Hekima Review No. 19 (May 1998)

As we approach the third millennium, it is time to take stock. The Catholic Church has enjoined her members to set aside time to reflect on the two thousand years since the Christ event. These last three years leading up to the millennium are being devoted specifically to a prayerful reflection on the Trinity: Jesus Christ (1997), the Holy Spirit (1998), and the Father (1999). In his contemplation on the Incarnation, St. Ignatius of Loyola invites the retreatant to contemplate the Trinity as they hold a community meeting to decide how to bring salvation to our world: "I try to enter into the vision of God, in his triune life [St. Ignatius uses the words, "Three Divine Persons"), looking upon our world: men and women aimless, despairing, hateful and killing, men and women sick and dying, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the happy and the sad, some being born and some being laid to rest. The leap of divine joy: God knows that the time has come when the mystery of his salvific plan, hidden from the beginning of the world, will become manifest." These words of St. Ignatius, published in 1548, are still relevant to our contemporary milieu.