Dr. Karla J. Bellinger

Jan 10 2025

The Trinity—A Divine Dance

We know so little of God. When it comes to describing the Trinity, we can feel that we know even less. The Mystery of Mysteries, the God-Who-Is—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is not just a philosophical doctrine to be illustrated with clovers and candles. The Trinity is a Someone, Someone who is deeply involved in our lives.

Saints Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus (known as the Cappadocian Fathers) saw the interrelationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a dance. They described a divine give-and-take, a perichoresis (dancing together), a mystical solidarity of interdependence, a never-ending “I am here for you” and “I am constant in my care for you” within the oneness of God. That mutual love overflows to us.

In the scriptures, we see that God continually communicates as the Father who never stops seeking out wayward Israel, the Son who becomes flesh and gives up his life for us, and the Holy Spirit who is with us always.

Our Triune God so loves the world that those divine “hands” invite us: Come, join in the dance! What does that look like? Think of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers—they whirl and flow across a stage together with just a nudge or a touch. Folk dancers have a similar perpetual motion of bowing and twirling and jumping. With practiced responsiveness, they move as one.

Can we join in the dance? We might choose to live as plodders who stumble through life. Or we could discover holy agility. The Holy Spirit leans toward us, gently touching and nudging us in everyday life, whispering, “Be attentive. Follow my lead!” To move within the life of the Trinity is exciting, exhilarating. God’s tender “Take my hand. I am here for you” is offered to us at all times.

Consider/Discuss

We are not God and God is not us. How does that distinction set us free to be dancing partners with the Triune God? In the Gospel (John 3:1–5), how did Jesus offer his hand to Nicodemus to join in the dance?
Sometimes we do plod. We may not sense the movement of the Spirit. Sometimes we don’t “get” the Trinity. We may wonder, how can anybody get so excited about Trinity? Think of the little nudges that you have felt. How can we trust that God is constantly at work in our lives and learn to be even more attentive and responsive?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of Trinity, you are so beautiful, so beautiful in motion! All that we see in the created world leads us to you. Holy Spirit, surround us, enthuse us, and sustain us. You are deeply within us, and yet sometimes, we are not deeply within you. We beg for your grace to grow more agile. And when you do give us those tastes of abundant life in the divine dance that surrounds us, how can we keep from singing . . . and dancing!

Jan 10 2025

The Erupting Spirit

She whispered under her breath, “Lord, have mercy.” The others in the room echoed, “Lord, have mercy.” It was not a church but a hospital room. Gospel music was playing softly on the player on the windowsill. She smiled, “Lord, have mercy God almighty, I am coming home!” Words of faith—the Spirit of God overflowed within her and her joy erupted into words.

The feast of Pentecost is the day to celebrate the gift of speech! Some of us speak for a living. Preachers preach often in the Easter season. Teachers talk the whole school year through. Sometimes we may wonder, where does the power come from to speak effectively? And do words make any difference in this world that is already so full of words?

The experience of the Spirit in the second chapter of Acts came to seemingly dried-up and disheartened disciples. The Spirit rushed upon them like a mighty wind! Out of their emptiness, Acts tells us, three thousand people were converted and the church was born. At that moment, Christian preaching was also born. What if Peter had not spoken? What if he had remained silent? The Spirit so filled him that he had to speak. He had to speak. His joy bubbled up into words, telling the glorious story of Jesus’ resurrection. Human speech matters more than we can ever imagine.

Our words matter, too. On this holy day of empowering, do we hunger for those we love to meet the living God? If so, what words do we speak? We have to discern our words carefully. But joy bubbling into words of faith, even when they are hesitant, can have an effect. For if those we love have not heard, how are they going to believe? Come, Holy Spirit, fill the words of your faithful!

Consider/Discuss

Jesus breathed on his future preachers and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This tender waft of Jesus’ air became the mighty wind of Pentecost. Who has breathed on you words that have transformed your life?
Faith is caught as much as it is taught. Yet words are necessary. We have to speak. Where do you struggle with speaking—talk too little? too much? too unthinkingly? too carefully? Spend a little time in prayer, discerning where your words may have hurt and how very much your words of love matter. What do you need to do to become a more Holy Spirit–inspired speaker?

Living and Praying with the Word

On this holy day of days, Holy Spirit, erupt within us. Send tongues of fire upon us so that we are aflame with your joy. We cannot fulfill our mission on our own strength. You are the Delight of delights, the Wonder of wonders. We are thrilled to exult in you. You are Holy Wisdom; fill us this day so that your inspired words radiate out through us into a world hungry for your glory.

Jan 10 2025

Prepare for the Spirit, Together and in Prayer

Have you ever wondered why we don’t have a liturgical season that specifically leads to Pentecost? We have Advent to get ready for Christmas. We have Lent to cleanse our hearts for Easter. Why not a unique time to prepare ourselves for the indwelling of the Spirit and the equipping for mission?

Or do we?

In today’s first reading, the apostles and the broader group of Easter witnesses gather to pray. They are getting ready. They may not have consciously realized it, but we can see it clearly in hindsight: they are on another edge of time, the edge of some happening that is about to be personally life-changing and historically world-changing. They are getting ready for Pentecost.

Change experts say that there are stages to prepare to make a significant change that lasts. If you want to lose weight, first take some time to analyze what you eat and when and why. Then plan how to diet accordingly. If you intend to move to a new country, take some time to learn the language and the customs and prepare yourself mentally to make that radical shift. Enduring change requires a time of preparation.

