"You Do Know Him and Have Seen Him"
April 27th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Today’s Gospel begins with the following words by Jesus to His disciples: “If you know [M]e, then you will also know [M]y Father. From now on you do know [H]im and have seen [H]im.” Like the leaves of a clover that St. Patrick famously pointed out, the three divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, though distinct from each other, are one and the same God, sharing the same divine essence and divine nature.
The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity is a supernatural mystery, meaning that our finite understandings can never fully fathom it. However, as Catholics, we have a simpler way to ponder the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. In the Holy Eucharist, we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ Himself, Who by His very nature is intrinsically united with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Thus, when we receive Holy Communion and when we adore the Eucharist in the monstrance, we receive and adore the Blessed Trinity.
In today’s Gospel, St. Philip expressed his desire to see the Father, and Jesus told him that all those who see and know Christ see and know the Father. By extension, we also see and know the Holy Spirit, Who is the love of the Father and the Son and divinely equal with them in every respect. As St. John Chrysostom once said, “How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment.”
When we receive Holy Communion, we become “living temples of the Most Blessed Trinity,” as St. Therese of Lisieux said. The Blessed Trinity resides physically within our bodies for about fifteen minutes after we receive Holy Communion. For this reason, the Church encourages the faithful to remain in prayerful adoration and thanksgiving for this length of time after the reception of Holy Communion. Those minutes are the most precious moments of our earthly lives; it is then that we are physically united with the Blessed Trinity, a union that we can attain in no other way.
However, this union need not end with those fifteen minutes. While God is no longer physically present within us after that time, He resides spiritually in our souls by virtue of His grace, which we receive in a supreme way every time we receive Holy Communion worthily. St. Therese of Lisieux is famous for having prayed that her soul would become a living tabernacle, and we all should make this desire our prayer. May the Most Blessed Trinity, present in every Tabernacle throughout the world, remain ever present in our souls through sanctifying grace for every moment of our lives, so that we may one day be fully united with the Blessed Trinity for eternity in Heaven.
Amem, so be it!