Day 37: The Divine Economy (257-260)

• Today we are talking about The Divine Works and the Trinitarian Missions

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• What does that mean??

• Glad you asked, camper!!

• Basically we are going to hear how INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL God’s plan is for LIFE

• How INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL God has worked in TIME

• How INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL God has worked in SPACE

• How INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL God has worked in CREATION

• How INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL God has worked in the SALVATION OF THE WORLD

• That sounds HIGHFALUTIN!!

• BUT… 

• That’s because it is SUPER HIGHFALUTIN!! (For our international brothers and sisters the term “highfalutin” means fancy 😁)

• IT IS REALLY INCREDIBLE!!

• We will also talk about how the entirety of the DIVINE ECONOMY is the common work of the THREE DIVINE PERSONS

• Remember that word ECONOMY?

• What about OIKONOMIA?

• That order of the house?

• The management of the house?

• Here are the ways in which God has acted in time?

• So the whole DIVINE ECONOMY is the work of the THREE DIVINE PERSONS

• This means that when God the Father was CREATING, the Son was present and the Holy Spirit was active

• When the Son was REDEEMING THE WORLD, the Holy Spirit and the Father are PRESENT AND ACTIVE

• As the Holy Spirit continues to SANCTIFY THIS WORLD the Father and the Son are PRESENT AND ACTIVE

• So…

• The whole Divine Economy where God works and reveals Himself and gives His life to us is the common work of the THREE DIVINE PERSONS

• WHICH IS JUST INCREDIBLE!!

• Because of that, this is a work that is both COMMON and PERSONAL

• Therefore, the whole DIVINE ECONOMY(all the ways God has worked in this world and all the ways that He brings His life to us) makes known both what is proper to the Divine Persons and their one DIVINE NATURE

• MEANING…

• It makes known the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

• AND…

• It makes known the UNITY OF GOD ONE IN BEING

• Right?

• THE ONE BEING OF DIVINITY

• This might be a lot of words for you!! (Thank goodness I slow Fr. Mike down to 0.6x speed because I can’t imagine what he sounds like saying all these words at Fr. Mike-speed 🤣🤣Wait a second!! Fr. Mike can talk that fast and think at the same time? Is he some sort of superhero?? 😉)

• What’s the kernel?

• What’s the McNugget?

• The first McNugget is this…

• God in Himself is more than we can EXPRESS…

• More than we can CAPTURE…

• More than we can IMAGINE…

• More than we can DREAM OF…

• The second McNugget the Divine Economy is the work of the Father, the Son, AND the Holy Spirit

• They are working in UNIQUE WAYS

• But He never ever SEPARATES Himself

• He doesn’t ever ever DIVIDE Himself

• Even though He is DISTINCT Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

• HE IS COMPLETE UNITY!!!

• Therefore, whoever glorifies the Father does so THROUGH the Son IN the Holy Spirit

• So whoever follows Christ does so because the Father DRAWS him/her and the Holy Spirit MOVES him/her

• THIS IS THE INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE REALITY!!

• Not only is God GOODNESS IN HIMSELF 

• He reveals Himself which is the DIVINE ECONOMY

• As He communicates His very life which is the DIVINE ECONOMY

• Remember?

• He is still UNITED

• When ONE member of the Trinity acts, THEY ALL ACT

• The ultimate end of the WHOLE DIVINE ECONOMY is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect life of the TRINITY

• So the whole point of God REVEALING HIMSELF…

• The whole point of God COMMUNICATING HIS VERY LIFE…

• Is so that you and I can be brought into the PERFECT UNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• We will conclude with this Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

• She captures the desire that SHOULD BE IN EVERY ONE OF OUR HEARTS

• THAT WE FORGET OURSELVES AND LEAN ENTIRELY INTO THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY!!

• WE LEAN ENTIRELY INTO THE RELATIONSHIP THAT IS LOVE!!

• It is the relationship through which ALL LOVE WE HAVE EVER KNOWN COMES!!

• That Love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

• Hope that makes sense!!

• If it doesn’t yet, it will by the time we finish reading these 4 chapters (paragraphs…please God, make Fr. Mike mean paragraphs!! 😉)

• Let's start praying!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We ask you to please bless this time and guide these next few minutes, that what you've revealed to us through your Church, about your very identity, and about your very mission, and about our very ultimate end, may be understood by all of us. So that we can not only apprehend you, not only comprehend you, not only get closer to you, but ultimately, find our home with you forever. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen”

• OK!!

• Man!!

• You guys!!

• I’m telling you!!

• Isn’t it just…

• I don’t know if YOU have this experience…

• Everyday is better!

• Fr. Mike keeps saying that the first few days were kind of a grind

• BUT…

• Here we are in Paragraphs 257-260 and they are just…

• THIS IS POETRY!!

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• What did we just talk about?

• What did we just hear about?

• What did we just learn about?

• Paragraph 257…

• OH MAN!!

• “God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the ‘plan of his loving kindness,’ conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his Beloved Son: ‘He destined us in love to be his sons’ and ‘to be conformed to the image of his Son,’ through ‘the spirit of sonship.’”

• So here is THE FATHER with the SPIRIT OF SONSHIP and the HOLY SPIRIT and it just all COMES TOGETHER!!

• (Fr. Mike sure sounds euphoric doesn’t he? 😁)

• IT IS REALLY INCREDIBLE!!

• INCREDIBLE!!

• INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 257 continues, “It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church.”

• What is that talking about?

• It unfolds in the work of CREATION

• God FREELY WILLS to create this world

• Why??

• So that ALL OF HIS CREATURES can share His Divine Life

• BUT…

• Then there is THE FALL

• So there is the whole history of Salvation AFTER THE FALL 

• AND THEN…

• There are the missions of the Son and the Spirit which are CONTINUED TODAY IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• WHICH IS JUST INCREDIBLE!!

• INCREDIBLE!! (I think Fr. Mike has set a new record for the number of INCREDIBLES in this episode!! 😁)

• So here is what God wants to do with this world

• Paragraph 258 is just…

• I don’t know you guys!!

• It seems SO BEAUTIFUL

• It’s also SO SIMPLE

• It’s also SO MYSTERIOUS

• Do you yet remember what DIVINE ECONOMY IS? 

• Because Fr. MIke explains what it is whenever he mentions DIVINE ECONOMY!! 😉

• DIVINE ECONOMY is the way in which God has REVEALED HIMSELF and how He communicates His VERY LIFE TO US IN THE WORLD

• Paragraph 258 says, “The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons.”

• This isn’t JUST the work of the Father

• This isn’t JUST the work of the Son

• This isn’t JUST the work of the Holy Spirit

• Paragraph 258 continues, “For as the Trinity has only one and the same nature, so too does it have only one and the same operation: ‘The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle.’ However each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property.”

• Council of Constantinople II (553 AD) says, “One God and Father FROM WHOM all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, THROUGH WHOM all things are, and one Holy Spirit IN WHOM all things are.”

• So the Father and Son and Holy Spirit each have THEIR OWN UNIQUE…SOMETHING…that they are bringing to this

• AND YET…

• IT IS ONE AND THE SAME OPERATION!!

• IT IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• We recognize how God has been working in this world

• What is that called again, class?? 🤔😉

• DIVINE ECONOMY!!

• How God is WORKING IN THE WORLD

• How God is BRINGING HIS LIFE TO US IN THIS WORLD

• How God is REVEALING HIMSELF TO US IN THIS WORLD

• AND YET…

• God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…

• Whenever ONE of them is PRESENT AND ACTIVE…

• ALL OF THEM ARE PRESENT AND ACTIVE!!

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• THEREFORE…

• Whenever we PRAY…

• WE ARE ALWAYS PRAYING IN THE TRINITY!!

• Paragraph 259 says, “Everyone who glorifies the Father does so THROUGH the Son IN the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father DRAWS him and the Spirit MOVES him.”

• There is NO LOSS of the Father when we EMPHASIZE the Son

• There is NO LOSS of the Holy Spirit when we EMPHASIZE the Father

• There is NO LOSS of the Father or Son when we PRAY IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED!!

• Because these THREE DIVINE PERSONS share ONE SINGLE DIVINE UNITY

• The Prayer of Elizabeth of the Trinity is AMAZING!!

• “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…”

• There is something SO POWERFUL about this

• You and I have been BAPTIZED and therefore brought into the LIFE OF THE TRINITY

• THE LIFE OF THE TRINITY DWELLS INSIDE EACH ONE OF US

• YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!

• Remember…

• Where ONE person of the TRINITY is present, then ALL OF THEM ARE PRESENT

• THE ENTIRE HOLY TRINITY IS PRESENT!!

• So we are the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• THE FATHER…

• THE SON…

• Are present to US

• AND YET…

• Here is Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity praying

• ETERNITY IS IN YOU!!

• ALL OF US!!

• ETERNITY IS IN US!!

• That can sound kind of “new-agey”

• But Fr. Mike is talking about IN THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY

• The MYSTERY of the Trinity is that GOD DWELLS INSIDE OF US

• GOD IS INFINITE!!

• GOD IS WITHOUT TIME!!

• GOD IS OUTSIDE OF TIME!!

• AND YET…

• GOD COMES TO US IN TIME!!

• So in that way we can say that ETERNITY IS IN YOU

• THIS UNCHANGING GOD IS PRESENT TO YOU!!

• So we ask God, “Please, God, always be present. Always make my heart your heaven.”

• That’s what Blessed Elizabeth prayed!!

• “Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest.”

• That’s what we pray for EVERY SINGLE DAY

• That every one of us can not only acknowledge God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit united in this single action

• That all comes FROM the Father THROUGH the Son IN the Holy Spirit

• Here we are and we find ourselves WRAPPED IN THE FATHER’S LOVE which comes to us THROUGH the Son IN THE POWER of the Holy Spirit

• So we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit for each other

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!

Scripture References & Reflections

- compiled by Andrew Adamany

Bible Translation - RSVCE

CCC 257 "God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the "plan of his loving kindness", conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: "He destined us in love to be his sons" and "to be conformed to the image of his Son", through "the spirit of sonship"...

Ephesians 1:3–10

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

Romans 8:14–17

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

Romans 8:28–30

"We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified."

"This plan is a "grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began", stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church.

2 Timothy 1:8–10

"Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

CCC 258 "The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same nature, so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle." However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are". It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons."

1 Corinthians 8:6

"yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

Ephesians 4:30

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

CCC 259 "Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him."

John 6:44–47

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life."

John 6:63 

"It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

Romans 8:14

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

CCC 260 "The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity."...

John 17:20–23 

“I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me."

"But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity"

John 14:23–26 

"Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 

“These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."