By Joseph Wehbe
“Who can fully comprehend God as Holy Trinity? So great is this mystery far beyond our scrutiny!” We sing these words in the entrance hymn of the Divine Liturgy of the second Sunday of Pentecost, the Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity.
Our ancestors asked the same question and struggled to comprehend such a mystery, as it is beyond our human understanding.
Yet the Holy Trinity—God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—invites us into this mystery, the mystery of divine love.
God’s desire for us is to be carriers of his love wherever we go.
Our mission, in this great mystery, is to share this love with others by pouring it into their hearts through the words we speak, how we live, the sincerity of our prayers and our desire to say “yes” to doing God’s will.
Manifesting the unique gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us is the push we need to deepen our relationship with the Holy Trinity.
Who better to teach us how to do this than Mary, the daughter of the Father, mother of the Son and spouse of the Holy Spirit?
She is the treasure ship of the Holy Trinity. She carries the merciful love of the Father, the abundant grace of the only begotten Son and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in her immaculate heart that sails toward the harbour of deep unity and holiness.
Despite the intimate union which she has with the Holy Trinity she waited, with the apostles in the upper room, as they awaited the descent of the Holy Spirit.
The concept of waiting was not a foreign concept for Mother Mary. During her son Jesus’ missionary work, he visited the towns of Tyre and Sidon, located on the coast of Lebanon.
According to sacred tradition she would wait in a cave in a town called Maghdouche, which is in the south of Lebanon, for Jesus to return so they could make their way back to Israel.
Maghdouche derives from the Syriac word Kadish, which means holy. The title given to Mary from this shrine is Mantara, which means waiting.
The lesson she teaches us here from her school of wisdom is that, by waiting, we are being moulded in holiness.
As you read this you may be thinking, “The waiting period is uncomfortable; I can’t handle it anymore.”
“Why do I have to wait for God to answer me? I’m giving him all I that am, why isn’t he doing something?”
These are normal reactions to the need to wait. If you are battling with these thoughts now, take comfort that you are not alone when it comes to waiting.
Waiting is a purifying experience of deepening one’s relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is like seeing through a sacred lens beyond what the human eye can see.
I visited the shrine of Our Lady of Maghdouche in South Lebanon last week and was moved to write these words:
Oh God, as I wait on what You have planned for me, I know that I am not alone, for Your mother is with me.
Yes, Mother Mary, I will wait with you pondering the graces your Son has, and continues to fill me with.
Through the power of Your spouse, the Holy Spirit, may I be made holy as I sit in this holy place, where you waited for Jesus while He was on mission in Tyre and Sidon.
Our Lady of Maghdouche and of Awaiting, Pray for us!
Joseph Wehbe has just completed a Master of Arts (Chaplaincy Studies) at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney campus. He is Choir Leader at St Raymond’s Maronite Parish in Sydney.