The Power Of Three

Today’s gospel struck me in a new way. I’ve had the Trinity is on my mind and heart and when Jesus makes it a point to send the apostles out two by two, He was really sending them out as a trinity. “He gave them authority over unclean spirits,” there He is….Holy Spirit: third person of the Trinity, third person of their trinities giving authority to their mission. In human relationships the number three has a bad rap, hence the negative term “third wheel” or “triangulation.” Inevitably, someone will feel left out and another will probably feel divided or torn between the two. However, the Holy Spirit is not a third wheel at all, but the axle that keeps the wheels aligned and moving. While the wheels tend to get all of the attention, the axle often gets overlooked, but without it being finely tuned, the wheels would just roll away or seize up, or they may pull to the left or right, unbalanced and dysfunctional. The very nature of God is Trinitarian, but in complete harmony with one another. 

Here is an excerpt from The Shack that I thought was a lovely snapshot of the Trinitarian life:

Sarayu (The Holy Spirit) said, “We have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being,’ as your ancestors termed it. What you’re seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us. Actually, this is your problem, not ours. When you chose independence over relationship, you became a danger to one another. Others became objects to be manipulated or managed for your own happiness. Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong ones use to make others conform to what they want.” 

“All love and relationship is possible for you ONLY because it already exists within me, within God myself. Love is NOT the limitations; love is flying. I am love.”

Jesus wanted His apostles to mirror the love of the Trinity and that would be the only way to overcome darkness (or unclean spirits). It doesn’t require stuff and there was no luggage for the journey of faith. Both of the material items that Jesus gave them were to help them keep walking: sandals for their feet and a walking stick to lean on (or kill scorpions!). The point is that we need to keep moving forward and get rid of the stuff that inhibits us, but we also need to unite ourselves to one another with Christ at the center of our trinities. Aligning our will to God’s will is the only way our mission will succeed, and when we are rejected (which we will be over and over again), we are to take our walking sandals and clap them together as a symbol that rejection will not even hold us back. 

Today we are reminded that relationship is what fuels our journey, our mission, and our overcoming the darkness. Relationship is not two by two, but always three. As our earthly relationships strive to mirror the divine, let us not forget to leave room for the Holy Spirit as the axle between us allowing us to move forward in love with one another and in the love of God. It is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 1 KGS 2:1-4, 10-12

When the time of David’s death drew near,
he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:
“I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
as they are written in the law of Moses,
that you may succeed in whatever you do,
wherever you turn, and the LORD may fulfill
the promise he made on my behalf when he said,
‘If your sons so conduct themselves
that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart
and with their whole soul,
you shall always have someone of your line
on the throne of Israel.’”

David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years:
he reigned seven years in Hebron
and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David,
with his sovereignty firmly established.

Responsorial 1 CHRONICLES 29:10, 11AB, 11D-12A, 12BCD

R.    (12b)  Lord, you are exalted over all.
“Blessed may you be, O LORD,
God of Israel our father,
from eternity to eternity.”
R.    Lord, you are exalted over all.
“Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,
majesty, splendor, and glory.”
R.    Lord, you are exalted over all.
“LORD, you are exalted over all.
Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty;
you are exalted as head over all.
Riches and honor are from you.”
R.    Lord, you are exalted over all.
“In your hand are power and might;
it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”
R.    Lord, you are exalted over all.

Alleluia MK 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.