This morning we are brought to the greatest mystery in our Catholic faith. A mystery that would not have been known to humanity unless revealed by Jesus Christ himself. And that mystery is that God himself is Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God.
In this is revealed that fundamental reality that we learned when we were kindergarteners: that is that God is love.
Love cannot exist simply with an individual. Love requires relationship. Which therefore requires another person. And therefore the Father is not by Himself, but is with the Son. And their love, their relationship, is so powerful, so eternal and infinite, and so personal that their love is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity; namely, the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. And God is love.
There are fancy terms that are used to describe the inner workings of this relationship. For example, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father and is consubstantial with the Father. And that the Holy Spirit is spirated from the Father and the Son. Fancy terms—but all to describe the inner mystery that is: God is love. He is community in which there is unity.
You express this reality whenever you make the Sign of the Cross: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” You are professing the reality of the Trinity and as well marking yourself with Him who is Love.
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Now, why does this matter on an immanently practical level? (It is nourishing for our spiritual life, of course, and is in that way very practical as we reflect on this reality).
But we can go even further. And that is that Our Lord said to humanity at the very beginning of humanity’s creation—He said, “It is not good for man to be alone.”
Now we often hear that phrase in the context of weddings and marriages.
But this is a statement not simply for marriages and weddings. (If it were, then there would be no celibacy. And some even use that as an argument against celibacy). Rather, what God was doing was He was stating a fundamental reality about the Human Person. And that is that you are made in the image and the likeness of God. And who is God? A communion of Persons whose Unity is found in Truth and Love. This is written into your very being!
It is not good for man to be alone—precisely because man, being made in the image and likeness of God, and God being community—man is made for community. Man is not made to be an isolated island, not divided from others; but united in the bonds of Charity and Truth—which forges community.
All of Salvation History is going to be a response to man’s desire to be alone. And to be left alone. For that is what sin does. Sin isolates us from God and from another. It divides us from God and from each other.
And so God sends His Son to enter into our existence and
our sinfulness—and to find us and bring us back home. And where is home? In
heaven with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit—where there is
community. Or, as we might say: family.
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It is important to be aware of the devil’s tactics, therefore, in this present age.
Because the devil does not like God. Nor does he like the image of God, which we are. And therefore the devil will attack both unity and community. Because those things resemble God.
Therefore, the devil in our culture tries to divide us. And the most immanent way right now is through the Marxist class warfare. (Karl Marx, a philosopher of many years ago, was always saying everything is about class warfare. It’s always about class struggle. And that is how history is to be interpreted. And that is wrong. We see class warfare being stoked by media, which happily does so. We see class warfare stoked between rich and poor, white and black, lay faithful and hierarchy, and so on. And the media loves that story and will shove that down our throats as often as they can. Because it sells. Because everyone in the United States loves an underdog).
The devil then tries to isolate us within that by firstly eroding trust.
If the devil can erode trust in our hearts and in our community, he will then make it very easy to divide us. Indeed, division and isolation are signs of weakness. We are stronger together as some politicians say. And there is some truth to that. There is strength in unity. And when we erode trust, we get rid of our togetherness.
As well, then, the devil will promote reactions and a mere fossilization of opinion and media hot-takes instead of actual reflection, and study, and conversation, and listening, and deliberation—and “sleeping on it.”
Then the devil will call on us to simply generalize.
We will be tempted to say, for example, that “all bishops
are globalist namby-pambies.” “All Americans are racist.” And so on and so
forth. And those things are not true. Are some
bishops that way? Sure. Are some
Americans that way? Sure. But are they all?
You see, generalizations ultimately lead to a loss of charity. Charity that would give a person the benefit of a doubt; Charity that gives courtesy and good will. But that charity is what is lost.
These are the devil’s tactics.
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And I know you know them. But I must make them clear and put them out there. So that we become aware of it. Because I know some very good Catholics even that can fall prey to these devices of the evil one.
For example, there is this wonderful miniseries on Jesus called “The Chosen.” And there is some debate about Season Two and its presentation of Mary. My friends showed me that there is this whole dust up on Facebook about how this miniseries has supposedly undermined the doctrines of Mary and her perpetual virginity and so on. And they wanted my opinion.
At which point, I reminded my friends who were in this heated debate and who were ready to jettison friendships over this—I reminded them that this miniseries is being made by a Protestant. And it is important to know that. Because the very fact that that Protestant is even making a movie about Jesus and Mary is, in many evangelical circles, the grave sin of idolatry and Mary worship. And so he is getting attacked on that side (the evangelicals on the one hand) and then, over here, we have Catholics attacking him because he isn’t Catholic enough.
And what I’m getting at is that we have lost the ability to rejoice about what is good!
That is what is lost when we succumb to the devil’s tactics of division.
Some, in response, are tempted to say: “I think I’d rather just stay home.” Which is where a lot of people are.
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See, even—and especially now—in our pandemic age, people
know that being around other people is messy. And that’s the thing: community challenges us! Community is the place where there is the opportunity
for charity and growth in charity—as well as the humbling of pride. Because
that is the place where our assumptions and our opinions are challenged. As they should be!
Because sometimes we are wrong.
Sometimes we have to realize that we are weak and we need others. And we can’t be our own Savior. Which is what isolation starts to make us think that we are.
There are many who go off on their own, grumbling to themselves, saying, “People are morons.”
When, in reality, there is a lot of good in you. And in me. And in others around us.
And if we are isolated, we won’t actually be able to see what is good in the other.
We need, therefore, brothers and sisters, to reclaim community as good. We need to be able to answer the culture—when it says Why? Why is it not good for man to be alone? We need to be able to have an answer for that.
Why is it not good
that people are more willing to be isolated in their homes? Why is not good
that teens feel more comfortable on their screens and phones and, by their
excessive use, cultivate habits of immediate reactions and opinions and
unthinking radicalism—why is that not good?
It is not good? The answer is it is not good because it weakens us, it divides us, it cultivates mistrust, it erodes joy, it leads to a loss of hope, which leads to a greater despair, and ultimately an increase of suicide and a loss of faith.
We need to be able to answer what is going on in our culture.
This requires, then, that we start becoming comfortable again with being outside of our homes and being with others with whom we might disagree, being quick to listen and slow to jettisoning friendships. We must be quick to develop trust and to show ourselves trustworthy.
We must sit with our Lord who is community in His very essence and unity in His very being. We must sit at that very font of charity. And as we receive him, we will realize that we are made for more.
We are made for love. And to be loved. And the person next to you is made for love. And to be loved. And the person whom you may disagree with is made for love. And to be loved.
This is a great challenge in our culture, brothers and
sisters. It is a task that will require great grace and strength which are
often beyond us, but which is why we are together, as a community, at this Holy
Mass, praying for one another and for our world, and receiving Jesus Christ,
the eternal Son of the Father who, by his very Body and Blood, Soul and
Divinity, renews our charity and re-forges our unity.
