The early Christians, most of them Jews, had a problem.  Here they had the Son of God, risen from the dead, and worthy of adoration like the Father they worshiped.  The Son spoke of sending the Holy Spirit after his final departure, a Holy Spirit who had generative powers.  (And he inspired them not only to speak eloquently, but also to perform miracles.)

With a situation like that, what could they conclude but what we know today as the Trinity?  This is the mystery St. Patrick explained by picking up for all to see – a shamrock, or three-leaved clover.  It withstood the test of time, and today trinity  is a familiar word.

When we pray, however, we speak to only one of the three, and we are treated by all the same.  Prayers are answered, as the Son predicted, and the Church uses as intercessors not only the Mother of Christ, but the various mortals who have been canonized as saints.

There are times in life when we are overcome by circumstance, and we don’t necessarily learn from them.  But we can.  I was about ten when my parents came to visit my brothers and me at camp in the Adirondacks.  I arranged for my parents to see me play a tennis game with one of the other campers.  My father played tennis, so it was important to me.

I had never anticipated losing, but that’s what happened.  The tears came.  And to have one of my fellow campers see the tears was the peak of ignominy.  Yet, the whole situation was trivial compared to what would come later in life; so it hardened me.

I don’t value hardness of spirit, even in a man.  But in life me must be able to endure.  Yet I have kept a certain compassionateness through and with my faith, and I am grateful for that.

There is healing in this world, and I don’t ask the source of it.  About thirty years ago I had a ski accident that didn’t seem to bother me at the time.  My right shoulder healed and I went on with my life.  But within the past year I noticed my right shoulder gave me extreme difficulty and I mentioned it to an orthopedist, who gave me a shot in the shoulder and prescribed physical therapy.

The effects of the shot wore off, but surprisingly, the physical therapy gradually reduced the pain.  I am almost completely healed.  You mean humans can work miracles?

Human or divine, or both, I am not averse to healing.  Especially the healing of a mind is to me a wonder to behold.  As a teacher, I saw students put up all kinds of objections to learning.  Now, I see adults pick up on the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Mario Cuomo spent too much time reasoning (rationalizing) and not enough time praying.  The results were, first, a meticulously reasoned why he could be a pro-abortion governor and a good Catholic at the same time.  The other result was a morally confused oldest son, Andrew, who signed the abortion bill allowing the killing of late-term children with a laugh.

Reasoning, a highly developed human skill, is not the end-all of human ability.  Ironically, it was through science that we proved reason is only a part of the reality of the Almighty.  How did we do that?  We discovered and waded through Quantum Mechanics.  Touché, you rationalists!

Prayer, by definition, is the humble lifting of the soul to God.  Many great thoughts and reasons have come to me through prayer, and I highly recommend it as a sharpening of the intellect.  My favorite?  The rosary.

During a Flu Epidemic, years ago, both little Michael’s parents died, and his prospects were to be sent to a State-run orphanage.  Then, mysteriously, the  social worker contacted a distant uncle, a bus driver, who decided to sell his newly acquired house and continue living in an apartment to raise Michael.  He already had a wife and daughter.

Michael matured and prospered.  His new parents sent him and his new sister to college, where Michael found his bride and went on to a satisfying adulthood.  It was better than an orphanage.

It wasn’t perfect, but in the divine kingdom, which starts here and now, it would never have happened without the kindness of once estranged relatives.