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Trinity Sunday and Beyond
Merriam-Webster defines theology as “the study of God and God's relation to the world.” This is a simple and easily understood definition that points to an action taking place in one’s life—study. We all have an opinion about God, but how are we furthering our understanding with regard to our relationship with God? Trinity Sunday is a celebration of this truth, that God is accessible in a very real and personal way through the specific revelation of Jesus Christ by means of the Holy Spirit. To help us understand this we can delve, ever so slightly, into the school of “Trinitarian Theology" and be confronted by some bold and marvelous proclamations of our faith. Trinitarian Theology helps us to understand that the Trinity, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is the central and foundational doctrine that forms the basis for how we read scripture and how we understand all points of theological reflection. The "hows" and "whys" of our faith, understanding, and action are wrapped in the "who" of faith: "Who is the God made known in Jesus Christ, and who are we in relation to him?" Simply put, we cannot understand ourselves, God the Father, or the Holy Spirit apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Bible confronts us with a God who has chosen to make himself known and to actually be with us in person, in Jesus Christ. This means that we cannot look outside of Jesus and the specifics of biblical revelation, to understand who God is. In Jesus, we meet God as God really is, and it is in Jesus that we come to understand ourselves in reflection. But as I said, this is not “Jesus Sunday,” but Trinity Sunday, so what’s all this ‘Jesus talk’ about? That is the point. The Holy Spirit is present and active in our lives, reminding and revealing to us particulars about Jesus, and Jesus told us that to see Him is to see the Father and understand the Father as well—the Trinity is celebrated as the complete revelation of God—through Jesus Christ by means of the Holy Spirit. Trinity! Beyond this brief theological reflection, we encounter trinity in our lives, dynamic and exciting, burdened and frustrating, challenging and peaceful. No matter what the day brings, we are ever and always in relationship, and at the end of the day those relationships will have grown whether we like it or not. The example given to us by God of life in relationship is found at the beginning of how we understand God! Trinity. God is ever and always in relationship, and God’s intention for us (found in the very heart of God’s being), is to consider our relationships first based on the specific revelation of Jesus Christ. So, as we live and move and have our being in response to God, how do we rate relationships? To move beyond theology we must apply it practically; it is not simply a theory but a process of living. In the church, in the family, in the workplace, we are called to be the example of Jesus to each other and to place each other’s welfare and well-being above our own. In this, the truth of the Trinity finds expression through our relationships because we model what Jesus has showed us and share it with each other. Following His example, Fr. Bill+
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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4
The event of Pentecost began a new thing. Pentecost empowered the people to be the church! We are now in the season of Pentecost marked by tongues of fire. This was an event that Jesus foretold the disciples, 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:15-17, 25-27 However, when Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, it is doubtful that the Disciples envisioned what was to transpire in the coming days—not the resting of flames on their heads, or the burning fire in their hearts! Jesus told the disciples that he had to leave them so that they could become what they were always meant to be, His “hands and feet” in the world. The “resting of fire” only lasted for some minutes, but the actions that the Disciples, now Apostles, were to take would last for the rest of their lives. We are now in the liturgical season of Pentecost—the “Long Green Season,” as it is referred to, or “Ordinary Time.” Green reflects creation itself, the bristling, burgeoning season of new life, and the term “Ordinary Time” reminds us that the presence of God—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—is a common, usual, constant, regular, ORDINARY reality in the life of the believer. The Long Green Season is reflected by the green paraments in the Church—the altar, lectern, pulpit, and banners, constant during the 25 weeks of Pentecost. The lectionary—the cycle of scripture readings, focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual development of the person and of the church. This is a long and exciting potential-laden season of Good News, hope and change. So many good and exciting ventures have been undertaken only to fizzle out and quietly die on the vine. This is not because they have been proven wrong, but because they take too long. Herein lies the sad irony of the season of Pentecost. Its very length, intended to be thorough and expansive, in effect can become a prolonged drone, sapping energy and dulling enthusiasm. That effect couldn’t be further from the image we received from the Lord of fire and excitement. God has called us to live in each moment, totally, absolutely, unwavering and hyper-focused. If we could do that, the world would be a different place; because we can’t, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to help us. If living in the moment is exhausting and mind-dulling when we are embroiled in a long-term excursion, it is because we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to be present in each moment. The Long Green Season is our seasonal practice and proving ground. It is a season starring the Holy Spirit. A season of listening to and speaking with God while consciously acknowledging and depending upon the Holy Spirit to make that happen. It is a moment by moment life, praying before speaking, listening while thinking, and asking after deciding. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit so that we could become what we were always meant to be, a church of the Holy Spirit. The Long Green Season is not simply a liturgical period of time, it is all time, moment by moment. Living in the moment, Fr. Bill+ For many years, Creator (with so many other parishes) has held its Parish Retreat at Shrine Mont. Shrine Mont is located at the foot of the Great North Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley on the western side of the town of Orkney Springs, Virginia. Bordering the George Washington National Forest, Shrine Mont provides beautiful scenic views, hiking trails, walking paths, porch sitting, pond watching, and a myriad of other opportunities for connecting or quiet contemplation.
