The Incarnation’s Increasingly Ignored Gifts to Transform Our Mortal Lives – Part 4 of 5: The Indwelling of the Holy Trinity

In the Introduction to this series, we listed the Five Ignored Gifts for our Transformation: the Divine Law Fulfilled, the Church, the Intercessions of the Saints, the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, and the Eucharist. These Sacramentals are made possible only because the Holy Trinity became fully human over 2,000 years ago.

The goal for each of these five Sacramentals is to transform us, not as a one-time-thing, but as a necessity for our lifetime attention, every day, never-ending.

The evidence of our experience plainly shows that when we call upon these Sacramentals, which God provides out of infinite love for us, our transformations are immensely simpler and more swift. We can see the stories unfold in our friends, family, and even Catholic novels.

The fourth Sacramental discussed here is the Indwelling. In short, during the Incarnation, Christ explicitly revealed that the Holy Trinity dwells in our souls. God is not a distant old man on a throne, watching us “from a [Bette-Midler-esque] distance,” but intimately within our hearts, along with the Divine Law that He wrote there. Jesus taught, “In that day you shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20) 

Paul writes, “Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “God is infinitely greater than all his works: but because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being.” Realizing this nearness of the One Holy Trinity should have overpowering implications for our lives. Too often we default to the distant Father, a historical Jesus, and a floating Holy Spirit, all with their separate reigns and interests. But the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity dwell within us. It’s our mission to overcome the obstacles that the world, the devil, and we ourselves construct, and then reach the Trinity. 

This holy Gift, this Sacramental, the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, shares the same ten characteristics with the other four Sacramentals:

1)  The Incarnation of God incites and illuminates this Sacramental for us. Only the human birth, life, and death of the second person of the Trinity originates this Gift for us.

Nowhere in the Old Testament is the Indwelling so explicitly taught as in the New Testament.

2)  The Holy Trinity designed this Sacramental to guide, and be invoked in, our brief mortal lives. And it leads to the Beatific Vision afterward.

Clearly Jesus meant this as a Gift for during our earthly lives: “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:17)

3)  This Sacramental is universal to all Christians. But the Catholic Church uniquely accentuates this Sacramental.

It is true the Protestants subscribe to this theology and try to emphasize it. But nowhere is the thinking more emphasized than by Catholic saints. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross changed the world with their establishment of the Discalced Carmelite Order and their charism to recollect and contemplate the Trinity within.

4) The Christian world is ignoring this Sacramental, more and more, every generation.

One way to demonstrate how society in general is ignoring this Gift is to show how that fewer people dedicate their lives to it. While not all orders have a contemplative charism, the numbers are telling:

Number of religious sisters in the United States: (https://cara.georgetown.edu/frequently-requested-church-statistics/)

• 1970: 160,931
• 2021: 39,452

(Note this same survey notes that the number of Americans exposed to Catholicism, that is, attached to a parish, rose from 47.9 million to 66.8 million over that same time period. At the same time, the population of the United States today is almost 70% more than in 1970; 1970: 200.3 million; 2021: 337.0 million.)

The next group of three characteristics point to how we know these Gifts - by revelation and faith:

5) We can understand the basis of this Sacramental from Scripture and Tradition.

See the end of this article for a more complete set of passages. Remember to take each passage as a starting point for the Magisterium, an entire library of concurring Truths.

6) We can recall this Sacramental, anytime, anywhere, by using Scripture we already know by heart.

• Paternoster: “May Your Kingdom come”
• Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

The Kingdom itself is not only in the Beatific Vision after our mortal lives, but now, in our souls. St. Teresa of Avila: “And so the good Jesus places these two petitions – Hallowed be thy name and Thy kingdom come next to each other, so that we can understand what we are asking for and why it is important to beg for it and to do all we can to please the one who is able to give it to us… The greatest joy in the kingdom of heaven (the greatest among many) seems to me to be that we will no longer be tied up with earthly concerns but will have rest and glory within us – rejoicing that gives joy to everyone, peace that lasts forever.”

7) We can invoke and build upon this Sacramental, daily, by using these two particular devotions.

• Spiritual reading and meditation

These are key first steps toward knowing the Indwelling Lord. The point here is the content. Spiritual reading is any reading where the target learning is the Holy Trinity and the Church. Any reading (or listening or viewing) of just about any decent material can bring this about, as long as the reader is looking for holy inspiration. The content is not “nothing” or self, but God. Of course, Scripture is the best content. Meditation goes a step further, when we enter into quiet to use the faculties of imagination, memory, and reason to fully engage in the material. Lectio Divina is an excellent example of this.

• Contemplation

St. John of the Cross details the difference between meditation and contemplation. In short, the soul passively waits for the Indwelling Trinity to infuse the faculties. St. John of the Cross is clear that imagination ends, but quietness and peace are essential. Saints consistently note this is often begets a time of “dryness,” with few if any “touches” from God. But God wills us to persevere in our alertness to the Indwelling Trinity.

The final group of three characteristics point to the fears that the Gifts help us overcome, and the consequences of failing to accept these Gifts and caving in to fear.

8)  This Sacramental helps overcome widespread, but distracting and pointless, human fears.

One distraction here is the fear of being disregarded, ignored, passed-over by others, or humiliated. In short, we obsess about our image, due to pride, as well as envy of others’ positions. This is a formidable obstacle to reaching the Indwelling Trinity. Indeed, without that humility that discards the distractions of embarrassment, anger, sadness, and hurt of being overlooked, we cannot invoke the Trinity in meditative or contemplative prayer.

9)  That fear or distraction often heavily associates with a particular modern temptation, which we often use to sinfully defeat that fear.

