{"id":848,"date":"2022-03-14T13:20:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T13:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/?p=848"},"modified":"2022-08-18T16:02:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T16:02:47","slug":"std-451-theology-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/?p=848","title":{"rendered":"A Trinitarian Pattern in Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Download<\/a><\/div>

A Trinitarian Pattern in Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

By<\/p>\n

Fred O’Brien, EOHSJ<\/p>\n

Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power
\nand divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood <\/em><\/p>\n

and seen through the things he has made.  <\/em>                                               Romans 1:20<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now God has built the human form into the world structure, <\/em><\/p>\n

indeed even into the cosmos. just as an artist would use a <\/em><\/p>\n

particular pattern in her work.    <\/em>                                                              Hildegard of Bingen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962 had the world face the prospect of<\/p>\n

a nuclear catastrophe. With the withdrawal of the Russian missiles the U.S. embargo was<\/p>\n

lifted and the immediate danger resolved. Pope John XXIII, who had made himself available
\nas an intermediary and appealed for peace during the crisis was entering his eighty-
\nsecond year. Battling a painful cancer he was overseeing the first session of the 2nd
\nVatican Council. Having received the Balzan Peace Prize, been chosen as Time’s “Man
\nof the Year”, Time Magazine noted that “To the entire world Pope John has given what
\nneither diplomacy nor science could give: a sense of the unity of the human family.”
\n(Jan 4, 1962, p.54) With the conclusion of the first session of the council on December
\n8, 1962 John set about completing his final encyclical.
\nPacem in Terris, published on Holy Thursday 1963, highlights the fact that “both in
\nliving things and in the forces of nature, an astonishing order reigns” (n.2). This order is
\nreflected in human persons and underpins their inviolable dignity. This dignity is the
\nbasis for a wide array of rights, for example, the right to life, worship and to form
\nassociations. These rights have corresponding duties, particularly the obligation to
\n“contribute generously to the establishment of a civic order in which rights and duties are<\/p>\n

ever more sincerely and effectively acknowledged and fulfilled (n.31). Pope John
\naddressed the basis for legitimate authority to rightly serve the common good, which is
\nthe sum total of the conditions that allow persons to seek their perfection “more fully and
\nmore easily”. Having contrasted the turmoil that exists among human beings with the
\nastonishing order of the universe! (n.3) he writes as follows:
\n<\/p>\n

Therefore, amongst the most urgent issues facing serious thinkers today is that of
\nworking out a new pattern of human relationships based on truth, justice, love
\nand freedom: relationships between person and person, between citizen and state,
\nbetween one country and another and, finally, between individuals, families,
\nintermediate bodies and states on the one hand, and, on the other, the community
\nof the whole family of mankind. There is none, surely, who will not esteem this as
\na service of the highest order; for it is that which will render possible the building
\nup of true peace according to the pattern which God has made. (n. 163)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

God’s Image in Creation<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are
\nbeautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the
\nperfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all
\nflowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would
\nno longer be decked out with little wild flowers. St Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux (14)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            St. Th\u00e9r\u00e9se refers to the “book of nature” wherein she discovered Jesus’ garden,<\/p>\n

the world of souls. She speaks of people as of different flowers – roses, lilies, violets, and
\ndaisies. Each is special to God and no difference in worth or status is implied in her
\ndesignations. She refers to those who have nothing but the natural law” as guide as
\nthose “wild flowers” on whom “God manifests His infinite grandeur”. “It is to their
\nhearts”, she tells us, “that God deigns to lower Himself.” Referring to God’s love, she
\ntells us that “Our Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no
\nothers like it. And just as in nature all the seasons are arranged in such a way as to make<\/p>\n

the humblest daisy bloom on a set day, in the same way, everything works out for the
\ngood of each soul” (14-15).<\/p>\n

