Trinity Sunday

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/053115.cfm

The bishop who was celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation with a class of 3rd and 4th graders asked a girl in the back row to explain the Trinity. The girl stood, took a deep breath, and fearing she may be refused the Sacrament of Confirmation for being unable to answer the question, said, "No, bishop, I can't. You see, it's a mystery."

We may not be able to understand the how of the Trinity but it is important to understand the why. Why did God reveal to us this mystery of the very nature of God? The importance of this doctrine lies in this: We are made in the image of God; therefore, the more we understand God the more we understand ourselves.

Trinity Sunday is the only Sunday in the Lectionary that focuses on a doctrine of the Church. For many of us, we first heard of this doctrine at our Baptism when we were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our understanding of the doctrine may not have improved much since that Baptism. But we need not be concerned with that. Theologians, philosophers and others have been trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity for centuries. Even though we do not understand it, it does have great meaning in our lives.

God does not exist in solitary individualism but rather in a community of love and sharing. This means that we Christians must shun all tendencies towards isolationism. True Christian spirituality is not one of flight from the world but of contact and involvement with people and society. The Trinity shows us that true love requires three partners. Three is not a crowd; three is a community, love at it's best. The doctrine of the Trinity challenges us to adopt and live an I-God-and-neighbor attitude.

Instead of trying to reason our way through the Trinity, we would do better trying to appreciate how the Trinity affects us, how it helps us relate more closely to God and to one another, and how it helps us to realize how personal and loving God is.

The Trinity is perhaps the ultimate community - and just as much a community as your family or parish community. The difference is that it is a community based on exclusively on love. That is the kind of community we must strive to emulate and copy.

Let us take to heart the actions and words of Jesus in today's gospel, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 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." (Matthew 28:19-20)

Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

On May 14^th the Church commemorates the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, thus completing the ministry of Jesus here on earth. For three years he taught the love of God for all people. He reached out and healed those who were in pain, he called sinners back to relationship with God, and then finally, on Good Friday he died on the Cross at Calvary for all of us. Then he rose on Easter Sunday morning and then spent the next 40 days with his disciples teaching them further about the love of God and what God expects them to do in order to bring the good news of salvation to the world.

In the Acts of the Apostles Jesus promises the power of the Holy Spirit, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Act1:8) Then right before their eyes He ascends to heaven in all His glory. I can imagine the look of awe and surprise on their faces as they watch Jesus ascend into heaven in all His glory. Their mouths must have been wide open as they were staring into the heavens looking for Jesus.

Then the angels appear and say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) In other words, “Don’t worry; you have work to do to bring the good news of Jesus to others.” Jesus had just promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit, which will occur on Pentecost. So they need to get ready to bring the News of Salvation to the ends of the earth.

We as Catholic Christians received the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day we received confirmation. As a result we are expected to be witnesses throughout New York and to the ends of the earth. We are to share the faith we have in the Risen Christ with all those we know and love. It’s a work that is constant and never ending. We do this by the regular practice of our faith and by being good and honest people in the workplace, and by being good and loving members in our families. We are to show the love of God to those in our lives by how we treat them. We are to treat them with love, respect and dignity.

This is how we are to follow the command of Jesus, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!