Trinity Sunday - homily
A mother was talking with her three-year-old son about God one day. The little boy said, “oh, you mean, Harold”. “No, son, we’re talking about God”, she said. “Yeah, Harold”, the boy responded. “Why do you call God ‘Harold’?”, she asked puzzily. “Mommy, we all do. ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name”…! Ok, so that one looked good on paper, at least.
Who is God? This is a question that has been on our minds and hearts ever since we’ve existed as a race. And, for thousands of years, we didn’t know who God is. God remained invisible and silent for so long. We see in the Old Testament that God begins to slowly reveal to us who He is. And, then, of course, with Jesus, God reveals Himself fully to us. Christ reveals that God is Father, Son, and Spirit. Three persons, one God. It is a great mystery, of course – one which we cannot grasp fully. We can’t understand how this is true but we believe that it is true. We’ll profess who God is in a few minutes in the Creed, and hopefully ponder the amazing words we say.
God is Father. God is a loving Father…he loves us. He loves us unconditionally. He loves us for who we are. He sees us as very good; He created us that way. He is always there for us, and will never leave us. He always keeps his promises to us. He is our Father who loves us, and we are His children.
The Father loves us so much that He sent His only Son to us: God’s Son comes down to Earth! What was the whole reason of Christ’s mission? To reveal the Father and the Father’s love. The Father and the Son are one. As Christ says in today’s Gospel, “everything the Father has is mine”. The Son has the Father’s love and brings it to us so that we may share in it. The Son is the Father’s love in the flesh…the Father’s love Incarnate. The Son is the Father’s love personified; when we see the Son, we see the love of the Father.
The Son reveals the infinite love the Father has for us. He tells stories about the Father’s love. He says that even if we leave the Father’s love by squandering His inheritance on a life of dissipation, as soon as we turn back toward the Father, He will embrace us with His love. The Son not only teaches us about the Father’s love, he shows us the Father’s love on the Cross. The Cross is the greatest sign of God’s love in the world.
The Son sends his Spirit to us so that we may receive the Father’s love in a real way. We may have a hard time picturing or imagining the Holy Spirit. The best analogy I’ve ever heard about the Holy Spirit has to do with coffee. Imagine a coffee cup overflowing with coffee. This is the love between the Father and the Son. They have infinite love for one another that overflows and generates a third divine person, the Holy Spirit. It’s like a husband and wife whose love overflows and creates a third person, a baby. The baby is then the love between his father and mother. So, too, the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son.
When we receive the Spirit, then, we receive the love of the Father and the Son. This happens in very real ways – first at Baptism, then the Eucharist, Confirmation, and all the sacraments. Even if we leave the Father’s love, we can receive it in the Spirit through Confession. The Father invites us to a relationship with Himself, and gives us the Spirit to receive His love. A life in the Spirit is a life in the Father’s love.
Whenever we come to Mass, we see the Trinitarian life at work. The whole Mass is a prayer to the Father through the Son and in the Spirit. The Eucharist is a sacrifice offered to the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we leave this place, we are to live our lives in the Trinitarian formula. Having received the Father’s love, we offer it back to Him through the Son and in the Spirit.
May each one of us know the love of our Heavenly Father. May we live in His love…bask in His love…be soaked in His love. May we offer our love back to Him through the Son and in the Spirit.
posted by Fr Greg @ 10:38 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Good homily this weekend FG. And you did get a few laughs....at least at the 5pm mass.
Fr. Greg and everyone else too;
How does one go about helping someone who is hurting financially, this person is in the parish, I recently found out that they because of an unexpected move and other things and they are experiancing a gap of several hundred dollers. I want to help but am not sure how to go about it with out embarrassing them for one and for another its not like I have all of thier shortfall to give but was wondering how to go about helping them.
This person gives of themselves, and things they have but I don't think would ever ask anyone for help for this situation.
I'd say to slip some cash in an envelope- give it to FG or FM and ask them to send forward. They don't have to know who it's from, and if they are really hurtinhg- maybe add a few words of encouragement inside to boot.
Everyone can use help from time to time- there is no shame in accepting it, and offering it is our responsibility (I think).
I laughed at your joke, Fr.Greg, even if no one else did! i like what you tried to do with the kids at the childrens mass! lol, it was great
coming from someone who just had to accept help please help these people they will feel badly taking it but if they needed like we did then they will be forever greatful!
When is there confessions and your parish??
Goodbye and goodluck all. I'll miss the blog. But things have come up and I will be taking a break of an indefinate length of time. I just don't want anyof you to wonder where Ive gone.
I like the kid stories- they crack me up. After May Crowning, my 4 year was singing the version of Alleluia that was sung then, and after listening to her more closely, I realized she was singing "Allie Lubeck", the name of a little girl in 1st grade and is friends with another daughter. When I corrected her, she told me she wondered why everyone was singing about Allie.
I went to confession at another parish and ended up leaving before saying my act of contrition and receiving penance. Why is irrelevant- it just happened that way. Once I was in my car, I said my act of contrition and repeated the penance I received from my previous confession. Someone tell me that confession "counts" and I don't need to repeat what I was there to confess all over again. It's something that has nagged at me a few days.
Fran-
You had once mentioned a radio station to which you listen, but I can't find that post nor can I find the station on the radio. Can you give me the station again?
thanks
Regardless of why Kat is leaving, I am going to try to use her inspiration to do the same. I am addicted to this blog and have to accept that, while it's helpful, it can't heal.
I like the analogy, for the Trinity has been one of the topics that causes me the most amount of intrigue but also confusion. The mother-father example helps, for I've always thought of the love I have for my children to be like a separate and almost tangible entity. I know it exists, and my kids know it exists. Even if I can't see the actual entity, it is abundantly present in so many things in our lives together. I guess that's the "draw" I've felt towards the church in this past year- the sense that I was loved unconditionally- flaws and all (definately NOT the way I felt anywhere else). The church has been the only place in which it not only seemed enough to just be myself. This homily, as well as that of Fr. Mike's, helped put into perpective why I have felt that way. Thank you.
"I am addicted to this blog and have to accept that, while it's helpful, it can't heal."
I don't know if we ever know how exactly we "heal". I have found many of the suggestions from those here to be helpful. Mostly, for me, atleast, healing has come in the form of not feeling alone. Knowing there are others who share similar experiences and have used their faith to carry them through has been HUGE to me. Do I still screw-up and step back into old patterns- yes, yes, yes! However, when I do that now, I don't have to "sit in it" anymore. I can write about it, get honest feeback from the caring people here, read FG's topics for inspiration and direction, and I do believe those have been BIG steps in my healing process. Healing is a process, and there are often no "quick" fixes, but I still hold out hope a few "quickies" will come my way!
Gee, I could think of MANY worse addictions than coming to a blog to discuss faith and spirituality!
9:32 Anon-
The radio station is WGTS 91.9 FM.
If you subscribe to XM satellite radio, there is a similar station which I believe is channel 32.
I think you will find it to be a refreshing change from all of the other radio stations. Happy Listening!
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