A blessed Memorial Day weekend. We remember the more than 1.2 million men and women who died in wars of our nation. We honor them for sacrificing their lives so that we can enjoy our freedoms. I invite us all to share a moment of silent prayer for these brave men and women. Eternal rest etc.
Pope Francis this weekend is convening the first World Children's Day -- inviting thousands of children from over 100 countries to Rome. More than 100,000 children are expected. One theme is, what kind of a world do we adults wish to pass on to our children? The pope will encourage them to listen to life advice from grown-ups and make peace a priority among all people.
Children have lively images of God. Some of you may remember a book titled Dear God: Children’s Letters to God? I think of letters such as:
Dear God, Thank you for my parents, my sister Anita, and for my grandma and grandpa. I forgive you for my brother Phil. I guess you didn’t finish working on him.
One of my favorite stories is about children lined up in the cafeteria. At the beginning of the line was a pile of apples. A teacher put a note on the apple tray: “Take only one. God is watching.” At the other end of the line, there was a table with a pile of chocolate-chip cookies. And a youngster wrote a note: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples.” Yes, children have lively imaginations.
Today we celebrate the mystery of the triune God: a God completely beyond us and yet completely within us.
To put this mystery simply: the God of the universe became flesh in Jesus and lives in our midst by the power of the Spirit, especially in the sacramental life of the Church. Yes, one God in three distinct modes, empowering us to participate in God's life. And so, we begin every prayer in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In today’s Word of God, Moses poses a series of rhetorical questions to his fellow Hebrews. God, Moses says, has appeared as a creator, a worker of signs and wonders, and a loving parent. God promises peace and prosperity if the Hebrews will be faithful to the covenant God made with them on Mount Sinai. We might ask ourselves: how faithful are we to our baptismal promises? Or how faithful are we to our responsibilities?
Paul in his letter to the Romans speaks about our new relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit: we are sons and daughters of God and heirs to the kingdom. Paul might ask us: Do we live in light of that ultimate purpose.
And in the Gospel, Jesus sends us forth to continue his saving work in all nations: “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The mystery of the triune God, a God of distinctive relationships, invites us to ask: What kind of a relationship do we have with God?
People do have a relationship with God, perhaps more subconscious than conscious. The scriptures give us many splendid images of God: a walking companion, tender as a mother, wanting to share true wisdom with us. Yet all these images cannot capture the inexhaustible reality of God.
We are forever asking questions, seeking answers. In moments of crisis especially, people ask fundamental philosophical questions. Does my life have meaning? What is my purpose? Where is my life going? These are religious questions.
As we grow older, we may feel we have accomplished so little and now it is almost over. What was my life all about?
Life seems to bring so many senseless tragedies— mindless hate and violence, and natural disasters, like hurricanes and tornados.
But we also have experiences that shake us into immense wonder and joy. It could be the experience of our first child or grandchild or a glorious sunrise or sunset. Perhaps it’s a friendship, or the achievement of a goal.
Such experiences can lift us out of ourselves into the presence of a power beyond us. We experience the transcendent dimension of life: especially when we seek God's truth in these experiences.
Yes, there must be an awesome God responsible for this incredible universe. Catholic Christianity proclaims that this gracious and compassionate and forgiving God can heal the brokenness of human existence.
And that’s why God became flesh in Jesus and is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit.
Just as God showed us his face in Jesus, crucified and risen and alive in the Spirit, the triune God compels and empowers us to show the face of God to one another and continue the work of Jesus, by reaching out to one another with compassion, forgiveness, kind words, a helping hand. In reaching out to others, God empowers us to reach up to God.
I love that prayer in the play Godspell: Three things I pray:
to see Thee more clearly;
to love Thee more dearly, and
to follow Thee more nearly, day by day.
Let us pray this feast of the Trinity, and day by day, that we may see God, love God and keep close to God all the days of our lives. Amen.