Shrine Mont is a place where we can leave the daily grind and hustle and find again the serenity of God’s creation. It is a place of flowing conversation and quiet reading, of good food and rocking chair naps; it is a place where the gentleness of the Holy Spirit breathes anew the presence of God. Whether you are coming to this year's retreat or not, I hope you find the histories of Orkney Springs and Shrine Mont (actually two different places) interesting and informative. Even so, there is still so much left unsaid, because your time at Shrine Mont is your communion with God, and what God reveals to you. Quiet and Abundant Orkney Springs Nestled at the base of the Great North Mountain, is the quiet village of Orkney Springs. It is thought that part of the name traces back to the Orkney Islands, an important reminder of Scotland for early valley settlers here. It was here, at the historic site of a Native American settlement, that “seven springs” were located, believed to have spiritual healing powers. Spring bathing and healing was a popular attraction in the 1800s and so Orkney Springs grew to notice. Orkney–and with it, Bear Wallow Springs–became a booming business in “Spa” lifestyle. In a small museum within the Hotel today, you can see the train times and schedules for several lines running out of Baltimore and D.C. with Orkney Springs as the final stop. People traveled from all over to visit more than 75 spas that catered first to people’s health concerns, social interests, and recreational activities. According to the Washington Post, the springs did contain elements that may have helped with a few health conditions, but visitors probably benefited the most from the clean mountain water and distance from summer outbreaks of “yellow fever, cholera, and malaria that ravaged the cities of the coast.” Prior to the Civil War, Orkney Springs was owned by Robert E. Lee’s family. Buildings for tourists were first constructed in the 1850s, and the large “Virginia House” hotel was built in 1873. The Virginia House, with its iconic white clapboard siding and green shutters, is four stories high and 96,000 square feet. A marvel of 19th century construction, it includes a 5,000 square foot Ball Room, a forty-foot by one-hundred-fifty-foot dining hall, and numerous small meeting and break out rooms. Other accommodations were eventually consolidated into the Orkney Springs Hotel. Did the waters they “discovered” really heal? (See the spring’s origin where it was first discovered in 1799–water from the rock, literally, at about 9:00 on your way around the circle). According to the Virginia House’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, an 1885 brochure describes “the various springs as containing sulphur, alum, arsenic, chalybeate and iron sulphur, and healing springs, and guarantees relief from various diseases.” New understandings about medicine eventually led to springs’ tourism decline in popularity. The ability to travel further from home by car and plane also made natural springs spa vacations less fashionable. The resort at Orkney Springs stayed open until the 1950s. In 1979, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia purchased the Orkney Springs Hotel and the surrounding 1,000 acres of land and restored the facility in 1987. At that time the common areas, meeting rooms and dining facilities were renovated, and all facilities were incorporated into Shrine Mont. (Portions of this are reprinted from the Shenandoah County Newsletter, 040422) Shrine Mont In the late 1800s, Episcopal church services were held often in the Virginia House by the Sixth Bishop of Virginia, Robert Atkinson Gibson. The Bishop purchased a cottage called Tanglewood for his summer residence and soon decided to establish year-round worship at Orkney Springs. Bishop Gibson died in 1919, and shortly after his death the Shrine of the Transfiguration was built on part of what had been his land and next to it, the Shelter Chapel. Eventually Tanglewood, with all its buildings, became the heart of Shrine Mont. The Shrine was built by his son-in-law, the Rev. Edmund Lee Woodward. He and his wife purchased land at Orkney Springs and spent their vacations there each year. He cut down 100 trees to clear the area and built a log cabin (named Gibson Cottage), which was finished in 1928 when they took up permanent residence. Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration The Shrine was built from 1924 to 1925 in the space of a natural amphitheater. It includes a bell tower, a sacristy, a shrine crossing, choir and clergy stalls, a pulpit, a font, and a lectern. At the consecration in 1925, a Deed of Donation was presented by the Woodwards which conveyed the land on which the cabin and shrine were built to the Diocese of Virginia. Bishop Henry St. Goerge Tucker then appointed Woodward rector of the Shrine for life or until he resigned. In 1928, after Woodward took up permanent residence at Shrine Mont, he planned a retreat which could accommodate 120 guests. Bishop Tucker approved the plan, provided that it was not included in the diocesan budget. Woodward went on to construct various buildings and a swimming pool. He also purchased houses and buildings built by others to create cottages, plus a refectory and kitchen. In 1929, more land was acquired from the Orkney Springs Hotel. After Dr Woodward's death in 1948, the Diocese appointed Wilmer E. Moomaw as director manager and Rev. Francis Tyndall as temporary chaplain and director. Later, Rev. Tucker became dean of the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration and chaplain of Shrine Mont. In 1950, Moomaw was appointed Director of Shrine Mont with full responsibility for the operation and development of the property, and for the physical care and protection of the Shrine. Moomaw served as Director until 1988. During his tenure, he improved and renovated the entire property, adding new facilities and increasing the number of people attending, and thus broadening the scope of its operation. The resort at Orkney Springs stayed open until the 1950s. In the late 1970s, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia bought the Virginia House and other buildings and rolled it into the existing retreat center of Shrine Mont. The Diocese renovated the original buildings in the 1980s. The center and heart of Shrine Mont is the open-air worship space, the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration. With quiet spaces, paths and trails, Shrine Mont continues as a retreat center for all people. Accommodations and meeting spaces are open to the public at various times during the year and guests do not need to be affiliated with the church to stay at the retreat center. The Virginia House attracts many groups. At 96,000 square feet with a 5,000 square-foot ballroom, the Virginia House is one of the largest wooden structures in Virginia and is on the Historic Registry. You’ll also find walking trails, including the six-mile Stairway to Heaven trail, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a labyrinth, fire rings, and lots of open porch space for relaxation. Shrine Mont hosts worship services, conferences, camps, and even family reunions. Stays include three meals a day in the Shrine Mont dining room. (Portions of this history are taken from Wikipedia and the Virginia is for Lovers Travel Guide) I’m looking forward to spending time with you on the mountain and bringing home a bit of that spiritual healing we all so desperately desire! Peace to you, Fr. Bill+ Spirit of God,
We long to be open to your presence in our church and in our lives. Fill us with your wind and fire, that we might be enlivened again. Help us hear the words as if for the first time, that they might touch us anew. Give us visions and dreams of what you long for in your creation, that we might begin to live them into reality. Come, Holy Spirit Come! come into our worship, into our church, into our very selves. Amen. Come Holy Spirit! Come! We rightly think of Easter as the centerpoint of Christian focus and the most important feast in the liturgical cycle. After all, we spent the 40 days of lent preparing for it, then 50 days of Eastertide, in which we have plumbed the depths of God’s gifts. Easter is a celebration of Christ’s sacrifice through which we are saved and receive eternal life. Easter is the celebration of God's gifts to us, but it is in Pentecost that we live those gifts out. Pentecost, or Shavuot in Hebrew, meaning “weeks,” was the celebration which took place fifty days after the Passover Celebration. Shavuot was originally a harvest festival, the second of two ‘first-fruits’ occasions. In Leviticus 23, following the description of Passover, we read this: And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.” (vv. 9–11) This was the first firstfruits offering, the harvest of barley, which included sacrifices. Next, we read about the second firstfruits occasion, the holiday of Shavuot: You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15–16) This time, it is the wheat harvest. Because it occurs seven weeks after the first offering (50 days, the day after the completion of the seven weeks), the holiday was known as Shavuot, or Weeks, or Pentecost. Once Israel had settled in the land that God had promised, the Feast of Weeks was the fulfillment of God’s instruction in the Book of Deuteronomy, …and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. (26:9-10) The