And still counting. . .

TODAY is Trinity Sunday. I was going to ask the Commission on Elections to count how many persons there are in the Trinity, but the mystery may just deepen further. Perhaps the networks, but they may just give me the results of exit polls. Or perhaps the National Movement for Free Elections, but it may give me a slow count. Or maybe the joint committee of Congress, but it may just fall into a hole of endless debates and machinations!

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In Sunday's Gospel (Jn. 16, 12-15) Jesus promises that when the Spirit of Truth comes, "He will guide you into the whole Truth." Let us pray that the Spirit will descend upon Congress to proclaim the whole truth about the elections. Half-truths are dangerous and deceiving. The greatest deceit is when the people's will is manipulated, is not respected and worse, is not made known in its totality. At the end of the day, it is not whether Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo or Fernando Poe Jr. won, but whether Truth won, and whether the will of the people won.

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The Spirit of the Trinity is that of openness and truth. It is the spirit of letting be. There is no manipulation or hiding of the Truth. And that is why there is freedom. Anyone who hides or manipulates the Truth is not free. Liars always have the "sword of Damocles" over their heads. You and I know that we can deceive people and get away with it some time, but you and I also know that we cannot get away with it all the time. There will be a final reckoning, a final canvassing when the Truth will truly, definitely and finally come out.

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All of us, in one way or another, are involved in the business of counting. This reminds me of the story about a scientist, a philosopher and an accountant who were asked what 1+1 is. The scientist approached the question in a methodical and exact way and ended up saying: "All things considered, including possible deviants, the answer is clearly and obviously 2." The philosopher took time to ponder and answered: "From the philosophical point of view, the question, while valid ab initio, cannot be pursued a priori, without a conditio sine qua non...blah, blah, blah, etc., etc...but the answer is 2."

And the accountant's answer? "What is 1+1? It depends on how much you want it!"

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Still, for all of us who are involved in the business of counting, remember, what counts most in counting is that we count with the Trinity. What does it profit you if you count millions of money now, but in the end, you will not be counted in the Book of Life because you lied? Think about it. Is it worth it all?

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The bottom line is: Does the Trinity still count in your life? That's the bottom line. Nothing follows.

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My dynamic confrere Fr. Glenn Gomez, SVD passed on to me something which I would like to pass on to you. It is about the "Nature of Light" which can help shed light on the mystery of the Trinity. Accordingly, science tells us that light is composed of three rays or groups of wavelengths, distinct from each other, but not one of which would be light without the two others. Each ray has its own separate function: the first, originates; the second, manifests; the third, consummates. That which originates is invisible. That which manifests is seen and felt. That which consummates is not seen, but felt. Applied to the Trinity, the first ray, that which originates, is the Father, the invisible light. The second ray, that which manifests, is Jesus, both seen and felt. The third ray, that which consummates, is the Holy Spirit, not seen but felt.

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Where do we fit in? In Jesus, we have seen and felt the Father, and through the Holy Spirit, we are to continue making the Trinitarian love seen and felt all over the world. In Jesus, we have become sons and daughters of the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread God's love to others. In other words, we count with, in and for the Trinity.

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I've just been to a pilgrimage, and it is so easy to feel alone and lonely in a foreign land. This is a natural feeling when you are in a different country, and this can be accentuated when the people in that country make you feel that you don't count, in subtle, hidden ways. It is at such moments when the company of fellow pilgrims, people with whom you feel at home, make a difference.

Yes, we are a church on a pilgrimage on earth, with the Trinity ad intra (inward). But, it is precisely at such moments that we also feel the Trinity ad extra (outward), i.e., to make known the love of God to all and enable them to feel it. I felt this in a special way when we had a Mass in a little corner at Frankfurt Airport, while waiting for our flight. There we were, all 25 of us, gathered in faith and prayer, praying for one another and praying for others, even for the passersby who may not have thought kindly of us, but perhaps, may have been reminded of the presence of God, even if only for a while. At that moment, we knew we counted; and we are still counting.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, thank you for counting me as one of your children. Teach me to count well that I may be counted well in Heaven. Amen.