WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.120 Welcome everyone to Heart of the Hominy Podcast. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:07.599 My name is Michelle Lopez, and I'm here with Father Regoba. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:08.720 How are you doing, Michelle? 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.000 Doing wonderful. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:11.359 June 1st. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:12.000 I know. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.000 It is summer months are here. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.519 I love the summer months, but it's I don't know. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.039 I I guess the older you get, the faster the year. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.640 I don't know if that's true. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.160 I mean it's I say that every year. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.879 It's it's just it's already, we're already in June. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:27.839 It's amazing. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:28.239 I know. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:29.440 The years flying by. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:30.399 Flying by. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:32.320 And June has amazing feast days. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:32.640 It does. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:34.719 Like the one that we just celebrated yesterday. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:40.159 So it's kind of like summer, but so much to ponder in beautiful mysteries of our faith. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:47.280 So yesterday was the solemnity of the most holy trinity, which Father, this is, I would think this is like a hard It is so hard. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.479 A hard weekend every year of like, what do you say about the Trinity? 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:56.880 Which is the most well I think the struggle is how much theology do you do? 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:57.359 Right. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:57.920 Right. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:00:58.960 Because you want to. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:07.200 And there's so there's a wealth, and and there's stuff that maybe we can talk about today, but um I don't want it to be too heavy either, right? 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:18.480 It's there's got to be a point where, wow, I received a message and I'm able to bring that in because a lot of times people want information, but we bring a a fire hydrant, right? 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:19.920 It's like a big fire hose. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.000 It's like I don't know what to to make out of all of that. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:25.519 But um, you're right. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:33.120 It's it's not an easy Sunday to preach about, but there's a responsibility to preach and preach well and to communicate the faith. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:48.799 And then you can't complain or or or say, oh, people don't know their faith, or but if you're if you're not preaching that truth from the pulpit, but the bad the the hard uh part about that is all right, how do you do that? 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:49.680 Yes. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:56.959 Especially about something that is so familiar but so mysterious, and so it's like the both and for the Trinity, you know. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:59.040 But this is our God, our God is Trinity. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:05.599 So it's kind of like at the heart of understanding who God is, who he's revealed himself to be, but then also ourselves, which is what I really love about your helmet. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:13.520 I feel like you brought it down to our like a way in which to understand even like how we are created in the image and likeness of the Trinity. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:15.840 So let's dive into it, Father. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.599 Your story was um about the astronaut taking the what did you think about that? 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:20.960 I thought it was wonderful. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.360 I love you mentioned like I should have saved this maybe. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:25.680 You may, or maybe you might think I save this for next week. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:26.719 That was my first thought too. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.560 I was like, this is a great story for Corpus Thursday Sunday. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:31.840 But it was wonderful. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.360 I heard that once before. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:34.879 Oh, you had heard about it? 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:41.199 I had, I had, and I was amazed at this man's, I mean, this brilliant astronaut, his faith. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:42.800 Like well, we met him. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:44.240 Uh wait, what you met him? 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.639 Yes, you didn't not say that in the oh my gosh. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:47.680 We met him. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.639 He uh I don't know if uh some of the people know, but I the Archbishop asked me to be the chaplain for Legatis. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.000 And so since I've been here at St. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:01.840 Augustine, I am also the chaplain for Legatis, um, the chapter here in Miami. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:03.759 And it's been growing, it's great. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:24.000 And and one of the beautiful things about La Gottis is that once a month we gather and we fly in a motivational, inspirational um speaker who will talk to business leaders, executives, CEOs about servant leadership. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.080 And we had this General Chilton come. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:28.479 Wow. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:34.479 And he he gave this probably the best talk I've ever heard at La Gatus. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:35.280 That's beautiful. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:36.319 It was so powerful. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.159 I mean, this man loves the Lord with such depth. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:48.479 And to hear uh in great detail, first how he got permission to take the Eucharist into space, right? 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.080 And he wanted not to miss, he didn't want to miss the Sunday obligation. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.439 He was an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at his church. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:01.120 Um, he had other crewmates who are Catholic, and so he planned it perfectly. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:15.840 Um but this whole idea, well, the reason why I used it this Sunday and and not next weekend for Corpus Christi Sunday is what I wanted to flesh out is this idea that we are not alone. