How many have seen the movie “The Perfect Storm?”
Our country seems to be facing such a storm. The coronavirus pandemic upended our booming economy. The tragic death of George Floyd in Minnesota ignited fiery protests. And the hurricane season has begun. Never have the words of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” been more appropriate: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs….”
Let us pray as we begin this liturgy: that justice will be served, that peace will prevail, and that all people – each created equal with the breath of God – will firmly safeguard our human rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
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I asked a couple, “You seem to be adjusting to the coronavirus very well. What’s your secret?” The wife answered, “Since the restaurants opened, we’ve been going to a restaurant for a delicious meal, fine wine, a specialty dessert, and then a leisurely drive home.” The husband added “She goes on Tuesdays. I go Fridays.” Now that’s social distancing!
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the feast of the triune God, the fundamental and distinctive truth of Christianity. We begin every liturgy, and are sent forth at the end, with the blessing of “the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Now when we hear the word “God,” what immediately comes to mind?
The Hebrew scriptures speak of God as a walking companion in Genesis, as tender as a mother in Isaiah. “Can a mother forget her child? And even if she should … I will never forget you.” These scriptures also speak of a God who wants to share his wisdom with us.
In the New Testament, the images of God in the parables of the good shepherd and the prodigal son are balanced with the parable of the last judgment: when we will see who we really are in the awesome light of God, our good deeds and misdeeds.
There are many splendid images, but all these cannot capture fully the inexhaustible reality of God.
The 19th century American author Henry David Thoreau wrote that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Now this may ring true for some people. Are folks so caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life that they easily forget life’s ultimate purpose?
No human relationship can completely satisfy us. We were born to live in relationship with God – the triune God – and today’s feast highlights that relationship.
The word of God today takes us back over 3,000 years to a key moment in salvation history, the Exodus, or liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt. God calls Moses to Mount Sinai a second time (after the Hebrews had broken their covenant) and reveals He is a merciful, compassionate and faithful God. Moses then begs God to dwell with his people. And God does!
Paul in his farewell letter appeals to the Christian community in Corinth to live a godlike life and then blesses them with that introductory prayer we hear so often at the beginning of liturgy. Paul might ask us: Do we practice god-like virtues in our daily lives?
The Gospel according to John describes God as the “Tremendous Lover” who became one of us so that we may have eternal life. Do we steer our life toward our ultimate purpose: eternal life with God and each other?
The mystery of the Trinity – one God yet distinctive in modalities or persons of Father, Son, and Spirit; a God in whom none is “other”; a God who is love – invites us to reflect upon that relationship with God and one another.
I think most people are aware of a relationship with God, perhaps more subconscious than conscious. We are forever trying to make better sense out of life, trying to find answers, especially in moments of crisis—for example, the death of a close relationship, the loss of a job, a life-threatening illness, misunderstandings, and so forth.
In moments like these, people often ask the fundamental questions of life. What on earth am I here for? Where is my life going? These are religious questions, questions we cannot help but try to answer.
As we go through the cycle of our own human development, we are forever trying to better integrate our lives. When we are young, we have so many hopes and dreams. The world is our oyster, so to speak. As we move through the middle years, we may want to live for something greater than ourselves, something that gives ultimate meaning.
At times, we may wonder. We seem to have accomplished so little, and now it is almost over. Life seems to be marred by too many tragedies: illness, societal violence, international threats, natural disasters.
But at other moments, we have experiences that lift us up. The joy of friendship, a patch of blue, a golden sunset, a starry sky, a good accomplishment. Such experiences can take us out of ourselves and into the presence of an awesome power. We begin to experience the transcendent dimension of our own lives. Yes, there must be a gracious God who is responsible for this magnificent universe and for creating our very lives: with the freedom to pursue true happiness.
Catholic Christianity says that there is indeed a gracious God whose presence among us can heal the brokenness of human life. This God became flesh in Jesus and is alive among us by the power of the Spirit. That is the mystery of the triune God, one in three: Father, Son, and Spirit.
This triune God, the model of self-giving love, empowers us to reach out to one another with compassion, forgiveness, a smile, a kind word, a helping hand. And in that, we become like the triune God in self-giving love.
And so let us pray on this feast, to quote the musical Godspell, for the grace to see the triune God more clearly, love this God more dearly and follow this God more nearly in our daily lives. Amen.
