Word on Fire is brought to you by Catholic Cemetery's, serving the Chicago area since 1837, and FSP dedicated to food service excellence.

This is Cardinal Francis George, and I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to reflect with Father Robert Barron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire.

Father Barron will challenge us to open our hearts to the Word on Fire, which is God's Word of Love for each of us.

If our hearts are open, the Lord can change and transform us, who we might speak with love about the one who is love.

The Archdiocese of Chicago through the generosity of Sacred Heart Parish and Winnetke now presents the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you.

Friends, we celebrate today the Feast of Trinity Sunday. This great mystery that God is a Trinity of Persons.

Actually, you know it's pretty easy. In God there's one essence, two processions, three persons, four imminent relations.

The Father to the Son that's called Active Generation, the Son to the Father that's called Passive Generation, the Father and the Son to the Holy Spirit that's called Active Spirations, the Spirit to the Father and Son that's called Passive Spirations.

Now I'm being facetious. What I'm laying out to you is some of the technical language of the Trinity.

The church and the course of the centuries has tried to articulate its belief about God and it gives rise to just that kind of arcane, somewhat confusing language I just used.

Can I say before I really get into the bulk of the Hamlet, something in favor of confusing language. What I mean is this.

We're talking about God. God is the infinite mystery that which is totalitarian, hourly tear as the Father is used to say.

Totally other. God is not a being in the world. God is not like anything in our experience. God is the source of all that exists.

Therefore, it's appropriate that we use strange puzzling, even confusing language when talking about God. Whenever you think you have it, you don't.

And Augustine said, if you understand, that's not God you're understanding. To that extent, the Trinitarian language that God is one and yet three. God is a unity and yet a community of three persons is meant to confound us.

It's meant to make us scratch our heads and say, I don't get it. Good to some degree. Good.

Joseph Rothsinger has this comparison, which I've always liked. He said, at the liturgy from time to time, we use incense.

A part of the purpose of incense, of course, is simply to appeal to the senses. It's beautiful.

But incense also obscures. You can't see through it. In fact, sometimes it burns your eyes so you can't see it all. It's part of its purpose.

It's to remind us that we are dealing with mysteries beyond our can, mysteries beyond our capacity of understanding.

So the doctrine of the Trinity, to some degree, is like intellectual incense. It's like smoke in the eyes of the mind.

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