Considering the Trinity
 
I have many times heard Father Roddy remind us from the pulpit that any priest who preaches too long on the Trinity will sooner or later utter heresy. A witticism, yes, but one which rests upon a truth. The Church recognizes two types of heresy. A conscious and intentional rejection of orthodox Christian doctrine regarding the essentials of the faith (not minor disagreements of opinion on non-essentials) constitutes “formal heresy,” while “material heresy” is the term used to describe errors attributable to simple ignorance.

The problem that many preachers (and many theologians) have is that when they preach about the Trinity, they attempt to explain it. It is what we refer to as a mystery, which means that it is something that could not be determined, understood, or explained by logical reasoning but only by divine revelation. Any attempt to explain it in terms of mere logic or reason will therefore inevitably result in “material heresy,” error sprung from ignorance.
 
There is a medieval legend used to reflect this understanding of our inability to fully comprehend the nature of the Trinity. According to this story, during the time that St. Augustine of Hippo was writing De Trinitate, his great theological treatise on the Trinity, he was walking by the seaside one day while puzzling over the many problems posed by the Church's assertion that there is but one God, but that He was three distinct persons. While doing so, he came upon a child playing in the sand. The child had used a seashell to dig a hole in the sand and was now scooping water from the sea and pouring it into the hole. When Augustine asked the child why he was doing that, the answer was, “I am going to empty the sea into this hole.” Augustine laughed as he replied, “But surely you must know that the sea is far too large to be contained in that small hole.” The child's response was, “Yes, indeed, quite so, but I will sooner draw all the water from the sea and empty it into this hole than you will succeed in penetrating the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your limited understanding,” after having said which, he vanished.
 
Now, all this is not to say that we can learn nothing of—and from—the doctrine of the Trinity. What we cannot learn are what might be called the inner workings of it, but reflection on it can nevertheless greatly deepen and enrich our understanding of God and our relationship to Him. 
 
One of the great Trinitarian portions of Scripture is the Gospel of Saint Matthew's account of Jesus' baptism: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)
 
At this epochal moment, the very beginning of Christ's public ministry, the sinless Son is being baptized for the sins of the world and His sacrificial ministry is being blessed, validated, and demonstrated to those present by the visible descent of God the Holy Spirit and the audible voice of God the Father. Perhaps you may think of this when we have a baptism and you hear the priest say, quoting from Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19, “I baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” One name, not three names, for Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all one God.

This has one serious implication that I urge you to consider. Because God is three persons, that means that at the very heart of all creation, at the deepest level of reality, there is a community of three—three divine persons somehow existing within one eternal God. Scripture tells us that we are created in the image and likeness of that God, and I take that to mean, among other things, that we are created to be in community with others and that we can only fully realize our humanity through living in and participating in community.
 
The most basic of all communities is the family, those to whom we are bound by both blood and affection. The family is the first school for the soul. Do not believe for a moment that to recognize that is sentimental mush, because some of the lessons that we learn there are hard ones.

The experience of living in families offers us opportunities to learn patience, forgiveness, responsibility, honesty, and the frequent necessity of putting the needs and desires of others before our own. In families where there is love and affection, we can learn those things by example; in families where love and affection are not present, we can learn their value from the pain and damage caused by their absence. I have often noted that some of the most devoted spouses and parents are people who are the product of very dysfunctional and loveless childhood homes. There is nothing sentimental about that.
 
The characteristics that emerge in family life are carried into the next levels of society. The same virtues and vices that make one a good or bad family member lie at the root of what makes one a good or bad classmate, club member, or citizen. Now, all of us are a mixture of both good and bad. None of us is perfect, and none of us is purely bad. Hence this little piece of doggerel: “There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us to criticize the rest of us.”

The Church is sui generis, a thing like no other. It was not formed by the actions and decisions of human beings alone, but by the commands of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit acting upon and working through human beings. That is to say, it is a divine institution composed in part of human beings and in part of God Himself. Certainly it bears many similarities to other societies, but it is very different. It is both a society and a family. How could it be otherwise? We are the Body of Christ, bound together not by human biological kinship but by his very blood. As the eternal community of the Trinity, which has been from before the beginning of creation, is bound together by divine love, so we are called to see ourselves as similarly bound to God and to one another.
 
These are spiritual truths that are only imperfectly embodied in the material world. Whatever I can say or write about them is analogy, not analysis, and I am very aware that it is a very incomplete and inadequate reflection of the totality of divine truth. It is not a thorough representation of the whole of that truth; the ocean is too big to fit in that little hole in the sand. It is my attempt to further open myself and, if God wills it, to open others to consider the manifold implications of the doctrine of the Trinity without supposing that we can in this world understand its deepest inner workings.
 
