Trinity Sunday is the Feast of God's love and mercy.

 

TRINITY SUNDAY  B  2021

This past week, I had the great joy of celebrating with family the fourth birthday of my grand niece Taylor Lewis.  Taylor had been anticipating her birthday for some time and her birthday joy was infectious and we all shared in her love.  I will say that there was a brief meltdown that while Taylor was running in her back yard, she fell and her demeanor changed a bit.  I then put a band aid on her finger that really wasn’t medically warranted but it did help to make her feel better and the party atmosphere resumed.

I tell you on this Feast of the Blessed Trinity as a lead in for us to understand the mystery of the dogma of the Blessed Trinity.

Taylor’s birthday was a source of great family joy among her four siblings, her parents, her grandparents, her aunt and uncle.  This family gathering reaffirms for me that family is the school of love.  Even more than her presents which were important to her, Taylor knows deep in her heart, she is much loved.

Taylor’s birthday party is a beautiful way of introducing this Feast of the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.  Hold that thought for a moment or two.

Embedded within us is a Trinitarian Spirituality.   We believe in God the Father who is our creator and life-giver.  All is a gift of God.  We believe that God sent his only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, into the world to reveal God’s love for us and to be our Savior and Lord.  We believe in God the Holy Spirit who, on the great feast of Pentecost which we celebrated last Sunday, was sent to us as the Breath and the Spirit of God who will be with us all days until the end of time.  We are the recipients of the gifts of the Spirit that are to be used and shared in the service of one another and the building up of our faith community.

There have been many books written on the dogma, the doctrine of the Trinity – of three persons in one God.   Taylor’s birthday party was all about the love we have for this precious child of God, and our family gatherings are about our relationships with each other that are so life-giving for all of us.  So too, a summary of the great mystery of the Trinity is that God is love.  God is revealed as a communion of persons.  The love that is within the union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is shared with us.  As the Gospel proclaims:  “God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son so  that  everyone who believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               This feast day of the Blessed Trinity is not a feast for scholars; it is a celebration for lovers.  We celebrate the mystery of the inner life of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,  The inner life of God is communal, is relational; it is family,  In contemplating the Trinity, we reflect on the family of God.  Today is feast of God’s love and mercy.  Pope Francis Writes that mercy reveals the very nature of the Most Holy Trinity.

Moses is the first person to address us in today’s Liturgy of the Word.  We get to eavesdrop on a homily he preached to inspire his people to strengthen their commitment.  If we listen as heirs of his tradition, we hear him call us to remember our own experience of God.  He took his people through their memories of the Exodus and hearing God’s voice.  That suggests that we too might recall how and when we have been aware of God’s presence, of God’s love, of God’s grandeur.  He’s recommending that we allow this Day of the Lord to claim some of our time so that we can remember and appreciate the ways we have come to know God in our individual and communal lives. 

On this Memorial Day weekend, may we remember those who have given their lives in the service of our country.  We gather in prayer as a grateful nation and a grateful people.  This leads us into the Eucharistic mystery as we gather to give thanks to the Lord our God.

Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final appearance to the disciples and his commissioning of them to carry on the work of evangelization.  Jesus said to his disciples:  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing time in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This is a much expanded vision than the earlier mandate to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

One of Pope Francis’s favorite themes is the commission given to us by the Lord himself is for us to be missionary disciples.  This call demands that we meet people where they are; we accompany people in the journey of life wherever we find people; and we proclaim to them their God-given dignity as God’s beloved sons and daughters.  As missionary disciples we don’t wait for people to come to us, we are commissioned and sent forth to raise people up wherever they are and help them to claim the love that God has for them.

As we celebrate and seek to understand the mystery of the Trinity, we try to explain the meaning of the Trinity in words, but it must be known in the experience of God that goes beyond words.  As we participate in the divine life of God in the sacraments, we share in the love of God.

And so, we begin our liturgy and most often we begin our prayer and we were baptized:  “In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.”  We profess our faith and trust in the God who is love.  

The final sentence of today’s Gospel are the words of Jesus; “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  The divine presence will remain with the disciples perpetually.  As the disciples of the Lord, may we hear those words of Jesus spoken to us:  “I am with you.”  I am with you as a God of love, as a God who calls us to help others claim the love that God has for them.

 

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

On this Mother's Day, we thank all the mothers of our parish for revealing the face of God to us in their love for us.

