From Triffids to The Trinity!


Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 02 September 2008 - 21:44:01 | by admin

trinitas_002.jpgWhat's this? An attack by Triffids on Chateux Houghton? A secret field of illegal Welsh fauna and flora? Not a bit of it! The wonders of modern science have made it possible for me to take a close up and contemporary look at St. Bonaventure's teaching on Creation.  

For Bonaventure, all Creation was rich with meaning because it had been loved into existence by the Blessed Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He therefore saw that all Creation must speak of its Creator; it was loaded with truth, and in the sense that it pointed beyond itself to God was thus sacramental. St. Angela of Foligno even said Creation was pregnant with God. That is frequently the wonder of Catholicism; everyday things such as oil, water, bread, wine, words, gestures, relationships, architecture, art and natural elements are laden with meaning as signs pointing heavenward. Of course, because of the Fall, it is much harder for us to recognize this.

The answer is Grace which builds on our nature and leads us to accept and return God's free gift of Divine Charity; God's Love! The more we respond in love to this superabundant and unmerited gift, the more we can see properly the way things really are, and so recognize once again the Trinity at the heart of all things.

And so the above giant poppy! At the centre I am pointing to the reproductive sternum which looks a lot like the Trinitarian symbols used in ancient Celtic Christian imagery (see an example below holding together the three circular images at the top of the quilt banner). Perhaps those Celts were on to this; a closer look reveals that at the centre of this beautiful instance of God's creativity there is the element that gives new life, and this is made as one element which seperates out into Three. So in the flower, we can see an icon pointing to God, the Three in One who freely creates life and beauty.

All of this reminds us of the words in Genesis 1v31 '
And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good'.


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