Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Lectionary: 274

… my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

You may be familiar with the triangular diagram representing the Holy Trinity. I saw it for the first time as a high school student here at Mount Saint Francis; and it's still there in a window at the back of the chapel. 

The symbol is an equilateral triangle; on each point is a symbol of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. On each side between these three points is the Latin phrase, "non est;" meaning, “is not.” The Father is not the Son is not the Holy Spirit is not the Father. In the middle of the triangle is the word, “God.” Between each point of the triangle, with their three names of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the word est, meaning “is.” Each person of the Trinity is God -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is one God but three persons of the Trinity are not each other.

It’s a very clever symbol for explaining our basic understanding of God as revealed in the Bible; but the triangle is rather static. A mathematical diagram, it’s not going anywhere, and it gives the impression of being closed. How does one get inside this place? It's not a symbol one might snuggle with when retiring for the night; nor does it send one with enthusiasm into the workaday world. 

The triangle does not illustrate God or any person of the Trinity as our Savior, but the Old and New Testaments often reveal the Father or the Son as our Savior. This is the God with whom we are familiar; who makes himself familiar with us. 

In today's gospel the Evangelist describes God not as an equilateral triangle but as the Father who gives “you the true bread from heaven.” That Bread is Jesus; he comes down from heaven -- is sent from heaven -- to give life to the world. 

The story is told of an orphanage during the American Civil War. The traumatized, hungry children could not sleep until a clever nurse started providing each child with a loaf of bread at nighttime. The children, assured of food for another day, slept with the warm loaf in their arms.

Our Savior Father sends his Saving Son to us as Bread from Heaven. Inspired by God's Saving Spirit,nestled in his arms, we can rest easy wherever we might live.