“God’s purpose in creation was that humanity should seek God’s image and should mould
\nitself after that image. But after mankind had neglected the wisdom of God which is to be
\nfound in His handiwork, God took on the form of man so as to give us human beings an
\nexample within our own nature of the divine attributes which we must make into our own,
\nso that we may be transformed and united with God.” Niels Stensen (P\u00e5lsson 71)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Niels Stensen (1638-86) was a prominent scientist and medical doctor of the seventeenth
\ncentury. He was the first to describe the endocrine glands of the head and argue for the
\nnecessity of mathematical description in biology. He carried out original research on the
\nanatomy of the brain and laid the foundation for three new sciences: palaeontology,
\nhistorical geology and crystallography. His career as a scientist left profound traces in his
\nspiritual life. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1667, ordained priest in 1675,
\nconsecrated bishop for northern Germany in 1677 and beatified by Pope John Paul II in
\n1986. Constantly seeking God’s image in his scientific research he waxes eloquent when
\ninvestigating the production of tears from the lacrimal gland:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“That which practice and possibly observation on animals have taught mechanics, that to
\ncase movement they should lubricate the things to be used with a greasy fluid, has been
\nprovided for by the most ingenious of all mechanics in the most perfect way from the
\nbeginning in the creation of animals. Mechanics have seen that if between that which is to
\nbe moved and the fixed surface across which the movement is to take place a third substance
\nis inserted, which is easier to move, then the work proceeds much more conveniently, and so
\nthey ease rotation by applying a fairly greasy fluid to the axle around a wheel
\nrevolves, in a similar way as they launch a ship into the water by using rollers placed
\nbeneath it. So too they carry out other movements with less effort, of which we have many
\nexamples everywhere in workshops, when they separate the stationary surface from the
\nmoving one by an intervening fairly greasy fluid. But in the self-acting body of animals all
\nthis is done even more ingeniously, or rather more divinely; here both the fluid produced
\nand the manner in which it is produced show a far greater skill. For the parts are so ordained<\/p>\n

that the fluid concealed nearby, as if in a store-chamber, is squeezed out more sparsely or
\nmore copiously according to the greater or less use there is for it, we ourselves not even
\nbeing aware of it, for after it has completed its function it is then carried away to other parts.
\nThus, in the mouth the movements of the parts are eased by the incoming saliva; thus
\nswallowing is eased by the slippery fluid which by that which is to be swallowed is
\nsqueezed out of the glands distributed below the mucous membrane. With the same
\nintention the inside of the whole intestinal canal is coated with mucous. But above all this is
\nseen most neatly in the eyes; for here some special ducts reveal themselves, both some
\nwhich supply the fluid intended to assist the movements of the eyelids, and others which
\ncarry away the same fluid elsewhere…”(Poulsen & Snorrason pps 85,86)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

            The reality of the presence of God’s love in nature spoke to Niels Stensen in his<\/p>\n

scientific investigations. In the foreword to his De glandulis oris he writes: “The structure of animals is the work of a master who is wise and who loves the living” (P\u00e5lsson 25).<\/p>\n

With regard to the importance of spending time in, and observing, the natural world he has some useful advice referring not only to the benefit accruing to oneself but also to one’s neighbour.<\/p>\n

“One sins against the Majesty of God if one refuses to look at nature’s own work and if one
\nis content with merely reading what someone else has written about it. That is the way to
\nconjure up for oneself different fanciful opinions. It means not only missing the joy of
\nbeholding God’s marvels, but also wasting time which could have been used for something
\nuseful and to the benefit of one’s neighbour, by lapsing into all sorts of things which are
\nunworthy of God.” (P\u00e5lsson 17)<\/p>\n

Niels has much to say about specialist and overall scientific enquiry, the significance of
\nhuman relationships, and of God as the origin and destination of all enquiry. Additionally
\nhe was ecumenical in outlook and, reading his work, we can observe a pattern of design in
\nnature that speaks of interconnectedness, interrelationship and interdependency founded on
\nlove and utterly awesome to reflect upon. The following observations highlight these
\npoints:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“For scientific research entails that one cannot keep the various areas isolated from each
\nother but is obliged to bring many of them into one’s consideration at the same time. And
\nthe longer one is occupied with the detail, the more elements one lacks in the whole and a
\nmore abundant area of research one finds in it.
\n(Poulsen & Snorrason 116)<\/p>\n

