When the ordinary carries the hint of the extraordinary
June is the month of Father’s Day, graduations, and weddings; and, this year, the Feasts of Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. However, the special occasions and feasts can only be appreciated if the ordinary carries the hint of the extraordinary.
A young girl of about nine walked holding her father’s hand as they stepped into a bank. A few minutes later they emerged, still holding hands; both of them clearly happy in each other’s company. She skipped along beside her father, talking and smiling, as they went to the car. I suspect that for both father and daughter, Father’s Day will be special because every day probably feeds the love in their relationship.
A graduation ceremony is as meaningful as the student’s connection with the school. If the school environment has been one of bullying and fear, all the words and pomp mean nothing. If the student has had positive dealings with other students and teachers, then the leaving might be poignant, tinged with a sense of loss of leaving. If the school experience has been purely about academic success without any effort to make friends, then the accomplishment of the goal will be a cold diploma.
Usually, a year goes into planning a wedding, replete with hundreds of details. A marriage requires the same preparation and more. Details matter in the ins and outs of daily life. That’s where a marriage works or doesn’t, not in the wedding ceremony. A good marriage doesn’t need fancy celebrations of anniversaries; each day provides the ways and means of expressing the reality of mutual love.
No theologian has ever adequately explained the mystery of the Trinity, and no one ever will. We are not God and we cannot understand the reality of God the creator, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Why celebrate a special feast for what is impossible to comprehend. Perhaps because it is so untouchable for a human to take in, we need the time to admire and adore the mystery of God. To put aside the insatiable need to accept only what we can explain. To simply let God be God. These can be graced moments. For most Catholics, the first prayer ever learned as a child was the Sign of the Cross. We learned to cross our bodies with the nature of God. How awesome. Trinity Sunday alive.
The very next Sunday, brings our unimaginable God in front of our eyes to gaze upon and even to consume. Corpus Christi means the Body of Christ. Because of this gift of God in the person of Jesus, we become one with God, we have the power to love our children as God loves us. We can grow and learn from one graduation to another and celebrate the wonders of our beings created in God’s image. The Body of Christ enables us to give our bodies to each other through marriage and know the intimacy of God’s love through the sharing. In gratitude for all this, we pray, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Article first published by the Rhode Island Catholic