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:24.160 Um just how God has existed, always existed, and God has never been alone. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:25.199 Right. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:25.839 Right? 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:35.920 And and so that was the idea behind um this astronaut who's an who's a remarkable man. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.720 Like he's done great things, but just not even that, it just who he is. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:05:03.040 I told him that night, like after we did the wrap-up and we did the prayer, I said, Let me tell you, you could have flown all these great missions and all of these important things that you've done in your life, but I think that the most important thing that you've ever done is how you communicate the faith to others because his love for Jesus is so palpable. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.639 Especially his love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, like in the Eucharist too. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:19.199 Like that is, you know, like a mystery to marvel at, but also like this brilliant man believes it to the point of bringing into space, like bringing Christ with him into space. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.360 Um yeah, wow. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:22.319 How beautiful. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:30.480 Well, the thing is, you know, he carries the Eucharist into space, but he would not go out into all this distance and silence alone. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:44.800 Like one of the things that he said, which is a beautiful story, is it's like people are afraid of darkness, people are afraid of danger, people are afraid of but the biggest fear that humans have is being alone. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.399 Absolutely. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.759 And um God himself is not alone, and he's never ever been alone. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.920 And I think that's what that was the hitch, right? 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:05.680 Um, that I wanted to to talk about this past Sunday, but which from there draws the the second kind of point that I wanted to make. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:10.240 Um, well, if if God has never been alone, what does that mean? 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:10.879 Right? 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:17.439 And it we have to go to what John is saying in in St. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.279 John says God is love. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:30.800 And if you notice, he does not say God is loving or that um God took up loving once he had made some creatures to love. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:36.319 He says God is love, it's his nature, it's his essence. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.800 That's the thing he's always been. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:59.199 And that's why I brought in the first reading from when Moses, which is so beautiful, because if you really think about when we the first moments uh of God, uh who we find out who God is, and it's it's not I am powerful, I am God, you will worship me, and you will be my servant. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:00.560 And no, it's not that. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.720 It's I am kind, I am merciful, slow to anger. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:10.000 I and all those things are are attributes of I love. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:11.920 I want to love. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:13.600 I've always loved. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:14.319 Right? 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:21.279 Because if you think about what love actually is, love is not a mood you can just cook up inside your head. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.240 You can't force someone to love you, right? 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:24.959 Right? 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.519 By its very nature, love reaches it, points away from itself. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:37.040 The word only makes sense if there's somebody on the other side of it, a lover, a beloved. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.160 Think about this. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:42.160 You cannot be merciful in an empty room, right? 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.199 Or you cannot be faithful to no one. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.600 You cannot love if there is nothing in existence but you. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.920 And that was the point that I was trying to make. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:08:03.279 Because if God has existed from always, and God is love, then there must be someone there, another person there to love. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:09.199 That's why we begin to then understand, oh, the Trinity. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:10.399 Right? 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:18.319 So if God is love and God has always existed with no beginning, then there was never a single moment when God was not loving. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:19.759 Right. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.560 Which that's where the mind gets blown a little bit. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:24.560 But then what you're saying is we know that. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:29.199 Like love to give love is never like you have to have another person. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:29.600 Right. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:35.279 Like there has to be a commun in order for love to exist, it's there's communion involved, there's persons, yeah. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.320 Because love was already happening inside God. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:44.720 A lover, a beloved, and love poured out between them. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:56.639 Um when I was preparing for the psalm, I was thinking about Saint Augustine, um, because he saw this in his great work on the Trinity. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:06.720 And if we if you look in the parish hall, there's that beautiful picture, that portrait of Saint Augustine, and it it depicts his all the work that he did on the Trinity. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:15.279 And um, but it but he says that wherever you find love, you already find a kind of trinity hiding inside of it. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:17.679 Think about that how beautiful that is. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:25.279 The one who loves, the one who is loved, and the one the love itself that binds them together. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.080 Three, yet one single act of love. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:34.480 And he says that it's found in the fingerprint of God, tucked into every structure of love. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.159 I know it's kind of heavy. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.399 It's like, how do we think about that? 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:48.399 But if you start to meditate and reflect on what Augustine is saying, it is so beautiful because it's the fabric of who we are. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.200 Then you come to believe we are made, that we are his creatures, right? 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.840 That there's a plan and it's like so well made. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:04.159 It's it's just like it's perfectly made of how everything falls into place in how God operates. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.600 So when we say God is a communion of love, we are not being poetic, we're being precise. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:12.799 Right? 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:16.159 Love all the way down requires more than one. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:22.879 And the God who is love has been from all eternity a perfect exchange of this giving, receiving, and sharing. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.960 Three persons, one God. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:28.639 And and a lot of people struggle with that. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:37.279 But I think what you're saying too is um our how we're made points to this being real and true, that we're made in God's image and likeness. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.159 And we know that because of our fears. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:41.919 We know like the fear of being alone. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.200 Like even thinking about like solitary confinement, like there's a reason why that's torture. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.840 It's because like we're not made for that. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:55.039 And our and we go, we don't survive that well, you know, and kind of like going back to the greatest fear is is being alone. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:11:02.799 It it just it points to like if we're made in God's image and likeness, then then it makes sense that God is communion, that there's community, three persons, one God. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.759 Um, if we're in his image, you know, that that's how we're wired to, we're wired for communion. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:13.120 Yeah, because and you're absolutely right, and that's how we begin to write wrestle with this. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:20.960 Because the key is this person and substance, and and they're answering two completely different questions. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:30.240 Because substance um in the Greek is um oocia, and it answers the question, what is it? 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:38.080 When we ask what God is, the answer is one divine nature, one being. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.879 There is one God, not three. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.240 And um, and then person in in the Greek is hypostatis. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.360 That's um, and it answers totally a different question. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.799 It says, Who is it? 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:59.200 And when we ask who God is, the answer is three the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:11:59.840 Right? 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.679 So the faith never said one equals three, and that's the big confusion. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:15.679 That's where it gets very heavy, and people kind of check out because that would be nonsense, and and the church has never taught that. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:22.799 It is one what and three who's one being, three persons. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.480 There is no contradiction in in any of all that. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.240 Um which again, it's it's it's fascinating. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:46.000 I I remember um studying Tertullian, and I I think it's like around the year 200, and it was one of the first he was the first person um in Latin to use the word trinity. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.000 And he gave us that phrase, one substance, three persons. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:13:01.759 Um but I think that one of the things that um that I the the way I studied this is how how does the church answer this, right? 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.480 And it it always comes out of a crisis. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.039 Like, how do I address a crisis? 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.679 Well, we need to be able to explain this. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:34.240 Um, because in the early 300s, and I remember I just taught this at the end of my class last semester, but um, in the early 300s, a priest named Arius began teaching that the sun was not truly God, that he was the highest of all creatures, but a creature still, and that there's um um you've probably heard this is a famous, uh very famous phrase that he used. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.080 He says, There was a time when the sun was not. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:39.919 Heresy. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:40.720 Right. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.759 That's that's the Arian heresy, and and the one idea would have demolished the whole love story. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:49.120 It's just, I mean, everything that we're talking about now, it would be demolish it. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.039 And so what does it do? 00:13:51.120 --> 00:14:15.519 The it's that's why we have the the council of Nicaea in 325, because that's where that the word, um, and we still use it consubstantial in Greek, homo uh homousius is it means that the son is the very same being as a father, not similar, not some uh junior copy, but the same God, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.279 Begotten, not made. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:21.919 That single line there is the hinge of all of who we are in our history. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.960 And that was in 320 something, right? 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:25.919 That was 25, yeah. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.559 Like a which is incredible. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:32.559 Again, it was it was addressing what you just said, it was addressing a heresy. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:37.919 People were believing and buying into this, and Arian was very, very popular. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:44.080 And so the church says, Um, and actually, Constantine is like, wait a minute, let me gather all these bishops. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.759 You you all need to sit down and you need to address this right now. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:48.559 Yeah. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.720 In the Nicene Creed, I mean, that's the creed that is the the foundations of our faith. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:04.960 You know, we think about 2,000 years later, you know, and that clarified such um deep and mysterious, but clarifying things of who God has revealed himself to be so that our faith can be built upon it. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:10.080 Yeah, and I mean think about it, we still recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:12.480 That's how that's how important it is. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:13.039 Yeah. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:17.840 It's part of who we are as Catholics and what we celebrate every single Sunday. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:24.720 But like I said, it often the clearest way to understand what the church believes is to look what she has rejected in the past. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:26.159 And why? 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:31.039 Because um the Trinity got protected by fencing off four wrongs. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:39.600 And every single one of those errors, if it were true, would have destroyed the idea of what we're trying to say here is that um God is a communion of love. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:53.519 And um one of the things that, and you mentioned this earlier is that it is not a nightmare, but it's a challenge for preachers on Sunday to preach on Trinity Sunday. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:01.519 And a lot of them use like the shamrock or the egg or the water, and you've probably heard that, right? 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:11.600 And people explain to Trinity like, well, water can be ice, water can be liquid, or water can be steam, and it's still H2O. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.480 Just three different forms. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.679 So they say, Well, see, one thing, three versions. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.279 That's the Trinity. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.639 Well, it sounds great, but actually they get it wrong. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:28.000 That's not what the church teaches, and in a different way than the shamrock does. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:35.759 But the shamrock, uh, and I've heard priests use this, and no judgment, but um, it's a different mistake. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:37.440 One shamrock, three leaves. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:42.320 The problem is that each leaf is only a piece of the shamrock, right? 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:52.000 Right, and so that would make the father only a third of God, the son a third of the and you know, and the spirit a third, but but that's wrong. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:57.200 The father is fully God, the son is fully God, and the spirit is fully God. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.960 There's not a slice uh of God there. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:13.200 Um yeah, but I mean if we go back to water, because I think that that's one of the images that a lot of people use, and and and a lot of people use it to kind of understand the Trinity, right? 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:15.519 But if we go back to water, it has two problems. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:20.720 The first problem is that the same water just changed forms one at a time. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:24.960 You freeze it and it's ice, you heat it and it steams. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:29.519 So, really, there's only one thing taking turns looking different. 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:34.640 Yeah, but but God is not one person taking turns. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.720 It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are fully God at the same time. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:40.559 And they always has been. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:47.279 The Father doesn't turn into the Son the way ice melts into water and and the three at once forever. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:48.319 You know what I'm saying? 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:55.680 It's yeah, all those, and they're you know, those are very human ways of trying to explain something that's not human. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:56.240 Right. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:00.880 Um, so I think that's why they're they're they give like a little window, but then they don't work. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:12.400 They fall flat because they're um trying to reach for something that is um beyond our human understanding, but yet we can still understand in ways that help increase our faith and understanding of who God's revealed himself to be. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:23.920 But those you did a great job on clarifying, those are kind of the two most common, I think, um, examples that people look to to kind of have some grasp onto who what the Trinity is or who the Trinity is. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:28.960 Yeah, and it so if each person is fully God, then there is only one God. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.519 And that's what we need to really concentrate. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:37.279 And what actually makes the father not the son, and the son not the spirit. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:47.920 It's is the persons are not told apart by having different powers or um like different amounts of divinity or different jobs that they clock into. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:54.799 No, they are distinguished distinguished um by one thing only, it's their relationship to one another. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.599 That's what that's what we need to understand. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:03.279 Um, the father is father because he eternally gives and um he begets the son. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:10.640 The son is son because he is eternally begotten, eternally receiving and giving himself back. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:16.640 And then the Holy Spirit proceeds as the love breathing between them. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:23.599 And if we take away the relationships, there's nothing left to how do you tell the persons apart? 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:24.960 Right? 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.400 But it yeah, it is it can get complicated. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:37.599 Um I remember Aquinas put it in a phrase that still makes my head spin. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:52.079 And he said that divine persons are just our subsit substitute substituent relations, meaning that in God the relationship is not something a person has, the relationship is what the person is. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:04.640 So the father simply is his self-giving towards the son, and then at the very center of reality, to be a person is to be a relationship of self-gift. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:09.839 And then that that plays a big role in how we live out our discipleship. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:10.960 How do we see our faith? 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.160 How do we celebrate the faith? 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:13.839 How do we communicate the faith? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:18.240 How do we live in communion with our brothers and sisters? 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:27.839 And that was something that I was trying to drive home in the sense that if you were made in the image and likeness of God, then you're called to communion. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:28.720 Right? 