“This is the true aim of anatomy, to lift up our gaze through the accomplished artistry of the
\nbody to grasp the value of the soul and, as a consequence of the wonders of the body and of
\nthe soul, to teach us to know and to love the Creator… What we see is beautiful, what we
\ncan deduce is even more beautiful, but the most beautiful of all is that which we do not
\nknow.” (P\u00e5lsson 51)<\/p>\n

“It seems to me that after God there is nothing more holy in this world than<\/p>\n

a true friendship.” (P\u00e5lsson 41)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I desire with all my heart that all human beings may understand the word of God solely in
\naccordance with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that we can soon become again one
\nsoul, one heart, one sheepfold, one vine, one body, one only universal Church of Christ.
\nMay the all-holy Trinity bestow that grace on humanity, through the merits of Jesus Christ<\/p>\n

and by the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary and of all God’s true friends in heaven
\nand on earth.” (Op. Theol., 1, 474 in P\u00e5lsson 72)<\/p>\n

Specialist and Generalist Knowledge and the Systems Viewpoint<\/strong><\/p>\n

Niels Stenson’s view, written in his student diary when he was but 21 years old and
\nstudying medicine, that scientific areas of enquiry should not remain isolated from each
\nother (see above) brings to mind some thoughts stemming from another medical great,
\nHippocrates of Cos (469-399BC), thoughts which influenced the thinking of the Greek
\nhistorian Thucydides (C460-400 BC). They also bring to mind thoughts outlined by
\nAristotle in the beginning of his book, ‘On the Parts of Animals as follows:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            “There are, as it seems, two ways in which a person may be competent in respect<\/p>\n

of any study or investigation, whether it be a noble one or a humble: he may have either<\/p>\n

what can rightly be called a scientific knowledge of the subject; or he may have what is
\nroughly described as an educated person’s competence, and therefore be able to judge
\ncorrectly which parts of an exposition are satisfactory and which are not. That, in fact, is
\nthe sort of person we take the “man of general education to be; his “education” consists
\nin the ability to do this. In this case, however, we expect to find in the one individual the<\/p>\n

ability to judge of almost all subjects, whereas in the other case the ability is confined to
\nsome special science; for of course it is possible to possess this ability for a limited field
\nonly. Hence it is clear that in the investigation of nature, or natural science, as in every
\nother, there must first of all be certain fixed principles by which the acceptability of the
\nmethod of exposition may be tested, apart from whether the statements made represent
\nthe truth or do not.” (Aristotle, Parts of Animals, Book 1, first para.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aristotle opts for the benefits of an overall perspective in judging well in any situation.
\nIn Thucydides’ time the most conspicuous science that produced practical results was
\nmedicine. From Hippocrates he learned to treat the body politic as analogous to the
\nhuman body and to accept the corollary that it is impossible to understand the parts
\nwithout understanding the whole.
\nSystems theory, the modern version of this approach, facilitates recognition of the context
\nwithin which organizations and governments operate, and emphasizes the interrelations
\namong the various activities that are required to accomplish goals. The concept finds a
\nuseful explanation in the living organism analogy. From the most simple one celled
\nbacterium to the more complex living organisms one can observe the creature as an open
\nsystem’ made up of ‘sub-systems. There are inputs in the form of food, water, oxygen
\nand other materials and energy sources. There are the transforming processes of
\nmetabolism. And there are outputs of energy and waste products. Sub systems can be
\nobserved in complex organisms, e.g. circulatory, respiratory, digestive, etc.. Human
\norganizations can be viewed as open systems interacting with their environment. When
\nwe view communities in this way it becomes most significant that no part be examined in
\nisolation. Elements are interconnected, interrelated and interdependent. If an adjustment
\nis made to one part repercussions extend throughout the community. If the overall
\nenvironment within which a community operates changes then the community tends to<\/p>\n

