Dear Parishioners,
Experience tells us that the most successful smaller communities always have an even number of members. I think we might all be familiar with the “middle child syndrome” of families with three children. People in groups naturally tend to pair off. So when there are odd numbers, one person is always left out. This weekend we celebrate the mystery of God as One, but yet Three. Unlike our human communities with an odd number of members, the Trinity is a perfectly harmonious, dynamic unity. We are unable to fully grasp with our intellect the mystery of divine Three-in-One. Nonetheless, our triune God is not a distant, uncaring deity. God desires to be personally encountered by us. God chooses to reveal the divine Self to us and to be present to us.
The readings for this Solemnity describe the majesty of God in the many ways we encounter the divine among us: in creation that is tangible and all around us, in Jesus of Nazareth who lived among us and is then the risen Lord who commands us to continue His saving mission, and in the Holy Spirit who is poured forth into our hearts. The glory of God’s presence is encountered through creation, salvation, and one another! Perhaps then, the greatest mystery of the Trinity is not so much how God can be Three-in-One but why this God chooses to be intimately present to us. Perhaps the greatest mystery is that the triune community of the Trinity wishes to dwell within the diverse community of humanity.
Surely this mystery of our God is so great that we “cannot bear it now” fully. Revelation is always gradual. The fullness of “all truth” would be overwhelming if we heard it in its full power, for the ultimate revelation – “all truth” – is the gift of the Trinity itself dwelling within and among us. This weekend’s festival celebrates the mystery that the life and love of the Trinity “has been poured out into our hearts” (Second Reading). As we faithfully live Jesus’ command to make known the Good News, we gradually become aware that no one of us can reveal God, but together, in community, we are that presence. “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there also am I.” The stronger the community in openness to encountering God, the clearer to us is the revelation of divine presence. We gradually learn from one another how much God loves us by the divine presence that we encounter and mediate for one another.
The majesty of the Trinity defies any intellectual unraveling of the mystery. An intellectual exercise is not what God reveals to us or asks of us. God gives His triune Self to us simply so that we can encounter God’s glory and share among us the grace, peace, and hope of divine presence.
As difficult as it is to grasp the mystery of God’s triune majesty, it is even more difficult to grasp that God loves us enough to share divine and glory with us. God chooses to dwell within and among us. Living the dying and rising of the Paschal Mystery means that we are faithful witnesses to the God within. Sometimes rather than witnessing through doing good works, we need to witness simply by appreciating ourselves and others for the wonderful gift of God’s presence that we are. The readings this weekend and through the week challenge us to become more deeply aware of God’s presence in creation, in Jesus, and in ourselves. We are invited to allow that awareness to overflow in thanksgiving and praise.
May Saint Michael the Archangel defend, guide, protect, and intercede for us always!
Fr. Larry