For countless generations before we knew that the sun is a gaseous ball of hydrogen and helium in a constant reaction of nuclear fusion, people all over the world knew very well that it was a source of light and warmth that was necessary to life. Their total ignorance of the actual chemical and physical nature of the sun did not prevent them from being able to learn a great deal about its appearance, its effects, and how best to use the heat and light which it produced and shed upon them. That seems to me a pretty useful analogy for how I hope you will think about the Trinity.                                              
--  Fr. Bragg+
 
All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee
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Services & Events

Sunday Services,  9:00 AM and 11:15 AM Services, for online participation go to
https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Nursery during both services

Sunday School, on recess for the summer, returns in September

Sunday, May 31 Deadline for for signing up for DMAS Summer Camp for children ages 8 to 15 will be held at Camp Hanover in Mechanicsville, VA from June 21 to June 27. Brochures about the camp, which include the application QR code, can be found on the narthex table.  (Please speak to the Senior Warden to get a reduction in camp costs available to any St. Andrew & St. Margaret family wishing to send their children to this camp.)

Monday, 7:30 PM,  Vestry Meeting, undercroft

Wednesday at Noon – Holy Communion and anointing for healing, for online participation go to https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Wednesday, 7:30 PM, undercroft, Discussion on the Saints, with Fr. Bragg, all are invited even if you have not been to prior discussions. Fr. Bragg’s class takes a chronological approach to the study of the saints, placing them in the context of their times and places in church history.  For online participation go to https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Thursday, June 4, the Feast of Corpus Christi, services at Noon and at 7:00 PM.  (Inquirers class to immediately follow 7 PM service.) Corpus Christi is the feast celebrating the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist: the profound mystery that in the bread and wine consecrated at the altar, we receive nothing less than the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instituted in the 13th century at the urging of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Juliana of Liège, the feast falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It is a day to give thanks for and publicly proclaim what the Church has always held at the very heart of her life: that Christ is truly present with us; not merely in memory or symbol, but substantially, sacramentally, and really present with us. It is, in short, a celebration of Divine Love: love made flesh; love given as food; and love that remains with us until the end of the age. 

This Thursday only, Inquirers class in the undercroft will follow immediately after 7 PM Corpus Christi service. Since Bishop Johnson will visit the Parish on Sunday, June 14 to offer the rites of Confirmation and Reception. Father Chris is leading an Inquirers’ Class prior to the Bishop's visit. This class introduces and explores the life, faith, and practice of the Anglican tradition using Archbishop Haverland's primer, Anglican Catholic Faith and Practice.  While the class  prepares those who wish to be confirmed and received into the Anglican Catholic Church, anyone who wants to learn more about Anglican faith and practice is warmly invited. If you are new to the parish, exploring Anglicanism for the first time, or attending for years and like a deeper understanding of the Church’s life and teaching, this class is for you. 

Sunday, June 14, Bishop Johnson’s Visitation. If you wish to be received or confirmed by the Bishop, please see Fr. Chris as soon as possible.

Sunday, June 14, 2:30 PM, Celebrating St. Margaret of Scotland and Flag Day Recital with Organ and Trumpet  in the sanctuary, with Church organist John C. Wulff and Chuck Seipp on trumpet
 
MaRiH Crisis Pregnancy Center: Updated Critical Needs
& More

Below are 2 updated lists: the critical needs list and the needs list. Both have been updated:

Critical Needs:
Diapers, sizes 5 and 6
Spring/Summer clothing (Boys & Girls), size 0-3 months, size 2T 
Baby Wipes
Baby Blankets
Baby formula: Similac Advance Formula
Bibs: toddler
Car seat: infant
Other needs:
Diapers, newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4
Spring/Summer Clothing, 3-6 month, 9-12 month, 18-24 month, 
Bibs, infant
Maternity clothes (Spring/Summer)
Wash cloths
Hooded towels
Diaper rash ointment
There are two options for helping the Center with these needs:
Option 1 
Amazon has all the specific items needed. You can order the specific item(s) and have them delivered directly to the Center.  

The MaRiH Center
3230B Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-4521
703-370-4774

Option 2 
Go to your local store, purchase the items requested and drop them off at church on Sunday. We will deliver them to the MaRIH Center.
 
Food Bank Needs
 
The food bank continues to need our assistance to feed the hungry. Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). Also lower sodium products are better and more healthy.

Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
tuna (cans or foil packages)
peanut butter. jelly
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso, chicken noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom. tomato
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
 
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Our mailing address is:
St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
1607 Dewitt Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1625