adapt such that a healthy equilibrium is maintained.
\nWith increasing globalization the repercussions of activities and trends in different parts
\nof the world are being experienced with great force and promptitude, Economic swings
\nand disease trends are no respecters of geographic boundaries. Niall O’Brien, in his
\nforeword to Sean McDonagh’s book To Care for the Earth, gives a dramatic example. In
\njail in the Philippines and underfed, he and his companions had negotiated a 50 percent
\nincrease in their food allowance.<\/p>\n

            “Now just at that time the media announced that interest rates in the US were about<\/p>\n

to go up. (This was due to new borrowings by the US government for the strategic defence
\ninitiative – Star Wars.) Simultaneously the next interest payment on the Philippine
\nnational debt (then standing at twenty five billion dollars) rose accordingly. A bridging
\nloan of millions of dollars was needed immediately. The International Monetary
\nFund\/World Bank insisted on the peso being devalued and prices rose. Within a couple of
\nweeks the cook was back. Now she was the one protesting the new allowance would not
\nstretch: the fish shrank back to their old size. So finely tuned is the world economy today,
\nthat what happens in the First-World directly affects, within weeks, the diets of the Third-
\nWorld. It is a small world. It is one world, and we are each other’s keepers and we are
\nkeepers of the whole fragile earth which keeps us all.” (McDonagh, foreword)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stewardship of Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1990 the Director of Environmental Health of the World Health Organization advised
\nthe international community that: “In every country on this planet man made
\nenvironmental problems are being generated faster than we can solve or prevent them. In
\nother countries, environmental health capacity is inadequate to meet human needs even as
\nthe problems themselves change, becoming more complex, more critical, more urgent”.
\n(Kreisel 22)
\nThe General Assembly of the U.N in 1992, in a lead up to the Brazil Conference on
\nEnvironment and Development, informed the world community that it was<\/p>\n

“deeply concerned by the continuing deterioration of the state of the environment and the serious
\ndegradation of the global life support systems, as well as by trends that, if allowed to
\ncontinue, could disrupt the global ecological balance, jeopardize the life sustaining
\nqualities of the Earth and lead to an ecological catastrophe”. (N.Y. Prep Conference
\nPapers)
\nOur environment, on a global scale, has become less manageable because of fundamental
\nweaknesses in the strategies selected and by the conditionings and pressures exerted on
\nmen and women by dominating structures and mechanisms in the various spheres of
\nsociety. The roots of the global environmental crisis can be traced to the emergence of a
\nscientific and administrative approach largely insufficient for the analysis, programming
\nand management of the environment. Science and technology must be directed towards
\nthe good of humanity and, accordingly, be governed by ethical and moral principles. The
\nneed for a philosophy that can promote the development of a correct environmental
\nperception and form the basis of a balanced behaviour in the pursuit of environmental
\nhealth objectives is urgently needed today. (cf. Pacem in Terris 137, 138, 163, 164)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The biogeochemical equilibria which sustains life on earth has been significantly
\nmodified by mismanagement of the environment. Threats to human health, such as:
\ndepletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, presenting increased ultraviolet radiation;
\nglobal climatic change and deforestation, with consequent changes in the earth’s water
\ncycle; contamination of internationally traded foodstuffs with biological and chemical
\ncontaminants and pesticide residues; increases worldwide in the risk factors associated
\nwith poor food hygiene and in the incidence of diseases spread from animals to man<\/p>\n

These, and other examples point to the need for a global perspective and approach in
\nenvironmental stewardship.<\/p>\n

