God’s Password to a Network of Grace

Dear Friend,

What to say about the Most Holy Trinity? That’s what I was thinking when it occurred to me that yesterday, seated at a picnic table in a local park, I was visited by a bug. “It’s on your arm,” my friend said pointing. It didn’t look like a ladybug, but checking in with Google, well, yes, that’s exactly what it was. Shiny and blue, placid and innocent, a “blue shiny ladybug” was what we were looking at. These “stunning bugs,” the online description went on to say, “typically fall into a few specific species known for their shimmering metallic exteriors.” 

What Google did not know - and “AI” could never conjure - is that ladybugs always connect me to our late friend Katherine “Kappy” Pattison and her (often) mischievous smile. Kappy was a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers, ladybugs, and - let’s get around to the point of all this - the Most Holy Trinity. Her dedication to the first two was obvious from her choice of wall hangings in her kindergarten classroom. Her devotion to the Trinity was evident in her dedication to teaching her young charges the basics of the Catholic faith, including “God’s phone number”, which is this, she told them: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Centuries of doctrinal development, controversy, intricate theological distinctions boiled down to this. Yes, in Kappy’s catechism, the Trinity was a way to stay in touch. Here was connection to THE connection of everything. For adults it goes like this: the heart of God is relationship itself. As God’s image and likeness we are created for community and communication. All of creation carries the Trinity. Inspired by Kappy, let’s call it God’s password to a network of grace that even works through ladybugs!

Gratefully,  

Father Dan