Trinity Sunday
By Fr. Victor Feltes
I am back again at St. John’s this Sunday for the final weekend of our Inspired by the Spirit capital campaign and I have good news to share. Going into this weekend, nineteen households have pledged and their pledges total almost $83,000. From the actual monies received to date, our Diocesan Annual Appeal for next year is already covered. And if all of our campaign pledges are fulfilled, about $54,000 will come back to replenish St. John’s Building Maintenance Fund over the next five years.
That’s a great thing; however, this depends upon people following through on their pledges over the coming years. And things happen, so it’s likely not everyone will fulfill them. So today during announcement time I’ll provide one more chance to fill out or grab a pledge card to make a five-year pledge for our capital campaign. If our actual campaign monies raised over these next five years happen to surpass our $80,000 goal, 80% of that overage will return to St. John’s. Or if you prefer, you can always write checks directly to St. John’s with “Building Fund” in the memo line and we will deposit your entire gift into that St. John’s Parish account.
As I mentioned last week, St. John’s Building Fund was depleted by our interior renovation project which made this church of ours one of the most beautiful in our area. And what I love about our church’s new design is that it’s not only beautiful but meaningful. This design, like everything in the universe, is connected to the Most Holy Trinity. Like Sacred Scripture, our sacred art has multiple true interpretations.
Consider, for instance, the colors of the nave where you sit. Our earth tone floor and walls recall how St. John the Baptist, with suntanned skin and camel hair clothes, dwelt among the rocky ground and sandy hillsides of the arid wilderness. Our blue ceiling down the center is like the Jordan River flowing through the desert. It was in this wilderness where John the Baptist, on more than one occasion, pointed out Jesus to declare “Behold the Lamb of God! … Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In Latin, “Behold the Lamb of God” is “Ecce Agnus Dei,” which is the phrase upon our sanctuary’s arch. St. John the Baptist’s statue in our sanctuary points higher to Christ the Lamb of God. The Baptist said of him, “He must increase, I must decrease.” At Jesus’ baptism the Holy Trinity is revealed.
After Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, he came up from the water and the heavens were opened. The Holy Spirit was seen descending in the likeness of a dove and came down upon him. In our sanctuary, the Holy Spirit is seen descending over Jesus; Jesus on the Cross, Jesus in the Tabernacle, and Jesus on the altar. At the Jordan, the invisible Father—still unseen, pointed out his Son from the heavens, like the hand which represents God the Father points to Jesus’ Sacred Heart Statue in our sanctuary. At Jesus’ baptism, the words of the Father were heard: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
At our baptisms in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we became children of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, and members of the Body of Christ. St. John the Baptist leads us to this personal union with the Holy Trinity. Our blue ceiling may also be taken to represent the sky. Many churches of Europe and the Eastern Church have blue ceilings. The gold plants featured on our walls have old precedent as well. The walls inside the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem were decorated like a garden, with golden depictions of “palm trees and open flowers.” This is because God’s Temple represents a new Garden of Eden, where God dwells with the human race. Our Catholic churches, like the Temple, represent the whole created universe in union with our God in heaven.
The Bible speaks of three heavens. St. Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians of a man, most likely himself, who either in his body or out of his body “was caught up to the third heaven… to paradise, and heard inexpressible things…” What are those three heavens? The first heaven is our sky, where the clouds float and the birds fly. The second heaven is the outer space beyond it, where the stars and planets shine. But the third heaven is beyond them both, a dimension you cannot climb or ride a rocket to, the very presence of the Holy Trinity.
In this church, we are taken beyond the sky above us and the shining star before us into the presence of the Holy Trinity. In our church, through the waters of baptism we come to this altar of Sacrifice, where through Jesus, in union with the Holy Spirit, we offer glory and honor to our Father. At Mass, we give gifts to God; including our wealth and thanks and praise but, most importantly, the gift of ourselves. And at this altar the graces pour down from heaven and flow forth upon us and out into the world. The mystical river flows both ways. All being and truth flows from the Trinity, and all of creation is called back to God.
St. John’s Church is a beautiful church and its purpose is salvific. I desire, that centuries from now, Cooks Valley’s church will still be here, advancing the kingdom of God. That is why I am supporting St. John’s in this Inspired by the Spirit campaign and I encourage you to do the same.
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