A modern approach should view the environment in an interrelational way, and
\nemphasizes the contributive role of the social partners, rather than the fragmentation of
\nknowledge into sectoralised areas where overspecialization predominates. In Urban
\nSystems in Crisis, Frederick Vester suggests that: “Only when we accept the fact that,
\neven in our civilization, not only are factories cross-linked with each other, not only
\nrivers with each other, not only the vegetable and animal worlds with each other, but also
\nriver systems with factories, factories with consumer behaviour, consumer behaviour
\nwith tax law, and this via national development planning with the location of factories,
\nthis with a change in traffic volume, which in turn is cross linked with human settlement
\nstructure, and this perhaps with criminality and drug abuse, can we begin to hope to make
\nthe right decisions and thus find the right solutions.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A global viewpoint opposes the vicious circle syndrome that has tended to dominate
\nsociety, creating structures and practices that fail to meet the environmental challenges
\nthat face us and do violence to the people that work within them. Sectoralization is
\npromoted at second level education leading students to select well circumscribed third
\nlevel courses. Graduates are recruited by sectoral government departments that only
\nwelcome into their fold qualifications specific to a narrow frame outlook, accepting the
\nmost specialized of the qualified group.<\/p>\n

The linear thinking outlook that blames badgers for the failure of animal disease
\neradication schemes, claims that grazing goats cause global desertification, and ignores
\nhuman health, safety and welfare criteria in environmental decision making, must not only
\nbe challenged, but must be replaced by an approach that recognizes the true nature of our
\nfragile earth, where not only is no man an island, but no scientific discipline; no state,
\nsemistate or private enterprise can ignore the environmental and social consequences of<\/p>\n

it’s activities.<\/p>\n

“…what distinguishes persons is not an increase in dignity,
\nbut a special and complementary capacity for service.<\/em>                         “Pope John Paul II<\/p>\n

A Pattern of Unfailing Dependence<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

God created all things with remarkable ease and brevity,
\nand in them he left some trace of who he is,
\nChristifideles Laici (n.20)
\nnot only in giving all things being from nothing,
\nbut even by endowing them with innumerable graces and qualities,
\nmaking them beautiful in a wonderful order and
\nunfalling dependence on one another.                                <\/em>St. John of the Cross (496)<\/p>\n

God has arranged all things in the world
\nin consideration of everything else.                                      <\/em>Hildegard of Bingen (Uhlein 65)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1991 the National Association of Adult Education of Ireland, Aontas, held a
\nworkshop at Killaloe, in County Clare. Some 45 people from different backgrounds,
\nthe fields of adult education and environmental science, came together and outlined and discussed their approaches to developing a course on “Caring for the
\nEnvironment”. Early on the first day it became apparent that the great variety of
\nperspectives and attitudes present could result in much disagreement. Some felt that
\nphilosophy and ethics had no place in a proposed course while others considered them as
\nan essential ingredient. Some dismissed theology as irrelevant while others considered it
\nas important in fostering a true understanding of guardianship. The great variety of
\nviewpoints also included those who saw human development as fundamental to any
\napproach, while others considered environmental management approaches too
\nanthropocentric. The depth of feeling on these issues had the potential to create a
\nsignificant barrier to communication and cooperation. In addition to the foregoing
\ndifferences of opinion on what has been termed “soft science” there were a variety of
\nscientific disciplines present with different concerns, approaches and priorities. At an
\nearly stage it appeared to me that the differences in approach presented insurmountable
\nobstacles. But I was wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the afternoon of the second day we were taken on a guided tour of North Clare<\/p>\n

and visited the area known as the Burren, a unique environment where Alpine and
\nMediterranean plants and other life forms thrive. As we walked the road and the land of
\nthe area the backgrounds of the different participants came into play in interpreting the
\nenvironment that we were observing. Agriculturalists, botanists, geologists, ecologists,
\nthose familiar with the local history and culture and others completed a picture of what
\nwe were looking at. Finally I found myself with a small group looking down on a
\npatchwork of ground about the size of a tabletop. It contained perhaps a hundred or more<\/p>\n

