A few weeks ago, our 8th graders received the
sacrament of Confirmation. One of the customs at my previous parish was that
the priests and deacons would interview the 8th graders and ask them
a few questions about the Catholic faith. For example: name the three persons
of the Holy Trinity. Sure, that’s a softball question. But I liked to follow up
that question by asking them: “So, why is it important that God is three
persons?”
That’s much harder. Why is it important that God is three
persons?
* * *
Whenever we pray, we probably have an image of who God
is. Perhaps He’s a mountain-top God with a big beard (He’s obviously a playoff
hockey fan). Perhaps your image of God is that of a friend. Or maybe He is just
light or a presence.
But when we consider that God is Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, there comes a certain and very important reality about God: He’s not alone.
That’s important, because when we say that “God is love,”
there really is something alive and dynamic going on there. It’s so easy to
think that God is alone and that He’s an idea and that when we say “God is
love,” that it’s… nice—but ultimately static and isolated and maybe even
self-centered: does God really even care about me?
But if God is three persons, that’s a whole different
ballgame. Three persons—that’s community. I dare say it’s family. And family is
real and it’s love is actual and dynamic and fruitful.
This is the deepest reality of who God is and what we
mean when we say “God is love”—He's real, He's dynamic, He’s fruitful, He’s
relational. God is family.
* * *
It’s why, when God creates us, He says, “Let us make man
in our image.” Us, our—not me, or I.
And we’re made in His image—there is something deep down
in us, in our very identity, that longs for communion, that longs to be loved
and to give love. It’s why God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”—because
deep down in us we long for and really need community. It’s why were born into
families—God could have made us in other ways, but He creates us into a family.
Last night, during the 1st period intermission
of the Blues game, I went to the grocery store. The Blues make me nervous and,
when I’m nervous, I need me some Cheez-Its. (Cheez-Its—not Jesus… but I need Jesus,
too!) So, there I am at the Dierbergs and I notice that they are playing the
Blues game over the speakers. Very cool. I went down the aisle for the
Cheez-Its and there was a couple wearing Blues jerseys. As we passed each
other, I couldn’t help but say, “Let’s go Blues!” They laughed, and echoed
back: “Let’s go Blues!”
And while it is kinda superficial, even though I didn’t
know them, there was a connection there. And a little joy. Somehow, in this
crazy little—or big—world in which we live, strangers can be united by
something like hockey. And, strangely, we want that.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, His last words to His
disciples were to this very effect—not for hockey (as wonderful as hockey is),
but to enter into communion. And so He said, “Go,… and baptize in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”—go and baptize in the very
communion of the Holy Trinity, the One who is the source of all communion.
God wanted us to be in communion with Him and in
communion with others.
* * *
Shoot, right now, there are people at Mass here in
Cottleville but also in South County. Here in Missouri and also in Arizona.
Late Mass somewhere in Europe and morning Mass somewhere in Brazil and Peru. So
many people who have been baptized and who call themselves brothers and sisters
of the same Father.
Last weekend, I was blessed to give a retreat at the Servant Sisters in
Birmingham, Alabama. While I was there, I needed to take my car to a mechanic—something
about my tires. Now, down there in Alabama—it’s Bible Belt Country. Less than
5% of the population is Catholic, so I hear. So, I take my car to the mechanic
and he has me wait in the waiting room. In full disclosure, I didn’t wear my
black clerics—I went “incognito.” So there I am, waiting in the waiting room,
surrounded by what I assumed were not Catholics. I brought my Breviary (my book
of prayers) with me—and they look like Sacred Scripture—so I’m thinking all of
my Protestant brethren won’t have a second thought about me.
Until I realize that I’m about to make the Sign of the
Cross.
If there is one thing that indicates that I’m Catholic, here is it—I’m about to out myself. The Sign of the Cross: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit: it’s the sign of this communion, it’s the sign of this family.
If there is one thing that indicates that I’m Catholic, here is it—I’m about to out myself. The Sign of the Cross: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit: it’s the sign of this communion, it’s the sign of this family.
It’s like the Blues jersey that says, “I’m a Blues fan!”
But, have you ever worn a Blues jersey at a Chicago Blackhawks game?
So too, have you ever made the Sign of the Cross in the
waiting room of a mechanic shop in central Alabama?
You see, it’s one thing to “wear the jersey” of your
favorite team—it’s whole ‘nother thing to “Bleed Blue.”
So too: it’s one thing to simply make the sign of the
Cross and to be known as a Catholic fan because of it. It’s a whole ‘nother
thing to totally live out the faith.
* * *
There was once a saying among Christians and that was: “They
will know we are Christians by our love.” That’s very true.
But I think our culture has pulled the wool over our
eyes. We’re so interested in labels and signs and caricatures that we have lost
what is at the very heart of things. For the Catholic faith, it’s easy to
simply say that if we’re baptized, make the sign of the Cross, and go to Mass—that,
hey, I’m Catholic. But, can we say why the Trinity—the very heart of our faith
and the source of all that we teach—can we say why the Trinity is important to
Catholicism?
You see, you’re not alone.
God has brought you here. And He’s brought you into a
family. And into His Church. And into His very life. Because He doesn’t want
you to go it alone. And if there’s one thing that our culture is about, it’s
going it alone: the I-phone, the Me-project, thinking that we're isolated and islands. Isn't it true that we make life so much about what we have to do that we forget that we’re all in this together?-- that we need each other?
How many couples are trying to raise kids on their own,
when all around them in this parish there are seasoned couples who have been
through what they are going through and could provide wisdom and help!
How many teens and twenty-something—and, let’s be real, sixty-
and seventy-something too—how many of us are searching for the Truth and the
meaning of Life, but are going about it all by ourselves?
How many of us are trying to totally live out that faith—to
love and to “Bleed Blue” if you will—but think that we are the only ones
stumbling through the dark? Blues fans among Blackhawks....
You’re not alone! You have people in the pews all around
you to help you. You have priests. And not only here and throughout the world,
but also you have the saints and their prayers and their writings. There is a
whole communion surrounding us to help us. Because you’re not alone!
Right now, there are Sisters praying for you. At this
Mass, I will be praying for you. And maybe you will pray for the person next to
you—which means that it’s likely that people here in this church will be
praying for you. You are not alone!
This is why the Trinity is important: because God is not
alone and He wants all of us—all who are His “children scattered throughout the
world” to be joined to Him as one family of faith—with one Father, who art in
heaven; with one Lord, Jesus Christ; with one faith; with one baptism; united under the Sign
of the Cross-- known not simply for the sign, but for our love. Because we're not alone....
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