Matthew 28.16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
Reflection Love poured out, love received. This is the dance among the Three Persons of the Trinity. The dance step, or action of love being poured out, is kenosis, from the greek kenóō which means ‘to empty.’ God emptied God’s self to be incarnate in the Son. By this same self-emptying love, Jesus poured himself out, gave himself away to everyone he encountered. And then, to insure the continuation of the dance, God the Father in Jesus the Christ sent the Holy Spirit to live and breathe in each of us so that we too can participate in the divine dance.
Which brings us to the empty place, the opening at the foreground of Rublev’s icon ( see above). This is where we enter the Trinity. We bring our gifts to the table knowing that all that we are and all that we have is gift, poured out to us by the Father, with the Son, in the Holy Spirit. We come to God’s table and offer our selves, our souls and bodys to participate in the holy dance of the Trinity.
This of course begs the question, how do we participate in the dance? I believe St. Francis of Assisi has the answer, “Pray ceaselessly, use words when necessary.” Now let me assure you, praying ceaselessly does not mean stopping everything and dropping to our knees. Most of us are not heading for a convent or monastery. We, who are called to live in the world as teachers, bankers, custodians, gardeners, retirees, parents, health workers, care givers, scientists, CEOs, friends, the way we pray ceaselessy is by dignifying and caring for one another and all of creation.
When we dignify and care for the weak, the disenfranchised, the sick, the migrant women and children left at bus stops in Tuscon with no means of support we are in the dance, the divine dance of the Trinity, we are participating in the aliveness of God. We continue the dance by pouring ourselves out to dignify and care for one another and all of creation. This is our true offering to God; to open ourselves to extend dignity and care to the broken, suffering body of Christ in the world.
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