Solemnity of the Holy Trinity - May 27, 2018 (Thoman)

Solemnity of the Holy Trinity

Dt. 4:32-34, 39-40 | Rom 8:14-17 | Matt 28:16-20

I. One time I was meeting with a parish committee and shared with them that I was
working on my homily for Trinity Sunday and that I was looking for some sort of
connection between the Trinity and marriage. I said I was having difficulty
finding any relationship. And then one of the members piped up and said, “That’s
easy – the Trinity is a mystery and so is marriage!”
And as someone looking in from the outside, I, too, would have to agree that
marriage is a mystery! But today’s solemnity is not very much about a theological
reflection upon the relationship among the three persons of the Trinity. It is more
about love.

II. It just so happened that I got to see most of the royal wedding last Saturday. I
was struck by the preacher’s sermon. He talked about the incredible power of
love. He began by observing the obvious love between Prince Harry and Meghan
and then built upon that image to talk about the power of love in the world. Love
is like a fire burning in our hearts and that fire, that love, can go out and be
redemptive in the world. It can change the world, if we would but want it and let
it.

III. In the first reading Moses challenges his fellow Hebrews to reflect upon the ways
in which God had been active in their history: he asked….

  • just think of the marvel of creation: what god has created such a universe?
  • who ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire – and live to tell about it?!
  • what god would venture to take a nation for himself from among all the nations of
    the world?

Moses is saying…just think about how much God has shown his love for us. We
are the beneficiaries of this love and are drawn up into it. We, for our part, must
keep his statutes and commandments. Because we have been drawn up into God’s
love, we must, in turn, share that love with others.

IV. Examples:

A. One way in which we do that is by living in community: just as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit live in communion with one another, so, too, should we live in
communion, in love with one another. This means we recognize each of us is one of
those adopted children of God – if I am adopted as a child of God, so are you, and so
is everyone else. It means we are to deeply respect the life of each other as
persons created in the image and likeness of God.

B. Another way in which we reflect God’s love is by living in mission. In the gospel
commissioned his disciples, saying: “Go out and make disciples.”
- go out and invite others to share in this faith
- go out and show others the power of love, the power of God’s love operative in
your own life. Show others in word and deed how God’s love has made a
difference in your life. How can you share with your children, grand children,
friends and neighbors the difference faith and God’s love makes in your life?
- how can we challenge someone to come out of the darkness of sin and poor
values and negative attitudes to take a look at Christian values and the peace
and power of God’s grace living within us?

V. Being drawn up into God’s love also means simply enjoying that love.
At the end of the gospel, Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always, even until
the end of time.”
That is an invitation to always be aware of God’s presence – as we go through
the day: morning, noon, evening and night.
Everywhere and always, we live and move within God’s presence. Being drawn
up into God’s love means we know it, we are aware of God’s continuous presence.

VI. We come to this Eucharist on this Trinity Sunday mindful of God’s presence. We
are drawn up into the mystery and power of love itself. Indeed, we come to receive
this love, this presence within us – in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.
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Fr. Dwayne Thoman