Re: trinity QUESTION from Rosa on May 10, 2004

In your response to Joe on May 7th, you were trying to give an adequate analogy to describe the relationship of the Trinity. I heard once that where the Son is, the Father and Holy Spirit are too... the 3 are always present together. So... how about... Siamese triplets? *ponders* Getting warmer?
Anyway, this story might help answer Joe's question:http://www.immaculateheart.com/webforum/_disc2/archives/0000007e.htm

ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on May 11, 2004

Dear Rosa:
The Siamese triplets cannot be used because each of the persons have their own human nature. With the Trinity there is only one divine nature, but three persons. With Siamese Triplets there are three persons with three distinct human natures sharing parts of one body
The idea of a man being a father, a son, and a husband is closer. There is one human nature and three roles. This is also imperfect because the Trinity is not three roles that God is performing, but three distinct persons with one divine nature.
The story you mentioned about St. Augustine is a great and famous one, and one that is so true. Rather then providing the link I have copied the story below:

One day, after spending many fruitless nights trying to fully comprehend the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, St. Augustine was walking along the beach as an attempt to clear and sooth his mind. As he was wandering, he came across a young boy playing on the beach. The boy had dug a hole in the sand, and was racing back and forth between the ocean and his hole filling his bucket from the sea and emptying it into his hole.
St. Augustine watched the boy for a few minutes, then approached, asking:My son, what is it you are trying to accomplish?.
The boy looked up and said, I'm going to empty the ocean into this hole.
St. Augustine laughed, saying, My dear child, you cannot possibly empty the ocean into that small hole!.
The boy stopped, looked the saint straight in the eye, and said in a voice that struck St. Augustine straight to his soul, I have a far better chance of emptying the oceans of the world into this tiny hole, than you have of completely understanding the mystery of the Trinity, Augustine.
With that, the boy vanished, leaving St. Augustine alone on the beach. The saint realized that he had been visited by an angel, and realized that he had reached the limits of his comprehension of the Mystery.

While our Faith is a Faith of reason, while God can be known by reason alone (according to the Council of Trent), our reason, our imaginings, our pondering cannot breach the veil of the mysteries of the Faith. That is why they are mysteries. God reveals a portion of Himself to us through the Bible and the Church, but we still see through a glass darkly until that day we meet Him in eternity.
God Bless,Bro. Ignatius Mary