Reflection for Trinity Sunday 7 June 2020
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Prayer Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen |
The original icon of the Trinity by Rublev is well known. The original sits in Holy Trinity Cathedral Moscow above the grave of St Sergius, saintly wood cutter. He is remembered for: “The contemplation of God dissolves all enmity”.
A London artist reworked the Icon, using the faces of ordinary London folk. The London Icon, echoing Rublev, is by Meg Wroe and is pictured below.
She is saying that we are invited to come to the table of divine hospitality in all our uniqueness....In all our particularity.
God does not invite humanity into communion in just some generic sense.
God invites us in all our uniqueness.
Unity in diversity is the very nature of God, the Blessed Trinity.
Unity in diversity is our call and purpose.
To say the Church needs to look like this, for the sake of all humanity, is a statement of the ...obvious!
As we make our graduated return to worship, in small numbers, our call and purpose is clear. Worshipping safely and reverently, we can but pray for grace to go with this high calling.
So, with St Patrick (c.389 -c.461) today, you and I “bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three...”
In the Name of God the Holy Trinity, we pilgrimage on together.
AMEN.
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LISTENING:
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The Icon to the right tries to convey “Perichoresis”- a Greek term for the relationship of the 3 Persons of the Triune God to one another: their intimacy and reciprocity in love and harmony. “Peri “which means “around “and “Chorein” which means “to make room”. |
The practical application for us in daily life is our being in community with one another, distinct but in beautiful harmony.
Hence, we see God’s plan for our one human family, all made in and carrying the divine image and likeness.
In describing God’s own being, we are invited to imagine a human family dwelling in perfect harmony, every person making their distinct contribution, delighting one another.
+Philip
Bishop Philip Huggins,
NCCA President.
In the news
On Trinity Sunday we see afresh our high calling as the Body of Christ. Our prayers are therefore focused as we look at those places and relationships in need of healing. These past days, we have all been focused by the situation in the USA.
From Washington Cathedral - May 31, 2020: A Word to the Nation in Crisis- https://youtu.be/SC6w9AXOhNE
Song- Better Times will come. Written by Janis Ian and Performed by Trevor Sewell https://youtu.be/k-W7YFaBNq0
Our Pilgrimage with First Nation peoples
As written in the Statement from the Heart (Uluru, 2017)
"Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.
These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.
We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country."
Read the Uluru Statement of the Heart
Australia also needs to address its own racism
In the media recently, Australia still turns a blind eye to Aboriginal people dying in police custody
And a Statement from Dr Deidre Palmer, President of the Uniting Church in Australia. Pastoral Letter - Racism and Police Brutality
