Wake up to God's work in your family
/The Trinity is the central mystery of our faith, and it also enlightens our understanding of how God is at work in our families. In what concrete ways do you experience the three Persons of the Trinity in your family life? Here is an exercise you can use with any age group.
- I experience God the Holy Spirit in when I am feeling most creative and insightful. I know the Spirit is at work when a friend calls me on the phone just at the time I am thinking of them, or when I most need to hear their voice. I have learned to expect the Spirit to help me find the words to express my condolences to someone who is grieving, or to not say something that is on the tip of my tongue. As I have become “older in the Spirit” I know that, if I really can’t stand a certain person, that is just who I will be teamed with for the project—because the Spirit of God will not let us stay infants and leads us to reconciliation. When do you feel the Spirit?
- I experience God the Son especially in the Scriptures and the Eucharist. Jesus is alive for me in the words of the Gospels, meeting individuals just as flawed as I am and loving them into peace. Jesus suffering and dying is made real to me in every Holy Week, as well as when I am struggling with a special sorrow or loss. In the assembly of the Mass, I am caught up with my brothers and sisters who have gone before me in faith, and even with those still to come, as we process toward the altar to receive Jesus into our bodies. I experience Jesus in my own body when I visit a hurting person or sit with a friend who has lost her job. Jesus uses my hands and voice and is present. He is alive. When do you experience Jesus' presence?
- I experience God the Father in the majesty of Creation and in the smallest woodland weed. I marvel at the intricacy of the spider web across the path and know God has been on that path ahead of me. When the lightning crashes, I am glad to be safe inside but marvel at the power that I know comes from God’s masterful design. I am fine with calling God my Father, and I don’t worry that God’s motherhood is not expressed. I believe God is the perfect Father, and the world would be a better place if more human fathers listened to him. God the Father informs my own motherhood, because I experience God as my partner in bringing children into the world, feeding them, protecting them, forgiving them, and letting them go. God the Father puts his shelter over me and gives me a home, the Church. When do you recognize God the Father?