types of plants with all variety of beautiful flowers and, within these, a mix of living
\ncreatures, including insects, spiders and worms. Having experienced this patch of the
\nenvironment in terms of its great diversity and overall unity, in which interconnections,
\ninterrelationships and interdependencies revealed the importance of each element and the
\nsignificance of the overall pattern, I was struck by the fact that a group of people could
\nform a network, the model of which was the environment itself. Each member of this
\ndiverse group had an important contribution to make and our networking was of a pattern
\nof nature. We were a community united, sharing, open to the giftedness of each and all,
\ncaught up in God’s creation and delighting in the dynamic process that was a wondrous
\nexperience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Relationship in the Triune God<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Part 2 of the Encyclical letter Dominum et Vivificantem John Paul II treats of God the
\nFather, Son and Holy Spirit (n.8-10). Here we read that the intimate life of the Triune
\nGod involves an exchange of mutual love between the divine Persons that can only be
\nmade known to us through divine Revelation (n. 10). God, we are told, out of the
\nabundance of his love, speaks to men and women “as friends and lives among them, so
\nthat he may invite and take them into fellowship with himself” (n.34). The life of the
\nPersons of the Trinity, as revealed in John’s Gospel, “includes and clearly emphasizes the
\nrelationship of interdependence which could be called causal between the manifestations
\nof each…” (n.8).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using John 16:7 and following (“If I go, I will send him [Holy Spirit] to you…”),<\/p>\n

the encyclical explains this relationship of interdependence and why it can be spoken of as
\n‘causal’ (n.9,10). “The Holy Spirit will come insofar as Christ will depart through the
\nCross: he will come not only afterwards, but because of the Redemption accomplished by
\nChrist, through the will and action of the Father” (n.8). The highest point of the
\nrevelation of the Trinity, we read, is reached here in John’s Gospel (n.9). We are
\nintroduced to the inner life of God, where there is a concurrence in actions taken, and
\noutcomes occur and depend on the self-giving distinctive actions of each Person of the
\nBlessed Trinity. “The ‘departure’ of Christ through the Cross has the power of the
\nRedemption – and this also means a new presence of the Spirit of God in creation: the
\nnew beginning of God’s self communication to man in the Holy Spirit.” (n. 14) “God’s
\nlove has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
\n(Romans 5:5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/p>\n

A Pattern found in God and in God’s Creation<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

“It is by responding to the call of God contained in the being of things that man becomes
\naware of his transcendent dignity. Every individual must give this response, which
\nconstitutes the apex of his humanity, and no social mechanism or collective subject can
\nsubstitute for it. The denial of God deprives the person of his foundation, and consequently leads to a reorganization of the social order without reference to the person’s dignity and
\nresponsibility.”                                                                  <\/p>\n

                                                                                                        (Centesimus Annus, 13)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“When man disobeys God and refuses to submit to his rule, nature rebels against him and
\nno longer recognizes him as its ‘master’, for he has tarnished the divine image in himself.
\nThe claim to ownership and use of created things remains, but after sin its exercise becomes difficult and full of suffering (cf. Gen 3:17-19).”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                                                                                                   (Solicitudo Rei Socialis, 30)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The late Marshall McLuhan was convinced that ever since the invention of movable type,<\/p>\n

humankind received a great proportion of its information from print and had become eye
\norientated, and distorted in its perception of reality. Nature, up to and beyond the
\nindustrial revolution, tended to be viewed as linear and sequential, as made up of separate
\nparts, as fragmented and mechanical. According to McLuhan, were we more ear
\norientated our apprehensive faculties would be more true to nature and we would
\nperceive reality as orchestrated and ecological. To apprehend God’s creation, however, in
\na way that reveals the Triune God and his design for active loving human participation
\nrequires a change of heart which comes from God alone and involves our free response.
\nTo read the signs of the times requires that we be open to other humans and to creation
\nitself. The pattern which God has made has been revealed in Jesus, the second Person of
\nthe Blessed Trinity. A new world order is established by the incarnation and by the
\npassion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is nothing less than a new creation’,
\nthe mystery of God’s purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made from the beginning
\nthat he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in heaven and
\neverything on earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            Within the Trinity there is a dynamic relationship of unbounded and infinite love<\/p>\n

