use this Power given to us!

We are all invited to meditate and contemplate this great mystery: the fact that part of us, Jesus the Head, in His Human Nature, is already at the closest to the Father. So let us be actively "in Him", using our freedom to benefit from that incredible privilege.

Let us benefit from this Power

He (as a man) is already reigning in heaven, united with the Father. Contemplating Him (seated at the right hand of the Father), we contemplate our victory. We contemplate were our heart should be, all the time.

This is how we can be in the world but not from the world (John 15:18-20; 17:16), from Christ seated at the Right Hand of the Father. Contemplating, we are united with Him, and we receive the Holy Spirit… like Rivers of Water (John 7:38)... This is the Prayer of the Heart.
Let us practise the Prayer of the Heart... constantly...
Constantly, and actively, be "in Him"... to receive his Holy Spirit...

How are your taste buds?

09: The immersion in the Trinity

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.

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.