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Homily – May 30

In today’s feast of the Holy Trinity we celebrate a truth that separates us from people of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. They, like us, believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We also believe that this same God of our fathers so loved the world that He sent His Son to the world and the Son so loved us He gave His life for us. Last week we celebrated the wonder of Father and Son sending their Spirit to the church. That Spirit of truth guides us into all truth.
I hope you’re not expecting me to explain the Trinity to you. That’s not going to happen. Even when we see God face to face and know God as God is, we will be mystified by the wonder of God. God is beyond the limited capabilities of our human minds.

This feast of the Holy Trinity teaches us that the inner life of God is a life of relationships – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We pray in the Mass – all life, all holiness comes from you Father, thru your son Jesus Christ our Lord, by the workings of the Holy Spirit. Through God’s goodness, shown to us in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, we are invited into those relationships. When we are baptized God’s Holy Spirit is poured into our very being and gives us the boldness to call God, Father/Mother. God’s Holy Spirit permeates our very being, molding and fashioning us into the image of God’s Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him, to complete His work on earth and bring us to the fullness of grace.

The creative, life giving, love giving relationship of the Trinity is to be the model of all our relationships. Our very existence springs from the creative love relationship of our mother and father. Our whole lives are lived in relationships, the life and death of each of us has its influence on others. We do not go through life untouched or untouching.

Instead of trying to sort out the mystery of the Trinity we can use this feast as the occasion of our personal examination as to how creative, how life giving, how healing we are in our relationships, whatever those relationships may be. On this feast of the Trinity we can ask the question, in my relationships am I a source of life, love, growth, healing and forgiving? Do I enrich the lives of others by my friendship? Are people better people through their friendship with me? Do I encourage and foster the gifts and abilities of others? Do I give my spouse, my sons or daughters, my friends, the freedom to be themselves, to find their own way? Is my friendship strong enough that I am willing to confront or face up to issues that are not healthy, that can weaken my relationship?

Forming and maintaining good healthy relationships is not easy. Friends fall out, husbands and wives split, parents and children are alienated. That’s why its important to question ourselves, am I a control freak, am I a demanding person, a needy person, do I try to manipulate, dominate family or friends? Does everything have to center of me? Living in healthy, life giving relationships is a life time task. When all is said and done our whole lives will be judged on how we lived our many relationships; with family, friends or strangers. These are the facts by which our lives will be judged. I was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned and you were there for me. Welcome into the eternal life giving relationship of Father, Son and Spirit, for as often as you did these things to one of these, the least of mine, you did it to me.

As we continue to celebrate this feast and Mass, we can pray for ourselves and for each other that God’s Holy Spirit be with us to help live in holy, life giving, life sustaining, life enriching relationships. When life is over may we all be blessed to hear those welcoming words, “come blessed of my Father take as your own the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, you were always there for me, now I am here for you.

This Homily entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010.