between the Persons. This involves reciprocity, mutuality, concurrence, receptivity,
\ncomplementarity and total self-giving with nothing lost on behalf of each of the three
\nPersons. The life of the Trinity is of overflowing fruitfulness, both within and outside of
\nGod, giving ground for creation, a covenant relation with the family of humans made in
\nGod’s image and likeness, and for salvation. The cross and the resurrection are the
\ndemonstration of both the constancy and spontaneity of Trinitarian love. It is a love into<\/p>\n

which humans are called and into which they are welcomed.<\/p>\n

. The Triune God …. giving himself in the Holy Spirit as gift to man, transforms the human world from within, from inside hearts and minds. Along this path the world, made to share in the divine gift, becomes …ever more human, ever more profoundly human.
\n(Dominum et Vivificantem n. 59).<\/p>\n

\u201cGod gives his theologians the words the images that enable them to speak of him to others. And to those others he speaks as a \u201csymbolic theologian\u201d – through nature,
\nthrough their inner experience and through his traces in human life and world history \u2013 thereby enabling them to understand the language of the theologians.\u201d (Stein 117)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aristotle, Parts of Animals<\/em>. Loeb Classical Library<\/p>\n

Bowie, Fiona and Davies, Oliver, Eds. Hildegard of Bingen<\/em>: An Anthology. Tr. Robert Carver. London.
\nSPCK, 1990<\/p>\n

Hildegard of Bingen. Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen<\/em>. Commentary Matthew Fox. Santa Fe. Bear &
\nCo., 1985<\/p>\n

John Paul II, Christ Alone Gives the Fullness of Divine Life<\/em>. Address at Prayer Vigil, Denver, Colorado, 14 Aug 93 in L’Osservatore Romano, 4\/11 Aug ’93<\/p>\n

Kreisel, W. Environmental Health in the 1990s<\/em>: Changes for Greater Effectiveness. In IJEH, vol 2, No. 1, 1990<\/p>\n

McBride, Alfred. A Retreat with Pope John XXIII Opening the Windows of Wisdom<\/em>. Cincinnati. St.
\nAnthony Messenger Press, 1996<\/p>\n

McDonagh, Sean. To Care for the Earth: a call to a new technology<\/em>. Santa Fe, NM: 1987<\/p>\n

P\u00e5lsson, Erik Kennet. Niels Stensen – Scientist and Saint<\/em>. Tr. M.N.L. Couve de Murville. Veritas. Dublin, 1988.<\/p>\n

Poulsen, Jacob E., Snorrason, Egill. Nicolaus Steno 1638-1686-A Re-consideration by Danish Scientists.<\/em>
\nNordisk Insulinlaboratorium Denmark, 1986<\/p>\n

Riga, Peter. Peace on Earth – A Commentary on Pope John’s Encyclical<\/em>. Paulist Press. New York, 1963<\/p>\n

Schepelem, H.D., Ed. Niels Stensen – A Danish Student in his Chaos-manuscript 1659.<\/em> Acta Historica
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St. Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux. Story of a Soul<\/em>. ICS Publications. Washington, 1972<\/p>\n

Stein, Edith. “Ways to Know God: The ‘Symbolic Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite and Its Objective
\nPresuppositions, in Knowledge and Faith<\/em>. ICS Publications. Washington, 2000<\/p>\n

The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross<\/em>. Tr. Kieran Kavanaugh. ICS Publications. Washington, 1991<\/p>\n

Uhlein, Gabriele. Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen<\/em>. Bear & Company Inc. Sante Fe, 1983<\/p>\n

von Balthasar, Hans Urs. Love Alone<\/em>. New York. Herder and Herder, 1969<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Trinitarian Pattern in Creation   By Fred O’Brien, EOHSJ Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.                                                 Romans 1:20   Now God has built the human form into the world structure, indeed even into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}