God must be the original change expert. Wisely, Jesus did not throw the disciples into mission right away. Luke says that he taught them how to understand the scriptures. He repeatedly asked them to pray and prepare. It will not be an easy task that he asks of them. They will be persecuted. They will share in his sufferings. In today’s Gospel, he prays for them to be one. He wants to make sure that they have the tools needed to carry out the mission—both the empowerment of the Spirit and the strength of community.

Holy saints who have gone before us, pray for that for us as well.

Consider/Discuss

Do we have the tools that we need to carry out Christ’s mission? Are we as Holy Spirit–empowered as we need to be? Is our community strong? How can we pray and plan to allow God’s revitalization to happen?
The Holy Spirit is often said to be the most “overlooked” member of the Trinity, especially in the western Church. How can we liturgically elevate the feast of Pentecost so that the Spirit’s empowerment and mission also get their due?

Living and Praying the Word

Spirit of the Living God, your church on earth needs you. Help us to do our part. We consecrate ourselves to you in whatever walk of life you have called us. Help us to devote ourselves to prayer for the church and your fullness. You rushed in upon the disciples and changed them into holy men and women. Rush upon us this week too as we prepare our hearts for your feast.

Jan 10 2025

Going, Going . . . Not Gone

“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” my friend asked as we traveled across campus. “Look at the clouds!” I exclaimed. The clouds in the summer at Notre Dame are glorious. The moisture from nearby Lake Michigan makes them radiant in the blue sky. I love clouds. I love flying because of the elation of soaring up through cumulus clouds. I like climbing mountains, and the resulting exhausted joy of looking down at the clouds it brings. I remember one bone-weary-beyond-weary, emotionally exhausted day when I looked up at the clouds and yelled, “Come any time now, Lord! What are you waiting for?” I smile inside when the scriptures put the sky and clouds and significant events together—Elijah’s chariot; Jesus’ baptism, transfiguration, and ascension. It fires the imagination.

The disciples lived solidly on the ground. They never flew in an airplane. Yet the heavens in Israel are also glorious. The shimmer of the moonlight during a night of fishing, the sparkle that bounces up from the Sea of Galilee in the day, the glistening of the sun over the Mediterranean—to “look up” probably fired the disciples’ hearts as well.

The Ascension marks Luke’s conclusion to Jesus’ earthly ministry. If he had stayed, the disciples could still have slapped him on the back with a joke and he would not have minded. He could have continued to heal the sick and the blind. But he would have been limited to contacting those who were geographically close to him.

Jesus is now physically gone. Yet at the same time, Jesus is here. We can taste his presence. We can feel it. We can know it. Though Jesus has gone “into the clouds,” he is closer than he would have been if he had physically stayed among us. The Lord is near to us. Always.

Consider/Discuss

It is a paradox of our faith that the God of distance is also the God of nearness. When we put “a face” to the divine, which one more freely arises in our spiritual imagination—distance or nearness? Why does it matter that we envision both?
Think of someone you love dearly who has departed in death. How have you (or have you not) felt closer to that person now that he or she dwells in the communion of saints? Describe what that experience is like.

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, you are highly exalted, King over all the earth. You rule over nations. You keep the stars in their courses. At the same time, you are here. You are near. How can this be? You have said that you will be with us always, to the end of the age. When we take you for granted, show us the surpassing greatness of your strength. When we shy away from your power, be our divine Tenderness. Come, Lord Jesus! Come at the end of the age. Please come now. We need you. Let us be “filled with the fullness of all things” in every way.

Jan 09 2025

The Spirit’s Joy

I was having a conversation with a well-educated Catholic layman, who asked me what I was writing about. I said, “Mission.” His eyes lit up. “You should go talk to Father M.; he spent a lot of time in Africa!” I grinned. Mission: the word evokes exotic places and visiting priests or nuns telling hair-raising stories. Many people of faith still interpret “mission” as something someone else does somewhere else. What is expected is to give money to the “missions.”

Yet mission also means “purpose.” Researchers tell us that a personal sense of purpose leads to greater well-being. A famous saying is, “The two most important days in your life are the day that you were born and the day that you find out why.” Where does Christian purpose come from? Why are we here?

Jesus promises that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will be with us always. As we are washed with that indwelling tender Spirit, we in turn fall in love. Daily life is no longer the same. We may be fishermen or computer programmers, students or professionals, preachers or lay ministers, parents or grandparents—when we encounter the friendship of the living God, we are changed. We are filled with radiant joy. Mission is not just something someone else does somewhere else. Mission is what we do, right here, right now. It doesn’t matter so much what we do in daily life, but how we do it. The Holy Spirit’s joy gives us purpose.

As Pentecost approaches, we can prepare to be empowered and sent out into our ordinary twenty-first–century lives to be extraordinary people. This is our calling, our obligation. This is also our delight. We are to be an enthusiastic people of purpose, with determination, resolution, drive, tenacity, and commitment to living Jesus’ joy-filled way of life.

Consider/Discuss

One of the tensions in the last five weeks of the Easter season is the contrast between the first readings from Acts, which tell stories of what happens after Pentecost, and the Gospels which are rich with Jesus’ admonitions to help the disciples get ready for Pentecost. How do our lives dwell within that paradox—living in the Spirit now while also waiting for the Spirit’s fullness to come?
We are given a mission to be light for the world. We are filled with the Spirit to accomplish that mission. To live for Jesus—is that our joy or our obligation—or both? What do we see as our purpose in everyday life?

Living and Praying with the Word

Come, Holy Spirit! We need a new Pentecost, a revival of faith. Our world needs renewal. We cannot do this by ourselves. We need you. Come with your rushing wind. Come with your mighty power. Come, hidden joy of the world. We pray together in deep need: come, Holy Spirit and renew the hearts of your faithful.