Proverbs 8:22-31 / Romans 5:1-5 / John 16:12-15
All high-rise buildings have this important feature, without which no one would occupy or go up to the upper floors. We are talking about the lifts.
Usually there is at least one lift, and in some commercial buildings, there can be as many as eight lifts in one lift lobby.
Outside the lift, there are only two buttons, the “up” and the “down” buttons, and depending on which way we are going, we press the button accordingly.
Inside the lift, the control panel has more buttons, and most are clearly marked. There are the buttons with numbers on them to indicate the floors to go to. There is the bell or alarm button which we will press only when necessary.
And then there are those two buttons, usually situated at the lowest row, to open and to close the lift doors. Those two buttons come in handy if we want to keep the lift doors open, or to close it if we can’t wait for it to close automatically.
The strange and mysterious thing about those two buttons is that, unlike the other buttons on the control panel which are marked clearly and comprehendible immediately, those two buttons are not marked with the words “open” or “close”.
Rather they are marked with arrow-head symbols, with two arrow-heads pointing inwards to mean close and two arrow-heads pointing outwards to mean open.
But so very often, we press the wrong button. Instead of pressing the “open” button for someone who wants to come in when the lift-doors are closing, we press the “close” button, resulting in nasty stares.
We just wonder why can’t they put the words “open” and “close” on those two buttons. That would solve the problem of pressing the wrong button, isn’t it.
But do we know that the button for opening the lift-doors is usually the button closer to the lift-doors. That seems to be the standard layout for the “open” and “close” buttons in the lift’s control panel.
Well, if we didn’t know this, then we have learnt some new today. That might be helpful to know. Whatever it is, everyday there is always something new to learn.
Jesus says this in the gospel: I still have many things to say to you, but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth.
In other words, Jesus is telling us that when it comes to matters about the faith, about the nature of God, about the meaning of our lives, we can never know it all.
After all, faith is a mystery, God is a mystery, our lives are a mystery, and there is a continuous discovery of this mystery.
Today we celebrate the feast of the most Holy Trinity, and that indeed is a great mystery. We know what it means and yet there is also a lot more to know.
We know that God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We know that the Father is Creator, the Son is Saviour, and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier.
We know that much about the mystery of God, but we also want to know about the reality of the Trinity in our lives.
Many symbols have been used to give an analogy to the mystery of the Trinity: the triangle, the shamrock (which is a three-leaved plant), the different states of water-ice-steam, etc.
They are only analogies but not the reality. But still they can be helpful in teaching about the Trinity.
Another analogy that can be used, although not immediately obvious, is the “Jesus Invites” envelopes which are prepared for the parish triduum leading up to the feast day celebrations.
In this simple piece of folded envelope are actually three processes: the one who folds it; the one who distributes it; and the one who receives it.
But that is not all. The process continues with the one who writes the petition, the one who offers the petition, and the One who will answer the petition.
And there are also three reasons for the “Jesus Invites”:
1. To promote the Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
2. To give us the opportunity to offer the prayers of our hearts to the Heart of Jesus.
3. To reach out to those who find life a misery and to introduce them to the mercy of Jesus.
Oh yes, we have many prayers that are still waiting to be answered. But let us put these prayers and petitions into these “Jesus Invites” and see how Jesus is going to answer them.
And it is also our parish commitment to pray for these petitions for a year. We are doing this because we know that prayers have been answered.
So in a way we know what buttons to press for us to offer our petitions.
But let us also press the “open” button to keep the lift-door open to the many who have urgent prayers.
And as we lift up our prayers and petitions, may we also have an uplifting experience of God who is Trinity, the Trinity of love, peace and mercy.