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:46.799 You're supposed to live that same love that is breathed between the three persons in your house, in your spouse, and in your relationships, and even in the workforce, wherever it is that you're being called to live out your vocation, you're being called to live in communion. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:21:04.400 And that insight is it tells us again, like how we're created and how do we find fulfillment is in being like the Trinity, being in being a self-gift, living in a way that um we are self-gift to others, and then also knowing that communion of love is what we're wired for. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:05.920 Yeah, exactly. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:12.319 Which is a challenge, Father, because we live in a very individual, individualistic world. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:14.079 And that's where we live in. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:34.000 Yeah, and it's it's a call to deeply understand ourselves and and know that um because we're made in the image-likeness of God, who is a communion of love, then it says something about who we are and how in which to live our life, to bring about fulfillment, to bring about um true and abundant life and and how to live our mission. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:47.440 Yeah, it's if we go, if God in his very being is communion of self giving love, then to be made in his image is to be made for communion. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:53.680 And that needs to be stressed because the the Second Medicine Council said said this um very early on. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:58.720 It said, man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.759 You've heard that million. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.359 Of times we we've taught that. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:07.039 We kind of stress it over and over because how are you living your discipleship? 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.319 Well, it needs to be a sincere gift of yourself. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:14.559 Because you don't find yourself by hoarding yourself. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:21.039 You find yourself by giving yourself away because that is exactly what God has been doing forever. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.880 And that's why I use that quote from St. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:28.480 Augustine, because, and it's overplayed, I think. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.200 A lot of people use it all the time, but I think it's it's beautiful. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:38.319 I one of the things that I say is we got to repeat stories, we got to repeat, um, we got to reread uh the saints' lives. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:46.240 But also some of these quotes that are very powerful, um we were made for you, Lord, and our hearts are restless until it rests in you. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:23:02.160 And and that's it goes all with this because until I really realize that the only thing that's going to fulfill me, that's going to satisfy me, that's gonna, it's gonna ease the ache of that that void that I have inside of me. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:07.279 The only thing is Jesus Christ is this relationship with the Lord. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:10.480 Because you don't find yourself by hoarding yourself away again. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.759 You find yourself by giving yourself away always. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:29.279 And that, so if you're if you're miserable, if you're you don't have the joy, if you're lonely, if you're um anxious and and living just like day to day, and it one day bleeds into the next, and you're just it's all about me, me, me. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.759 Well, look what the church is teaching right here. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.759 Look what the church teaches in in this theology of the Trinity. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:36.240 Yeah. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:37.839 Live in communion. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:43.359 Yeah, and I and that first step is receiving the gift that Christ has given to you first. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:48.319 It's like receiving him, so we give ourselves to him first and then to others. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:53.200 Um, I think I've mentioned before, like the Mother Teresa says to find true joy, you live joy. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.240 Jesus, others in you. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:05.200 But really, I mean it's kind of wrapped up in what we're talking about, where we really like we give ourselves to Christ, and in that we receive him, and then we give ourselves to others. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:05.759 Yeah. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:14.079 Um, and we live in a world that is all about, well, all about the you, which you know, that can be redeemed, we're redeeming that in a different way, but um all about me. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:22.960 And and we think and we think that by living life kind of selfishly, we're protecting our happiness and we're actually giving it away. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:24.000 Spot on. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:29.519 That's exactly what it is, and that's exactly why faith was never meant to be a solo sport. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:32.240 People here are tired of me here of saying it. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:36.240 It can never be a Jesus and me spirituality. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:44.720 Because Christianity, think about this with no church, no sacraments, no other people, is a contradiction in terms. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:50.559 You cannot you cannot image a God of communion all by yourself. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:57.039 It takes a family, it takes the messiness, the glorious church, it takes actually showing up for one another. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:57.759 Right? 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:00.400 Which is why it all ends at the altar. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:06.799 And that's why I love this story of um General Chiltern, this astronaut. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:12.480 He went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that he would be able to receive Jesus on Sunday. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:16.559 He knew he was going to be on in uh uh in space on Sunday. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:17.279 Why? 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:32.240 Because Holy Communion is the closest thing on earth to being pulled bodily into this external, eternal exchange of love, this this dance of love between um the the three persons. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:35.519 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:39.200 But Mother, this is so good. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:51.119 And you know what comes to mind too is um, I know we talked a little bit about this too, is this is such an invitation to look at like, okay, I'm made for to be a self-gift, I'm made for love, I'm made for communion. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.519 And this is why we stress community, you know, like community in the life of a disciple. