CYCLE C TRINITY SUNDAY
1. Many people believe in ‘GOD’ in some sort of way. Only Christians believe in the revelation of Jesus as God, who was SENT to us by the Father and who says “the Father and I are one”. Then too, only Christians believe that the Father and the Son will send the Holy Spirit who is God. In speaking of God in this way, Christians use the word TRINITY (Which is NOT a biblical term) to describe the reality of believing in One God, with three persons: FATHER- SON- SPIRIT.
2. Our belief in God developed in 3 ways.
1st. It has come to us from generations of thoughtful reflection on CREATION. This reflection leads us to be aware that we ourselves are created, and more importantly there is a superior being who is the CREATOR.
2ND in reflection and meditation about HUMAN LIFE. Our capacity to do GOOD, the capacity to do EVIL, and the times of helplessness before the elements of NATURE and the frailty of humanity to each other that leads people to CALL ON a superior being we have named God, to be SAVED.
3rdly in REVELATION. Revelation to Moses brings to bear on Human history the KNOWLEDGE that there is ONE God, who is above all other gods, who not only CREATES and SAVES, but now He SUSTAINS all people as well. And in the case of Moses He sustained a chosen people (the Israelites) in a singularly personal relationship.
Importantly then people came to believe that this God is not only the ‘I Am’ God, he is also the God who ‘is with us’.
3. HOW IS ‘God with us’? Jesus describes that reality. It is Jesus who then speaks of Himself as one with the God, and that he was sent to SAVE us from our sins. In His mission, he also speaks of the Gift of the Holy Spirit that he will send to SUSTAIN us in our journey. Jesus speaks also of the Oneness of God and the distinctive life of love within God. (Father, Son and Spirit). Again the God who CREATES, SAVES and SUSTAINS us.
4. The early church gathered up these truths and their implications and formulated the language which we have in our creed and teachings. Language which helps us to explain the reality of God, as best as language can. Words, like Trinity, Incarnation, Resurrection, Ascension or expressions like One God in 3 persons. All of which we use even while knowing God is beyond our comprehension and the fullness of life God promises is beyond our expectations.
5. If who God is for you, has become VAGUE or CONFUSED, or even something you may be INDIFFERENT about, Trinity Sunday tries to remind us of the GREATNESS of our God. It SHOUTS to us, our God IS God and we are NOT, we are the created and redeemed and in need of constant care.
6. Trinity Sunday teaches us some things about our Christian life. It reminds us to be filled with awe at creation. To remember we share in God’s creative power. Thus as Catholics our profound reverence for all of human life. We must live and proclaim our moral tasks:
A. We must be open to giving life in every marital act of love,
B. To defend the unborn from the moment of conception,
C. To protect the frail and the innocent.
D. To care for ourselves and take care of the earth. As God is a community of love, we also have a moral responsibility to work for the human expression of love and justice in our communities and among nations.
7. The celebration of the Trinity speaks to our faith, our prayer, knowledge and priorities. It invites us to be open to Saving Love. No Christian life can be successfully lived with out adoration and worship of God who says to us “I am the Lord, your God, you shall not have strange gods before you.” Every idol in your life, everything you covet, and preoccupy yourself with can be the strange god, stirring up selfishness, jealousy, indifference or animosity.
8. God invites us to love God more each day. Trinity Sunday tells us to lead a life that is spiritually sustaining. Our God says to us, “Thou shall keep holy the Lord’s day”. If we do not do this, God’s love is not fully received and our love in not given back. No catholic can claim to be living a catholic way of life without hearing Gods’ word and receiving Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
9. On Trinity Sunday, listen in your soul for God’s loving presence. Look up to the heavens and all creation for God’s loving power. And look up at this Mass at Christ Jesus in the Eucharist, for God’s Saving love. And look to the Spirit to make your life holy. All this is yours.
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