 

Sixth Sunday of Easter  2021  B

 

This Sunday’s Gospel is the vision statement of the mission and ministry of Jesus: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.”  If we truly “get” this one statement – “As the Father loves me, so I also love you” – then we have understood the primary Gospel message.

Look back in the Gospels and see for yourself.  All of the great stories Jesus ever told – the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the woman caught in adultery, the washing of the feet, the cleansing of the lepers, the curing of the blind and the lame – all of these tell the same single tale:  Each of us is graciously, eternally and infinitely loved by God.

As a result of this boundless love relationship that Jesus offers to each of us, he makes only one single request – the very same one he gave to his disciples: “This I command you:  love one another.”

What are the love stories of your life?  In your family life, with the love you share with your spouse, with the love you share with your children and grandchildren, does this not make you more aware of how your life is blessed?  The family is the school of love.  The love you receive in your family life is a precious, precious gift.  Equally the love you give to your family makes you a better person. 

On this Mother’s Day, we thank all the mothers of our parish community for revealing the face of God to us in their love for us.  Their love for us reveal the mystery of God’s love.

For myself, grounded in my mother’s love, I have experienced the love story of my priestly ministry.  Recently this past week, I presided at six funeral liturgies, been involved with families in baptismal and First Communion preparation, anointed and gave communion to older parishioners, baptized twin boys, and had an enjoyable dinner in the home of parishioners.  In all honesty for me, this is a privilege and part of the love story of my priestly ministry.  It is not too much work.  It is the commitment of my life.

My sense it is the same for you as parents.  Giving yourself in love to your children, to your grandchildren is not too much work.  It is the joy of your life.

 

The Gospel message for all of us that the love that is within us is to be shared with all.  This means everyone on the face of the earth is your brother and sister.  The love you and I give to our blood family.  We are to share with our human family.

Now, you can tell me, that this sounds nice, but you’re not living on planet earth if you expect me to share my love with everyone.

Yet, the command of the Lord to us is simple and direct:  Love one another.  Period.  End of story.

In today’s Gospel, we are given a sitting at the Last Supper.  As the Gospel is taken from the conversation Jesus had with the apostles on the night before He died.  I remind you of three actions of Jesus at the Last Supper that reveal the entirety of the Gospel.

            --the institution of the Eucharistic mystery in which bread and wine became the Body and Blood of Christ Himself.  We are a Eucharistic community who give thanks to the Lord our God and are fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord.

            --Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to give us an example that we are to do likewise.  We are to wash the feet of God’s poor and we are to serve one another following the example of Jesus who came to serve and not to be served.

 

            --Thirdly, Jesus spoke those words to us: “As the Father loves me, so I love you.”  Plain and simple, we are God’s beloved.  May we know and experience the love of God each and every day.  As God’s beloved sons and daughters, we are told in the commandment given to us is that we are to share what we have been given.

Isn’t it a joy to know that the most enjoyable mystery of life – love – is the only commandment of Jesus?  That shows that God is on our side.  His commandment is to do what we want most to do and experience – to love and be loved.

Jesus’ was to lay down his life, in a specific way.  Our love lays down our life often in small, forgettable ways. 

 

Faithful to what the Lord is asking of us what loving actions can we do today to serve and love others?  For example, the hours we spend with a sick child or a parent, years caring for someone ill, or giving up something for your children.

So, in our spiritual awareness examen we can ask ourselves:

Will the members of your family hear words of love that you speak today?

Will I speak words of love to the parishioners in need on this day?

What words of love can we speak to the needy and the poor in our midst?  Do the poor in our midst hear words of love being spoken to them by the faith community of St Joseph’s?

Further, there is no need for us to strive to be perfect.  Rather, let people be inspired by God’s love for you, even though all of us have our share of imperfections.  Jesus does not expect us to be perfect.  However, he does expect us to love.

I conclude with the wisdom of the great spiritual writer Jean Vanier:

Jesus says to you, I love you, and I want you to love each other.  I want you to kind to them the way I am kind.  I want you to care for them, the way I care for them.  I want you to be with them when they need you, as I am with you when you need me.

I want you to cherish them.  I want you to sacrifice for them, as I sacrifice for you.  Even if you must give up your life for them, I want you to do this, so that you might know my joy.

My joy is full by being with you, being part of your lives, being as close as a vine is to the branches, to live your life  with you, and hope that you will live my life with each other.

Then, if you do this, all people will know that the Son of God has come, and he has come with the Father, and the Father has come to bring peace and joy and hope to all peoples.

 

Have a Blessed Day.