Homily, 5-26-24; Feast of the Most Holy Trinity:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today we reflect in a special way on the mystery of the Trinity, one God, in three Divine Persons. But we need to be careful that we don’t get so hung up with trying to understand the mystery that we end up struggling to believe it.
St. Columban wrote: “Who then is God? He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God. Do not look for any further answers concerning God. Those who want to understand the unfathomable depths of God must first consider the world of nature. Knowledge of the Trinity is rightly compared with the depth of the sea. [Wisdom asks: Who will find out what is so very deep?] As the depths of the sea are invisible to human sight, so the Godhead of the Trinity is found to be beyond the grasp of human understanding. If any one, I say, wants to know what he should believe he must not imagine that he understands better through speech than through belief; the knowledge of God that he seeks will be all the further off than it was before.”
Again, “If anyone wants to know what he should believe he must not imagine that he understands better through speech than through belief; the knowledge of God that he seeks will be all the further off than it was before.” And so, I will not make any attempt through my speech to try to explain the mystery of the Trinity. It is for me to encourage you to believe the mystery based on faith
The Trinity is a mystery, and so is most of life for us as it was for our ancestors all the way back to Adam and Eve. God created them and placed them in a garden and asked only that they be obedient to His one commandment. Life for them was a mystery. They could not have understood or imagined that from them the whole world would be populated.
And in our first reading, Moses asks the Israelites to contemplate the mystery of God’s revelation to them. They could not begin to understand or imagine what God had in store for them, a land flowing with milk and honey; that they would become a powerful nation. Their future was a mystery to them. But they were told to believe in an unknown promise and to simply follow the statutes and commandments enjoined upon them by Moses.
And in today’s gospel passage, Jesus addresses the eleven remaining Apostles and gives them a mission to make disciples of all nations teaching them His commandments. It must have been a mystery to those Apostles. They could not begin to understand or imagine what was in store for them; that because of their efforts and sacrifices, the Church would expand to every corner of the world.
What does God have in store for you and for me, both in this life and in the next? Can we begin to understand or imagine it? From St. Paul we hear: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Once again, we have faith that God has something great in store for us even if we can’t understand or imagine it. All we need to do is love Him. And we love Him by keeping His commandments as God taught Adam and Eve, as Moses taught the Israelites, and as the Apostles teach us. The rest is a mystery.
We are faced with many mysteries both in our spiritual life and in our everyday earthly existence. We have the mysteries of the Trinity and of the Eucharist which we accept by faith. We may not understand, but through faith we can still have wisdom. In St. Columban’s instruction that I quoted at the beginning of my homily, he goes on to say: “If you search by means of discussions for the God who cannot be defined in words, He will depart further from you than he was before. If you search for him by faith, wisdom will stand where wisdom lives, at the gates.” It is important to start with faith. I have heard of many young people who were poorly grounded in their faith. They go off to Catholic colleges, those Catholic in name only, and after a few theology classes, God seems to depart farther from them than He was before.
And our everyday lives are a mystery as well. Our goal, the desired final destination of our life, should be to get to Heaven. But when we set out in our youth we have no idea what route our life’s journey will take. We pray to know God’s will, but He doesn’t give us a road map to follow. He calls us to make good decisions at every junction and fork in the road along the way by being obedient to His commands. It’s sort of like our GPS systems. We can follow the instruction as we drive without knowing the route in advance. When I met Jenni 58 years ago in 9th grade Earth Science class, I could never have imagined the journey we would travel together. It was a mystery. We have made some wrong turns along the way, especially me, but just like our GPS in the car, we were able to recalculate, and hopefully we are on the path that God has chosen for us. But still the short remainder of my life remains a mystery.
And as we struggle here on our earthly journey we can be filled with all kinds of anxiety because we can’t understand or imagine God’s will for mankind, the big picture. We wonder if we are in, or approaching the end times. We worry about the fate of our country, and of the world. We can concern ourselves will all kinds of troublesome events. But in the end, what we really need is faith in God and hope in the unseen promise He has made to us. Let us put our trust in Him and in His will. Let us gain wisdom by accepting the mysteries we face, and not be overwhelmed by trying to understand and unlock them all. God has solutions to problems that we cannot anticipate.
The Israelites were wandering in the desert. They did not see an end to the troubles and difficulties they endured. And God instructed them through Moses to be obedient to His commandments and everything would turn out okay in the Promised Land. And we can expect to encounter troubles and difficulties as well. Jesus teaches us through the Apostles and His Church to be obedient to His commandments and to the teachings of the Church. And in the end everything will be okay for us. We will ultimately enjoy the victory Christ won for us, the Promised Land of eternity in Heaven,
In humility, let us believe the mystery of the Trinity in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.