gift of the First Fruits (the Tithe) is God’s plan of recognition and relationship. This holiday was more than just the bringing of the first of the crops to present before God—it was a time to remember how Israel arrived in the land. This meant never forgetting where they had come from in the past in order to continue to be thankful in the present. It meant remembering that the land was a gift from the Lord. And it was also an opportunity to rejoice, to enjoy the fruit of the land, and to gather with family and visitors. While Shavuot is focused on the First Fruits, the second celebration of equal importance happens at the same time. The day God gave the Torah (Law of Moses) on Mount Sinai was calculated as falling exactly on the day of Shavuot. By the time of Jesus, in addition to being the First Fruit holiday, people knew it also as a celebration of the giving of the Law of Moses. It was on this very holiday, when tens of thousands of pilgrims were bringing their firstfruits to the Temple, that the events of Acts 2 took place. This is why the disciples were in Jerusalem, to celebrate God’s provision and gifts. Acts 2 tells the story of the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, after Jesus’ ascension: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” (vv. 1–8) There was both an unusual aural phenomenon (a great sound) as well as a visual one (tongues of flame) in the upper room on this day. This was definitely not a typical Shavuot occurrence! The disciples began to speak in languages they did not know and were understood by the other Jewish people in attendance no matter what their mother tongue was. The Holy Spirit is the one by whom alone we are able to live Easter; to live the whole mystery of Christ. Only by the Holy Spirit can we die with Jesus, and rise with him, and dwell in him. It’s by the work of the Holy Spirit, also, that Jesus dwells in us. So Easter essentially looks ahead to Pentecost. Jesus, we say, came in order to give us the Holy Spirit. He died and rose again in order that we might share his own Spirit. This is the Spirit of divine Sonship; the Spirit of holiness; the Spirit of union; the Spirit of the knowledge and love of God; the Spirit sent into the world in order that we might have life. So the 40 days from Easter Day up to the Ascension can be thought of, like lent, as days of preparation. They are followed by a final 10 days of intense preparation, during which with the whole Church we cry continuously: Come Holy Spirit! Then at last, Pentecost! - the feast of the Holy Spirit, the day on which the Church was born, the day when the Holy Spirit came in power to fill the whole earth, in a new way, with his presence. We who have been baptised and confirmed, we have all received this power of the Holy Spirit. In principle, our sins have been forgiven, and if we still sin, then he is always still there to forgive, whenever we humbly ask for it. And yet, still more. By the indwelling Holy Spirit we possess the power we need in order to live the Christian life in its fullness. We are able to be faithful, in small things and in great. We are able to live a moral life without compromise. We are able to forgive wrongs committed against us; to bear pain and loss; to die in hope of life. We are able to love God, and to love our neighbor. We are able to pray. No–more yet. By the Holy Spirit we can live as children of God, as Sons in the Son; we can participate in that unbroken union with the Father which Jesus enjoyed on earth and now enjoys in heaven. Because of the Holy Spirit, also, we can celebrate the Holy Mysteries, as we do now. The grace we draw from them is no less than that grace given to the first apostles. The Holy Mysteries give us Jesus; they give us the Holy Spirit; they unite us to God, and to one another, within the communion of the whole Catholic Church. For all these reasons, and many others, too, we celebrate the day of Pentecost with very great joy. And if this day is truly the culmination of a preparation period lasting 90 days, then it’s also the springboard for our whole life. Our trust is in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is all powerful; he blows where he wills; she brings life out of death; he renews the youth of his Church. May she cast abroad, once again, in us, and all around us, the fire of his divine love! May he ever renew in us and in the Church of our day all the grace of Pentecost, that many may be converted and believe, and that the saving Gospel may shine forth anew, for our good and God’s glory. Come Holy Spirit! Come! Fr. Bill+ |
AuthorFather Bill Burk† Archives
July 2025
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