Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Year B - 5/26/2024)

Good afternoon. For the past ten (10) years, part of my daily morning routine is attending Mass at Saint Mary Cathedral before I head to the office. After Mass, I stand before the Blessed Virgin Mary and pray for my goddaughter, niece, and nephews. I ask the Blessed Mother to watch over them, protect them, and guide them to her Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I ask Mother Mary to help them know that they are loved by their parents, grandparents, and godparents. Most of all, I ask Mary to help them know that they are loved by their Father in heaven, to know that they are “children of God. . . heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,” because they have “received a Spirit of adoption, through whom [they] cry, ‘Abba, Father!’”

My hope for my goddaughter, niece, and nephews is that they know in their hearts that God loves them unconditionally. I hope that they are secured in their identity and dignity as beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. This is important to me as a godfather and uncle because, as a deacon, I have ministered to many teenagers and adults who do not know the Father’s love and mercy. Why? Because they never experienced such love and compassion from their own fathers and mothers. In the depth of our soul, at the core of our very being, we yearn to be loved, to know that we matter, that we are wanted, and that our life is a gift. God is the answer to our deepest longing and so our faith is in the Lord, our hope is in Christ’s promises. We only need to look at our Crucified Lord to know that we are loved, that we are wanted, and that our lives have meaning and purpose. In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church gives us four solemnities - the Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - to help us realize this about who we are as beloved sons and daughters of the Father.

Jesus ascended to Heaven to prepare a room in His Father’s house for you and me because, just as He wants to dwell in our hearts in this life, Christ wants us to dwell with Him forever in eternal life. Jesus sends us the Spirit of Truth, who “comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console” (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop), because our Lord knows that we need help to follow his Way along the narrow path so that we can enter through the narrow gate that leads to eternal Life. Christ gives us his body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist, keeping he promises never to leave us orphans but that he would be “with [us] always, until the end of the age.” This Sunday, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity: three Divine Persons, God. The mystery of the Trinity is revealed to us in Jesus himself (Pope Francis).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus commissioned his disciples to “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. . .” As baptized Catholics, “we profess faith in the Creator, in the only begotten Son, and in the gift which is the Spirit. There is one Creator of all things, for in God there is one Father from whom all things have their being. And there is one only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist. And there is one Spirit, the gift who is in all” (Saint Hilary, bishop). When someone asks us: “Who then is God?” - we answer confidently, saying: “He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. . . God.” However, with humility, we “[do] not look for any further answers” because, “[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” (Saint Columban, abbot). And yet, “we must believe in God, invisible as he is, though he is partially seen by a HEART that is PURE” (Saint Columban).

A heart that is pure is one of the Beatitudes that are at the “heart of Jesus’ preaching” (CCC 1716) and the focus of this week as we start our homily series on the Beatitudes. When I think of the Beatitudes, I imagine this path that is paved with the wood of the Cross and leads to heaven. I imagine on both sides of the path are the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments to keep us on the straight and narrow path of God’s laws that lead to eternal life. I imagine along this path are GUIDEPOSTS to help us find the source of true HAPPINESS in our lives: JESUS CHRIST. These guideposts are the BEATITUDES. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI beautifully wrote that “. . .the Beatitudes are. . . a ROAD MAP for the Church. . . they are the DIRECTIONS for discipleship. . .” (Jesus of Nazareth, 74).

In the Beatitudes, “the word “blessed”, or “happy”. . . is like a refrain reminding us of the Lord’s call to [journey] together with him on a road which, for all its many challenges, leads to true happiness. . . God has placed in the heart of every man and woman an irrepressible desire for happiness, for fulfillment” (Pope Francis, 1/31/2015). Saint Augustine said that “our hearts are restless till they find rest in [God].” In the same way that Jesus approached the disciples who worshiped, but doubted, as we heard in today’s Gospel, “it is always God who takes the first step. He purifies us so that we can come into his presence” (Pope Francis, 1/31/2015). Thus, in the Beatitude “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. . . there is beauty and truth to this Beatitude because of “God’s love and goodness toward us. . . he goes so far as to grant those who LOVE him the privilege of seeing him. . .” (CCC 1722, citing St. Irenaeus). 

Pope Francis said that to “see God means. . . recognising His presence in the Sacraments, in our brothers and sisters, above all the poor and suffering. . .” Thus, “a pure heart lives in the presence of the Lord, preserving in the heart what is worthy of the relationship with Him” (id). Therefore, let us “fix in [our] heart that the Lord is God. . . and keep his statutes and commandments,” because as the Lord tells us, “[if] you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). . . to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. . . [and] to love your neighbor” (Matthew 22:37, 39). Truly, “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” John 15:13).

Here, we are not talking about the courageous acts of heroism of the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives for our country for the cause of freedom, which we remember and honor them this Memorial Day weekend. Rather, we are talking about the daily sacrifices that we make in doing “small things with great love” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta). One such opportunity is coming up with the Servants of Hope Social Ministry and St. Vincent de Paul “Stuff the Truck” event. Bring your gently used, working items to St. Albert the Great on June 8th & 9th, from 9:00 to 5:00. Look for the St. Vincent de Paul trucks in the parking lot. The items will be donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. They also need volunteers to help collect the items so please look in the bulletin or the parish web-site for details on how you can help or even volunteer to “Stuff the Truck.” 

My sisters and brothers in Christ, in the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us about himself, sheds light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life” (CCC 1717), and gives us a roadmap to enter into “the glory of Christ and in the joy of the Trinitarian life” (CCC 1721) with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

“God the Father unbegotten, only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter; holy and undivided Trinity with all our heart and voice we acknowledge You, we praise You, and we bless you: Glory to You forever. Amen” (antiphon from “Angelic Trisagion”)

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Gospel (Mt 28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,

to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

Then Jesus approached and said to them,

"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

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.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."