One way some use to overcome this consuming distraction, the fear of being disregarded and passed by, is to gain power over others. Indeed, when one reaches new positions of higher authority, the fear of being ignored fully dissolves. Achieving that power is not only an overwhelming distraction, with a focus on charisma and control, but can certainly be used to tyrannize or manipulate other souls, even in small ways.

10)  That sinful alternative illustrates a battle between a unique theology of Catholic Christianity versus a heresy held by other “religions.”

The error and heresy invoked here is a form of Jansenism. This is the falsehood that we follow an image of God that has arbitrary absolute power, instead of pre-ordained (yet still absolute) power. The idea of the arbitrary omnipotent image of God leads us to the concept of “will to power.” Often even Christians will hold this view, taking out of context the quote that “all things are possible with God.” They are not: God cannot require us to commit evil deeds, for example. God cannot sin. But this concept is favored in religions such as Islam, where Allah’s will predominates over intellect, the pre-ordained divine design. Even Calvinists may fall into this trap. Calvinism tends in the direction of eliminating human free will, stipulating that if someone sins, it is because God designed it so.

But this search for power, which tries to eliminate the fear of one’s pride being stung, is unnecessary. To reach the Indwelling Trinity, or to even being to try to relish this Sacramental, one must achieve humility.

To summarize this Sacramental and its importance to each of our transformations, I’ll use the explanation given in my novel, Virtual Eternity: An Epic 90s-Retro Florida Techno Pro-Life Love Story and Conversion Journey, as conveyed by Dante, the main character’s guide when he reaches heaven:

“Humans are plagued by many further distractions, such as the fear of dishonor, of constant worry about being humiliated, disregarded, losing stature to others, or not mattering. These fears are caused by the sins of pride and envy.

“So shall the last be first, and the first last. (Matthew 20:16) ¹

“And the devil and its world tempt you all on how to overcome these many fears, such as using things like the false ability to wield power over others, using deceit and charisma and influence, so you all can pretend to avoid such sinful and distracting worries.

“You do not need these sinful lies. Instead, embrace humility achieved through God’s grace, a humility that individual human faculties require in order to know the Holy Trinity abiding within you. It abides within you personally, not merely abiding over the vast set of humanity in general.

“I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (John 14:20) ¹ 

“Thus, the Holy Trinity desires you to establish, and know, and overcome your own inner obstacles to reach, Its kingdom, which is actually and truly present within you, personally.

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity) ²

“Know and recollect that Kingdom, using silence and contemplation of God’s loving revelations, mysteries, and graces - such as the Church, the saints’ intercessions, the divine law and natural law, the Blessed Sacrament, the Four Last Things, and Christ’s Passion and Redemption.

“That is why the poor in spirit are blessed, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Thy kingdom come: The Holy Trinity is joined within Its created beings, directly and individually.”

Scripture and Tradition

Indwelling

The Holy Bible ¹

John 14

[16] And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. [17] The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you. [18] I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while: and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live. [20] In that day you shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [26] But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. [27] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. 

John 15

[4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. [6] If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. 

1 Corinthians 3

[16] Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) ³

The Creed, Article VIII: "Life-Giver"

They also designate the Holy Ghost the giver of life because the soul lives more by its union with God than the body is nourished and sustained by its union with the soul. Since then, the Sacred Scriptures ascribe to the Holy Ghost this union of the soul with God, it is clear that He is most rightly called the giver of life.

The Creed, Article VIII: The Seven Gifts

The diligence of the pastor in expounding these truths should be the greater, since it is from these gifts of the Holy Ghost that we derive rules of Christian life and are enabled to know if the Holy Ghost dwells within us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1995) ⁴

260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: "If a man loves me", says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him."

300 God is infinitely greater than all his works: but because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being. 

2014 Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.

Kingdom of God

The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) ³

The Lord’s Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come - We Must Labor to Obtain God's Kingdom

We should also be careful to consider what is to be done, what avoided, in order to arrive at the kingdom of heaven. For we are not called by God to lead lives of ease and indolence. On the contrary, He declares that the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away; and, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. It is not enough, therefore, that we pray for the kingdom of God; we must also use our best exertions. It is a duty incumbent on US to cooperate with the grace of God, to use it in pursuing the path that leads to heaven. God never abandons us; He has promised to be with us at all times. We have therefore only this to see to, that we forsake not God, or abandon ourselves.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity ²

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action 

St. Teresa of Avila ⁵

And so the good Jesus places these two petitions – Hallowed be thy name and Thy kingdom come next to each other, so that we can understand what we are asking for and why it is important to beg for it and to do all we can to please the one who is able to give it to us. Let me explain how I understand it. Now, then. The greatest joy in the kingdom of heaven (the greatest among many) seems to me to be that we will no longer be tied up with earthly concerns but will have rest and glory within us – rejoicing that gives joy to everyone, peace that lasts forever – satisfaction in ourselves, a satisfaction that comes from seeing how everyone is praising the Lord and blessing and hallowing his name, while no-one offends him. Everyone loves him. Each soul has no wish other than to love him: it cannot stop loving him because it knows him truly.

References

1. The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, 2009, Saint Benedict Press [Original published 1582-1609]
2. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Drink of the Stream: Prayers of the Carmelites, (Penny Hickey, Ed.), 2002, p. 299, Ignatius Press [Original 1904]
3. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, (J.A McHugh, O.P., and C.J. Callan, Trans.), 1923, Middletown, DE [Original 1566]
4. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1995, Doubleday
5. St. Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, p. 197, 2012, Dover Publications [Original 1566]