天主聖三節
Fr. David Matz
有很多方法可以描述天主是誰，以及天主如何在世界上彰顯祂自己。
神父問一位朋友，你如何描述三位一體？
她站著，同大多數人一樣，目瞪口呆，好像被人擺上台，然後，她像一個好天主教婦女一樣回答：「這是一個奥秘！」
神父笑了，因為神父也遇到同樣的疑問，直到神父．接觸到這句話：「Mi casa es su casa！」，意思是：「我的家就是你的家。」
這句話是許多拉丁裔家庭對探訪客人表示傳統的問候。熱情好客是無邊無際的，主人非常慷慨，渴望與客人分享他們所擁有的一切。
神父記得第一次拜訪德州的一個拉丁裔家庭，他們不是富有，神父甚至還未晉升為神父，他們只有些少的食物，肉碎、飯、豆和玉米餅。
聊了一會兒，唱了一些歌，就到了離開的時候，他們又打招呼，
「Mi casa es su casa! 」意思是：「我的家就是你的家。」
神父回答：「你真的想我再回來你家嗎？」
直到今天，那個家庭仍然是神父探訪的地方。
索科羅(Socorro)和傑西(Jesse)仍然慷慨地招待所有進入他們家的人，他們用盡所有的資源來確保客人的舒適。
傾心慷慨地對待他人的人令人側目，我們可以用一種方式來描述我們今天所慶祝的奧秘，即聖父、聖子和聖神三位一體，在他們與他人的關係中，愛是他們傾注到世界上每—個人。
天主的愛之家確實傾注在我們的家裡，邀請我們成為一個愛的團體，雖然團體是一無所有，但慷慨地分享我們所擁有的一切，讓我們的客人感到舒適，當他們進出我們的家時向他們保證，「Mi casa es su casa；我的家就是你的家。
尼西亞大公會議的主教們試圖幫助我們找到一種方式來描述天主。 他們使用「同質」這個詞語，表示一種實體，但一位天主有三個位格。這是思考天主的一種方式。
然而，有時一首詩、一個故事、或我們自己的信仰經驗向我們揭示了一位慷慨的神，祂每天都向我們傾注祂的愛，一位喜悅我們的天主，無論順境或逆境都生活在我們中間。
六歲的Thomas想認識天主。他知道天主住在哪裡，因為他的父母多次帶他去聖堂。他想：我要去尋找天主，但我需要带些食物。於是他媽媽為他做了兩個花生醬和果醬三文治，放了兩支可樂在他的背囊裡，然後他就開始了他的旅程。
當他走出家門兩個街口時，他注意到在公園裏，有一位老婦人坐在長椅上看著鳥兒。她看起來很悲傷，所以Thomas決定坐在她旁邊。
「你叫什麼名字？」Thomas問。「你看起來有點偒心。」
「我的名字叫Louise，是的，我很傷心。」
她告訴Thomas，她的丈夫Walter在六個月前去世，她說，「每天都祈禱天主能讓我再次幸福。」
Thomas與她分享了他的學校、他的房子以及他最喜歡的電視節目。他補充說：「我祖母亦病了。我餓了。Louise，你想要花生醬和果醬三明治嗎？」
長期以來，她的臉上第一次露出笑容，Louise回答道：「我要。」
Thomas心想，她的笑容是他一生中見過的最美麗的笑容。「我還有兩支可樂。 這一支是給你的。」
於是他們一起坐在長凳上，有吃有喝，有說有笑。
Thomas忘記了他此行的目的，因此天色漸晚，他感到疲倦。「我還是回家吧，我媽會擔心的。」
於是，他起身告別了Louise，回家。
但走了三步後，他轉頭看向了Louise。他跑回她身邊，擁抱她，說：「我喜歡你。」
Louise給了他今天最燦爛的笑容。
當Thomas回到家時，他跑進廚房，他媽媽很擔心，「你去哪裡了？」
「媽媽，我想我今天在公園裡找到天主了！ 你知道嗎？ 她笑容燦爛。而且她看起來像祖母。
Louise回到了她生活了六個月的傳教所，但這次她的臉上充滿了笑容。 有人注意到她的笑容，問道：「你笑了。今天發生什麼事？」
今天我在公園裡找到了天主，我們吃了花生醬同果醬三文治，喝了可樂，我們談論了很多事情。天主比我想像的要年輕得多。我當然希望Walter認識他。
理查德·羅爾海塞爾神父（Richard Rohlheiser）談論三位一體時，說：首先，天主不是一個需要我們同意的公程式、教條、解釋信條或抽象的空論。天主是活生生的關係好像水之流動、三位一體、我們可以進入、品嚐、呼吸、流經我們的生命之家。一位母親、一個好奇的孩子和悲傷的女人、花生醬三文治和可樂。天主說：Mi casa es su Casa。我的家就是你的家。
三位一體正在翩翩起舞。
Trinity Sunday, Cycle B 2024
Fr. David Matz
Introduction:
There are many ways to describe who God is and how God manifests God’s self in the world.
