Category Archives: Paul Snatchko

Trinity Sunday – Revisited

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Yesterday I put up a long post about Trinity Sunday. It is a study in relationship and it is a bit wordy!

Today I am reflecting on a more simple image that has been influenced by my friend Lindy, by some work from Richard Rohr and from Fr. Pat’s homily that I heard at the 4pm liturgy.

Lindy suggested that we call this Imagination Sunday… and I think that imagination is at the heart of our faith, the heart of the Trinity, so I like the idea of focusing on imagination.

Richard Rohr and Father Pat both spoke about images and dynamics, although each a bit differently.

I am pondering God as Father – but God also as Creator, which implies power. Not power in the negative way that we often perceive it, but the power to imagine and to create, with great love.

I am pondering Jesus as Son – Jesus as human, vulnerable, weak. Not weak in a negative way that is easy to jump to but rather weak as in human. Vulnerable is really a better way to put it. Our culture rejects vulnerability, our faith demands it.

I am pondering the Holy Spirit as… Well, not as a Dove, not as a Flame. I am pondering the ruah, which means spirit and is feminine. Now to say that feminine is not always held up or considered as part of the prevailing male image of God is a whole other blog post or more!

God and Jesus are a horizon and that horizon is linear, the addition of the Spirit makes for a dyamic that mediates the Divine and Human natures and create the Trinity.

No, I’m not even sure of what I just wrote, but in my heart, in my imagination, I find comfort it in its truth.

Here is a lovely song for Trinity Sunday, courtesy of Paul Snatchko, who had it on his blog. Paul started out as a blog friend, as did Lindy. Having met them both I am grateful! I bring this up because our faith is incarnational and relational… the heart of the Trinity.

Why? The Haitian Earthquake Disaster

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Even the most ardent Christian may stop to ask “why?” when faced with suffering beyond imagining.  Even Jesus asked that the cup be taken from him in his moment of despair in the garden.

One of the reasons many people scoff at religion is because they believe that God causes suffering. That is far too much a topic to take on today and I am reminded that for those who need an explanation, none is generally acceptable and for others, no explanation is necessary.

Certainly Haiti has already faced monstrous despair beyond what most of us can imagine. Maybe you read my post about our visit from the Food for the Poor priest, Father Bob. It is gut wrenching to consider the plight of Haiti on the best of  days.

Now it is beyond the beyond.

There is a spectrum of human response. I do not mean to knock anyone, but when someone who has the audience that Pat Robertson has, it seems unconscionable to suggest that this has to do with a pact with the devil. Frankly, as Catholics, that is pretty theologically far from what we believe. In any event, if people are suffering, even if we are helping them, does it do any good to have this kind of discussion? I do not believe that it does.

The other end of the spectrum has people saying that there is no God, or that if God exists, He is cruel. And there are those who would say that saying that we are holding the Haitians in our prayers is a waste of time and not helpful to the Haitians. To each their own, but I am not really sure what the point of that kind of talk is.

In the heart of the disaster you don’t stop to talk about this kind of stuff – you get out there and do what you can. At least that is what an appropriate Christian response should be. If you are not sure, please consider referencing the parables of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan, just for starters.

Catholic Relief Services is on the ground in Haiti… And they have been for a very long time. Another Catholic charity is Hands Together. They are based in Western Massachusetts and they came to speak at our parish in July 2008. They could use your help if you want to donate to them instead of, or along with a donation to CRS. There are many ways to donate.

Our Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, is asking for help from the Catholics of Albany.  If you are in this diocese, please expect a second collection request at mass this weekend. Many of us are challenged at this point, but give what you can, if you can! No amount is too small.

My friend Paul Snatchko wrote a really good piece today, addressing the “why?”

Considering the tragedy that has taken place in Haiti, the final verse of the Psalm at Mass today stings:

“Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.”

Why?

It’s the question of the day.

Why does God permit the earth to rumble beneath us?

Why did God permit the earth to move under Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas?

Go read the whole thing – you won’t be disappointed.

And pray, and give and share links and do what you can.

And be thankful today. Even if things are rough, you probably had food today, a roof over your head and a pillow to lay your head on.

We all remember someone very important to us, who did not always have the basics either, yet we trust Him for everything and just celebrated that potentially roofless, pillowless place, not so long ago.

Why I Like Both/And Better Than Either/Or

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H/T to Jan at Yearning for God, for this one. She was writing about someone I quote and write about often, Richard Rohr, OFM.

Sometimes people write to me and say that they love Richard Rohr. Sometimes people say that he is a self-serving bag of wind. I say both/and!

Today my friend Paul sent me something that I had an either/or reaction to. And he showed me, in a spirit of friendship and fidelity, the both/and of what he sent me.

Life is good that way, isn’t it?

Very both/and. And it would take a dog to help us figure that out!