Homily: Most Holy Trinity – Cycle A
Friends,
having just completed our annual remembrance of the mysteries of our salvation,
we enter back into Ordinary Time, but not without some celebration. Having celebrated all that God has done to
save us, we enter back into Ordinary Time by celebrating who God is, in
himself: that is, the eternal, all-powerful being—who is being itself—who has
revealed himself to us as three distinct persons, yet one being. We celebrate this because, in revealing
himself to us, God reveals also that he wants to be in relationship with us:
his creation who, although participating in the one being that he is in
himself, are distinct creatures, nonetheless.
Perhaps
the question might come to us, “Is this really a big deal?” In other words, “Does it really matter for us
to know these details about who God is?”
This is a good question to ask because it gets at the heart of what
religion is about. Many people believe
that religion is just a way to define morality.
In other words, that religion is just a way to explain why we must
follow certain rules about our behavior that seem to be common for
everyone. Friends, if this is the case,
then knowing the details about who God is doesn’t really matter and celebrating
God as a Trinity of Divine Persons isn’t important. If God is just the rule giver, then it’s not
terribly important that we know him personally.
Thankfully,
religion is not about defining the rules for our behavior, but rather it is
about the invitation that God makes to us to be in relationship with him and,
therefore, about understanding how we can be in relationship with him. In this light, then, it is very important
that we understand the details about who God is. Therefore, it is a big deal that God has
revealed himself as a Trinity of Divine Persons since it helps us to enter more
deeply into a relationship with him (which, ultimately, we do by ordering our
behaviors rightly).
And
so, how do I know this? Well, in part,
it’s by the scriptures that we have heard proclaimed today. “God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal
life.” God literally loved all creation
into being. In other words, out of a
desire that beings other than himself might delight in the love that he is in
himself, he fashioned the whole created universe and placed us, the human race,
made in his image and likeness, in it so that we might share in his love. When the human race fell from this grace
through sin, God didn’t stop loving us, but rather set into motion the plan to
restore us to his grace and, thus, to share fully in his love again. He did this by revealing himself to the human
race over the centuries: from Abraham and his descendants—namely, Moses and the
Israelite people—up to the time when God himself took on our human nature in Christ
Jesus, and, ultimately, by dwelling in believers through the Holy Spirit. In all this, he showed the truth that Saint
John reveals to us: that “God so loved the world…”
This
invitation continues to be extended to us today. When we, by the light of grace, come to
understand who we are (that is, creatures loved into being by our Creator), as
well as for what we were made (that is, to partake in the supreme happiness of love
that God is in himself), then we come to understand how it is that we should
order our lives (that is, by what rules we should live in order to realize the
purpose for our existence). Knowing who
God is in himself—a Trinity of Divine Persons, perfectly united as One, who
created us to be united to him in his uncreated Unity—helps us to turn away
from the things of this world that keep us from that Unity so that we might
receive from God the life of eternal bliss for which we were made. Thus, we spend an entire Sabbath Day
celebrating God and honoring him for revealing the truth about himself to us.
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Beyond
celebration and honor, however, what should our response be to this great truth? In other words, knowing what we know because
of God’s self-revelation, what should our attitude to God be? The answer is: trust. Aside from being a Trinity of Divine Persons,
God has revealed himself to be all-powerful and all-knowing. This, of course, means that he knows
everything (even our most-hidden secrets) and that nothing that we can do
(individually or collectively) can stop him if he decides to do something. He has also revealed himself to be good:
which means that he will never use his power or his knowledge against us. This he revealed when he spoke to Moses
(which we heard in our first reading): “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and
gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” Because he is Good, we can trust in his
revelation that he “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”
My
friends, if any of you is here at this Mass and find yourself struggling to
trust God for whatever reason, please know that God is inviting you to see anew
the truth about who he is: “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich
in kindness and fidelity” who “did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He is inviting you to know him personally as
Father, Son, and Spirit and so to enter deeply into the love that he is
himself: a love for which your heart longs.
He knows you deeply—better than you know yourself—and he has the power
to transform your life for the good, because he is Good. Therefore, I urge you to take courage and to
place your trust in him again (or, perhaps, for the first time). When you do, he will make himself known to
you even more intimately and strengthen you to overcome any difficulty.
And
how do I know this? Because right here
at the Mass he continues to do what he has already done: he sends his Son to
this altar in the appearance of bread and wine so that we might receive him and
be strengthened in courage to trust him ever more. As we offer our thanksgiving for this great
gift of knowing him as he truly is, let us open our hearts to him and to praise
him: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel,
IN – June 4th, 2023
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