Trinity
Sunday
at St.
Mary’s in Salem
29-30 May 2021
Dt
4:32-34, 39-40
Rom
8:14-17
Mt
28:16-20
Praised be Jesus Christ!
“…the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth
below…”
Our first reading for today’s Feast of the Most Holy Trinity,
taken from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy, does a great job of communicating
the boundless sense of confidence in God’s power to save, and yes of the pride
coming forth from the People of Israel reflecting upon how their God drew them
out of slavery in Egypt and led them to freedom under the protection of His
Almighty Hand.
Trinity Sunday is a great time for us to talk about and maybe
even brag about our God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God in Three Divine Persons,
Trinity in Unity.
Our second reading today from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans
goes on to stagger that Old Testament experience by proclaiming that what
Deuteronomy is describing was and is brought to completion in us through our
Savior Jesus Christ. The coming among us, through His birth at Bethlehem, His saving
death upon the Cross and His glorious Resurrection not only brought liberation
from this world’s slavery but bestowed upon us the Spirit of adoption, which
through Baptism makes us children of God. In Jesus Christ we were not only
freed from the slavery to sin and death which bound us, but by His grace we
have become heirs of heaven “…joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer
with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
With the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and our full
immersion into the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, we have been caught up
into the very interior life of the one and only God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
There was a time when more Catholics than not understood the
implications of that truth. While disrespecting no one and loving non-Catholic
family and friends no less, back then we understood better what it meant to
profess the one true faith. Well, haven’t things changed in the age of ecumenism?
No! All you have to do is open your ears to our liturgical prayers. The
official prayer of the Church gives evidence that Catholic teaching has not
changed. People who try to convince you that something is somehow different, claiming
that we are somehow less because of the teaching that the one true Church
subsists in the Catholic Church, have not understood, or do not wish to believe
that the Church is still the Body of Christ. Through Him, with Him and in Him, we
as Church are still caught up into the Mystery of the Godhead.
We have as much reason as the great missionary saints, like St.
Francis Xavier, talking about Spain, four hundred years ago, or like St. John
Eudes, a couple generations later in France, to wish to run through the halls
of universities or great centers of learning, shouting at young people to wake
up and move out of the classrooms and libraries to the four corners of the
earth, to win our world for Jesus Christ. This is our duty in Baptism, first
and foremost at home, but yes even to the ends of the earth to proclaim the
Good News.
This
is Good News, the best news, of which there is none better. Trinity Sunday
sometimes frightens preachers, who puzzle over how to explain the mystery of
divine life. That is a challenge, but we must not forget unto what end having
some understanding the inner workings of the Godhead should move us.
“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 commanded you.”
The other day I was listening to a podcast, by a truly
righteous man, not Catholic and not even Christian. I think he is really worthy
to be called a leader in American society. He has dedicated his whole life,
from his student days on, to educating people in the values upon which America was founded and which are to be found in the US Constitution and the Bill of
Rights. Somehow, as I listened to him speak with great conviction, it became
clear to me that if he were a convinced Catholic, he would be speaking somewhat
differently and probably would have figured out why he is somewhat dissatisfied
with his life’s work. He would understand why without a vibrant faith in the
Holy Trinity all his efforts fall short of being truly Good News. Without
Catholic faith, the man has not gotten a handle on what true greatness in us implies.
The man has not and cannot grasp that our destiny goes beyond what the founders
of the nation held dear, in that we are more, as by God’s grace and favor we
are truly at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Moreover, we are more as we have
been saved in Jesus Christ and through the grace of the sacraments are filled
with His Holy Spirit.
One of the sad facts about being a missionary today is that
if you simply proclaim Catholic truth, without special effects like some
tele-evangelist or pop star, you probably will not be a giant success. You will
not be the one to take the world by storm. That is probably right and is as it
should be, if you look to the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There are great preacher saints, who by force of the holiness of their lives
and their preaching converted countless souls. We can pray that the Church and
our world would be blessed again in our time by such great messengers. Nevertheless,
you will never convince me that the most important and fundamental work is done
in the first cell of the Church, the family. People come to know, love, and
serve God because of the witness of their parents and grandparents. The first
and most fundamental experience of God for the vast majority of folks starts
and continues our whole life long at home.
Personally,
although great missionary saints are great and we could use some in our day, I
would be much happier if more babies and small children learned the Sign of the
Cross at home and came to believe, thanks to grown-ups, that they are truly
loved by their Heavenly Father.
Lord,
on this Trinity Sunday, bless us to the depths of our being with Good News. In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Praised
be Jesus Christ!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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