Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev
One of the world’s most famous pieces of religious art is the fifteenth century Russian icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. This icon is intended to capture the scene that we hear about in today’s first reading from the book of Genesis. In this Sunday’s reading from Genesis, we hear how the Lord God appeared unexpectedly to Abraham as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. Even though the passage makes it clear that it is God speaking to Abraham in one voice and Abraham answers God in the singular, the text makes it clear that Abraham saw three men standing there. This text, in which God is referred to in the singular, but spoken of as appearing in the form of three persons, has been seen by many as one of the first references in scripture to the Holy Trinity. This, however, is not the important point that this passage is trying to make. This reading is speaking more about the importance of being ready to greet God and welcome Him into one’s life at anytime that He might appear.
Abraham shows great hospitality toward God as he appears to him in these three heavenly messengers. The language of the reading speaks of the haste with which he invited his guests to join him and the way that he rapidly rushed around to have a meal prepared for them. He hastened to his tent, ran to prepare a calf and gave it to his servant who quickly prepared it. It is as though he feared missing this encounter with God. We are told that as a reward for the way in which Abraham greeted the Lord, his entire life was changed by the news that when this guest returned in a year, Abraham’s wife Sarah would be the mother of his son. The reading points to how our lives can be changed if we look for God and are open to His coming to us. We are called to always have a place ready for God to come and sit with us so that we might hear His word and be changed by His presence.
There are many who say that the purpose of the icon of the Holy Trinity which Rublev painted is that it is intended to call all who see it to be open to God’s coming in the different circumstances of their lives. In fact, a friend of mine, Msgr. Robert Nusca, the president of St. Augustine’s Seminary, contends that this icon is inviting us to take a place at the table with the Lord. When we look at it, we are intended to view ourselves as the fourth person at the table. The picture speaks to us of God’s invitation to join Him at table and sit with Him and listen to Him speaking with us and sharing His presence with us. The painting is an invitation for all of us to grow in intimacy with the Holy Trinity. I might just go so far as to say that as we look at this picture, we could imagine that what Mary has decided to do in today’s Gospel story is take the time to sit down with the Lord and take the fourth place in the picture by giving God her undivided attention. For any of us to have a relationship with God, we must take the time to be with Him and sit and listen for His presence in our lives.
This Sunday’s reading from the Gospel of Luke is one of a few Gospels that we will hear over a few weeks that speak to us about discipleship. The Gospel of a few weeks ago spoke to us about Jesus beginning His journey up to Jerusalem where He would take up His cross and die for our salvation. Since then, we have heard different stories about the way we are called to witness and serve others if we too wish to be Christ’s disciples. Most of the Gospel stories of the past few weeks have told us about the way we are called to act if we wish to be Jesus’ disciples. Last Sunday the story of the Good Samaritan told us how we are to care for our neighbors if we are to be Jesus’ disciples. The week before that we heard of the way in which Jesus’ disciples were to be sent out into the world to bring Christ’s peace and build His kingdom. All of these readings have instructions about the very active life that a disciple is to have in the name of the Lord. The readings announce that a disciple is one who is sent into the world to build Christ’s Kingdom of peace and justice through acts of charity towards the neighbour that he or she meets along the way. By this definition, all that Martha is doing to serve the Lord would make one think that she should receive His praise and not His rebuke. So why does Jesus tell Martha that her sister has chosen the better part?
In last week’s Gospel we heard that the great commandment was first that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our strength; and that the second is that we should love our neighbor as ourself. What Mary is doing in today’s Gospel is putting the Lord first and loving Him with all her heart, all her soul, and all her strength. Mary is taking that fourth place at the table with the Lord and giving Him her undivided attention. As Jesus is present with them, Martha is rushing all around and worried about many things. She is so caught up in her worries that she does not realize she is called to be seated with the Lord. Her concerns are focused on the worldly distribution of work and privileges that can be a preoccupation of so many, causing them to miss the presence of the Lord in their lives. Our Christian faith calls us to have a living relationship with the Lord. We are invited to speak with him, sit with him and grow our relationship with him.
Many people wonder why God does not speak to them today like He spoke to people in the past. Bishop Matthew Ustrzycki, the retired auxiliary bishop of Hamilton, Ontario used to say that it is not that God does not speak to people anymore; it is that the world has become so noisy and there are so many distractions keeping people from listening to God. Often, like Martha, the Lord can be standing right in front of us and we are so anxious and worried about other things that we are unable to place our burdens on him or learn from His presence with us. To be a disciple of Jesus is not just to be an active person who rushes around doing good. True discipleship grows out of a loving relationship with Jesus. We are called first to have a relationship with God through the person of His Son. In this relationship with God, we are called to listen to how much He loves us and to how He wishes to be a part of our lives. The Christian life is to be founded upon a relationship of prayer and conversation with the Lord. Without this foundation, our actions cannot be grounded in Christ and His love. Before we are called to act in charity towards our brothers and sisters by fulfilling the second part of the great commandment, we are called to act on the first by loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, and all our mind, and all our strength.
One of the nice things about the summer is that it often gives us a little more time than we might usually have. This can be a good time to spend a little more time with the Lord in prayer. Perhaps we can use the summer to spend more time reading scripture, praying or reading a spiritual book. There are so many good ways to do this. We might take the time this summer to slowly read through one of the Gospels. There are many wonderful podcasts that can help. Fr. Michael Schmidt has two podcasts that are excellent. They are 1) The Bible in a Year; and 2) The Catechism in a Year. Perhaps just taking the time a few times a day—morning, afternoon and evening—to pray the “Our Father” could be a simple way of spending more time with God. It is also possible that the Lord might just be inviting us to sit with him in quiet prayer at the end of a dock at a cottage as we listen to Him in the beauty of nature.
We live in a world in which people are anxious and worried about many things. These things can often have us tied up in knots like Martha and cause us to become deaf and blind to God’s presence in our lives. Discipleship calls us to listen to Christ and be ready for the surprises that He might have waiting for us in our lives. Jesus was sitting right in front of Martha. Her worries and anxieties prevented her from enjoying the peace He wished her to find in His presence. Mary on the other hand understood that to know Christ’s peace and presence she had to listen for it attentively. She understood that before she could really love her neighbour the way that God called her to, she had first to love God with all her heart, and all her mind, and all her strength. Jesus invites all of us to sit down with Him and enjoy His company in prayer. We need to do this before He can send us out to be active in the world. Perhaps this summer all of us can work to find a little time to sit down with the Lord and hear His voice in the midst of our busy lives. If it helps, I have even photocopied a few copies of Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity for those who wish to go home and take the fourth seat at the table with the Lord; not worrying like Martha about the anxieties of life, but sitting rather like Mary to listen to His voice speak to us today.
Fr. Michael McGourty,
Pastor—St. Peter’s Church—Toronto, Ontario
This reflection is based on the readings for the 16th Sunday in Or5dinary Time—Year C: Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1:24-28; and Luke 10: 38-42.