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:59.920 Like we have to, there's no solo Christianity, it's meant to be lived in community. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.079 And it's because we're made for community, we're also hurt in community, yeah, but then we're also healed in community. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.640 And the family of God is supposed to be that, right? 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.920 That that we're brought back into healing in community. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.839 But I think that's where the tension is, is some people are afraid because they've been hurt, right? 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.279 Like hurt in relationships because we're made for relationships. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.599 Relationships is what our life is about, right? 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:30.079 But we've been hurt in relationship, and so sometimes, you know, there's a lack of investment in parish community or wanting to really grow with people. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:35.359 But I think that's imitation, is like that's the whole point of church is the family of God. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:40.000 It's supposed to be like, God knows that if we're hurt in relationship, we need to be healed in relationship too. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:40.559 100%. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:52.160 And I think it goes back to pride, it goes back to practicing humility because we want everything on our terms. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:53.920 Right? 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.960 We want to be able to control the narrative. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.240 If I have to step out of my comfort zone, what does that mean? 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.599 Because then I can't control it. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.559 I yeah, I want community, but I want it on my terms. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.559 And and there's a lot of truth to what you're saying. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:17.759 There's been a lot of hurts, there's been uh wounds, and um, but we were made for communion, and that's how we begin to grow in the faith. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:19.440 Absolutely. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.680 And we need community because it's that manifestation of God's presence. 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:26.640 It's like a concrete way in which we can encounter God's love for us. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:26.960 Yeah. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:36.880 Um, the God that we cannot see, but you know, his body through the church is present and real, and we can touch and feel and um and come to know him in different ways. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:38.960 That's exactly how you come to know him. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:39.519 Yeah. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:40.799 And we resist it. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:41.519 Mm-hmm. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:49.279 So, Father, what would you be some advice on um, again, kind of hearing like we're made for communion, we're made for relationship. 00:27:49.519 --> 00:28:08.720 What would be some advice for someone that might be listening and being like, gosh, but I don't know if I I want to, if I want to invest in relationships or like kind of resisting um doing that investment, whether it be in friendships or community, or just feeling like, no, but I'm okay where I'm at, out of protecting themselves. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.200 Right. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:14.160 And what I would say is step out of that comfort zone, challenge yourself. 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:24.720 Um, something we've talked about many times is you got to be almost like that athlete who is conditioning or um just that strong-willed. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:38.640 And we've been reading a lot in the different readings for mass, but even today, it's where Christianity gives you the discipline, it gives you the structure, it helps you fight the different vices and the passions. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:45.200 Um, I would say it take the initiative to step outside of your comfort zone. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:58.000 Do something that forces you to be in community, whether it's volunteering, whether it's coming out to a Bible study, something that's not normally comfortable for you. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:02.000 It's it's stepping out and saying, okay, I'm gonna do this because I want to grow. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:06.559 I want to stretch, I want, I want to see what the Lord can do with my yes. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:22.000 But I would just say, as we wrap up here, um, this week, and I've recently been giving a lot of homework, but um, but I would say this week, when you make the sign of the cross, do it slowly. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:27.359 And just remember you're naming the communion that you were made for. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:35.039 And when you receive the Eucharist, when you come up and receive the Eucharist, remember what it actually is. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:36.640 What is the Eucharist? 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:44.960 Well, it's the God who is love giving himself away one more time to you, right? 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:49.440 So this this astronaut, I don't want to be away from that. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:50.799 I don't want to be. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:52.000 I it's Sunday. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:54.079 I need to receive Jesus. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:57.599 He made sure that he was able to take it on that flight with him. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:03.279 We have it, all we have to do is walk up the aisle, and he's right there waiting for us. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:20.559 And it is in that small host where we consume it, and we hopefully come to understand in such a deep, deep way that the God who is love is giving himself away one more time for you. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.880 In holy communion, in holy communion, that word itself. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:29.119 The simplest simplest form, uh just bread. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:30.799 So beautiful. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:33.279 Well, a great homework challenge for all of us. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:38.640 Um, and also uh, I think a greater appreciation of um growing in communion with the Holy Trinity. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:41.119 Um, so thank you, Father, for this great conversation. 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:42.480 Thank you all for listening. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:46.000 Um, share with others that might benefit from this um podcast. 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:46.960 Sounds good. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.079 Thanks, Michelle. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.440 We'll see you next time. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:50.640 Take it easy.