I approached a friend and asked, how would you describe the Trinity?
Like most of us, she stood stunned in silence,
having been put on the spot,
then like a good Catholic woman, she responded: “It’s a mystery!”
I chuckled because I faced that same confusion until I encountered this phrase: “¡Mi casa es su casa!” “My house is your house.”
A traditional greeting extended to visitors in many Latino households.
The hospitality is boundless, as the hosts outdo themselves in generosity, eager to share with guests everything they have.
I remember my first ever visit into a Latino household in Texas,
there wasn’t much and I wasn’t even ordained a priest yet,
but what little they had, a bit of carne guisada, rice, beans and tortillas,
was what they offered.
After a time of good conversation and some singing, it came time to leave, that’s when they offered the greeting again,
“¡Mi casa es su casa!”
I responded, “Do you really want me to come back to your house?”
That home still remains a place I visit to this day.
And Socorro and Jesse’s hospitality still is offered generously to all who enter their home as they expend their last resources to ensure the comfort of their visitors.
People who pour themselves out for others generously is a glimpse,
one of the ways we can describe the mystery we celebrate today as the 3 persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, in their relationship with others is one of love, which is them poured out into the world as love for us.
There house of love literally pours out into our houses inviting us to be a community of love which possesses nothing but shares generously all that we have to make our guests comfortable,
assuring them as they enter and leave our homes that,
“Mi casa es su casa; my house is your house.”
Movement:
The Bishops at the Council of Nicea, tried to help us find a way to describe God. They used the word, “Homousion,” of one substance, yet 3 persons in one God. That’s a way of thinking about God.
Yet, sometimes a poem, or a story, or our own experiences of faith reveal to us a God who is generous and pours out his love for us daily, a God who delights in us, and lives among us in good times and in bad.
Thomas was 6 years old and he wanted to know God.
He knew where God lived because his parents had taken him to church many times.
He thought: I’m going to go on a journey to find God but I need something to eat.”
So his mom made him 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and 2 cokes in his backpack and he began his journey.
When he had walked 2 blocks from his house he found a park and he noticed there was an old woman sitting on a park bench looking at the birds. She looked sad so Thomas decided to sit next to her.
“What’s your name?” Thomas asked. “You look sad.”
“My name is Louise and yes, I am sad.”
And she told Thomas how her husband Walter had died 6 months ago, she said, “I pray each day that God will make me happy again.”
Thomas shared with her about his school, his house, and all his favorite programs on the TV. And he added, “My grandma is also sick.
I’m feeling hungry. Would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Louise?”
And for the first time in along time, there was a smile on her face, Louise responded, “Yes, I would.”
Thomas thought to himself that her smile was the best one he had seen in his whole life. “I have 2 cokes as well. Here’s one for you.”
So they sat on the bench together, eating and drinking, smiling and talking.
Thomas forgot about the reason for his journey and so the day waned and he got tired. “I better get home, my mom will be worried.”
So, he got up and said goodbye to Louise and returned home.
But after 3 steps, he turned around and looked at Louise.
He ran back to her and gave her a hug and said, “I like you.”
And Louise gave him the best smile of the day.
When Thomas arrived home, he ran into the kitchen and his mom was worried, “Where have you been?”
“Mom, I think I found God in the park today! And you know what? She has a great smile. And she looks like grandma.
Louise returned to the mission where she had lived for 6 months, but this time she had a smile on her face. Someone noticed her smile and asked, “You’re smiling. what happened to you today?”
I found God in the park today and we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we drank Cokes and we talked about many things. God is much younger that I had imagined. I sure hope Walter knows him.
Conclusion:
When talking about the Trinity, Fr. Richard Rohlheiser says: God is not, first of all, a formula, a dogma, a creedal statement, or a metaphysics that demands our assent. God is a flow of living relationships, a trinity, a family of life that we can enter, taste, breathe within, and let flow through us. A mother, a curious child and grieving woman, peanut butter sandwiches, and Cokes. God saying: Mi casa es su Casa.
The Trinity dances.
