Homily
for June 15,
2003
Year B -
Cycle I
Trinity
Sunday
By Fr. John Carney
Topic:
Experiencing the Trinity
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Gospel Reading: Matthew 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.'"
The Trinity…this
incomprehensible mystery
of God. Impossible to understand, yet possible to know and
love. It
sounds like a description of your spouse, doesn’t it? The
Catechism says
this about the Holy Trinity: “We do not confess three Gods,
but one
God in three persons. The divine persons do not share the one
divinity
among themselves, but each of them is God, whole and entire. He
is not
the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son He who is the Father.
Nor is
the Holy Spirit He who is the Father or the Son. They are
distinct from
one another. It is the Father who generates, the Son who is
begotten, and
the Holy Spirit who proceeds. The divine persons are relative to
one
another. While they are called three persons in view of their
relations,
we believe God is one in nature and in substance.” Is that
clear? I don’t understand it, but I believe it.
We seek understanding.
We are made in
God’s image, and God knows all. And we are made to seek
understanding;
that’s why we have minds. Some of the saints have tried to help
us
understand the Trinity by using analogies. St. Patrick talks
about the
shamrock; the three leaves of a shamrock, each one distinct and
individual, and
yet there is one shamrock. St. Thomas Aquinas used the colors in
a flame
as an example. Because of my current assignment in this parish, I
researched that yesterday, on the web. I read about all the
different
chemicals that cause all the different colors. But Aquinas’ point
was
that the colors are scientifically blue, red and yellow, and are all
real – you
can see them – yet, there is only one fire; there is only one flame.
I prefer Augustine’s
explanation of the
Trinity. We know God is love; the Scriptures tell us that.
But if
you think about that, you know God is love but whom does he love?
The
very concept or notion of love demands that there be a lover. And
so
Augustine said, “The Son is the perfect reflection of the Father’s
love.”
And the commerce (the term he used), the electricity, or the energy of
that
relationship, if you will, is the Holy Spirit. Frank Sheed is the
English
apologist who preached in
So I think those saints have
helped us
understand the Trinity a little bit, but still we’re lacking in
understanding
and I think the problem that we have is that we seek God primarily with
our
minds, and we have to stop that. We need to seek God primarily
with our hearts,
because that’s the piece of us that is most like God. God doesn’t
think
like us, but He feels like us. We are like God in our
hearts, much
more than we are like God in our minds. There’s nothing wrong
with
thinking; it’s a gift we have, to be used. The person, in my 57
years of
life, whom I have met that loved God the most, was a young woman.
She was
the daughter of an Army friend of mine, and her name is Katie.
She just
loves God! And every time I see Katie she tells me all about
God’s
love. Katie has Down’s Syndrome. She loves God. She
sees
things I cannot see, because she can see with her heart more than her
mind. So it’s good to know God with our heart – it’s better, and
we do
that through the experience of life.
We have these bodies that
live in this
physical universe for a purpose. It’s through these bodies that
we
experience God’s love for us. And we have experienced God as
Trinity. How do you feel when I do this: “In the Name of
the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” It’s hard for
you not to
move, isn’t it? At weddings, oftentimes, the bride and groom will
hold
hands and I’ll bless them, and they want to pull away and bless
themselves. I might have told you about my first visit to a sick
person
who was dying and hadn’t been conscious in days. I went up to him
and
whispered in his ear, “In the name of the Father….” And he
started to
move. It was my first miracle!! It’s a dance. All our
lives
we are blessing our selves (like Sammy Sosa. He needs to go to
Confession! But, it’s a venial sin. If you don’t know what
I’m
talking about, get a life!)
I hope you’ve experienced, God as Father, the Creator God, the
God of power and God of might. Parents, especially when they give
birth
to their first child, often experience, sometimes for the first time,
God as
Father, God as Creator. When they see that baby, little nails and
hands
and feet, I’ve often seen the man go, “My goodness! This is
mine!”
There is a God, there must be. And he is a loving God, and a God
of
power, and a God of love. It’s impossible that there was nothing,
and
there was a big bang, and then there was a baby. That’s not
possible. I hope you experience God as Father in nature, and in
the
majesty and beauty of creation…such as the Grand Canyon, or our little
Grand
Canyon in White Rock. If you’re feeling depressed and you don’t
believe,
go and look at that and tell me who did that. God in nature.
I might have mentioned this
to you, but God
has a special way of communicating to us when we’re hurting. And
I have
experienced it as a priest, especially during the dying experience, and
even at
funerals. Several years ago, I buried a twelve-year-old boy who
died of
leukemia. His name was Brian. We had hoped he would
survive.
He went into remission for a time, but he died. When I was making
the
funeral arrangements for the family, I asked, “What kind of music did
he
like?” His mother, for some reason, said, “Well, he didn’t care
for music
so much. He loved thunder. You know, all the beautiful
thunder and
lightning we have in our state. He just loved thunder.” The
funeral
was at 10 o’clock in the morning, on a weekday. The church had a
big
glass window. I couldn’t see it, but everyone in the parish could
look
out. And there are very few thunderstorms in New Mexico at 10
o’clock in
the morning, right? And during the Mass, I saw the mother and the
father. And the mother was a believer and the father was
not. He
was a good man; one who had to work hard at being an unbeliever,
especially
that day. As the Mass continued, the clouds built up. And
right
about the time of the Consecration, there was this tremendous
thunder.
And the mother was stunned! And the father was stunned!
Friends,
you cannot tell me that God was not saying something to that
family. Some
of you attended the funeral for Laurie Eaton on Friday. If we had
choreographed
that funeral to go with that thunder, could we have done a better
job?
Just at the right moment, boom! And that storm was not called
for, I
don’t think. It just came. Now, I know, I know what you’re
thinking, some of you. But for those who believe, no proof is
necessary.
To those who do not believe, no proof is possible. God speaks to
us if we
only listen. He is playful, this God of ours, very playful.
I hope you’ve experienced God as Son. Why did Christ
become human? Why did Jesus take on our life, our nature to its
fullest? So that we could relate to God. Jesus Christ was
one of
us. We can understand him, and he can understand us. He had
colds
and flus. He had headaches. He felt annoyed at times.
He got
up on the wrong side of the bed. He never sinned, but he
experienced the
fullness of humanity. And he intercedes for us now at the right
hand of
the Father. He is a perfect God, but also a human person, who
knows our
condition. He is with us, and he loves us so much. True God
and True
man. We experience Jesus Christ.
And lastly, I hope you’ve
experienced God as Holy Spirit. Have you
heard His voice in your conscience? That’s the Holy Spirit.
You
know what’s right and wrong. You can hear the Spirit tell you
what’s
right and wrong. Have you ever spoken the words of the Holy
Spirit?
Has this ever happened to you, that you’re talking to someone and you
say
something to the person and it is exactly what they needed to hear at
the
moment, and you have no idea where the words came from? Has that
happened
to you? That’s the Holy Spirit speaking through you, as a
prophet, as you
were baptized to do. We experience God as Holy Spirit. This
happens
even in homilies sometimes. People see me during the week and
say,
“Father, thank you. What you said, you were speaking right to
me.”
And I say, “What was it, exactly?” And they say what it was and I
say, “I
never said that.” It’s like I said one thing and the Holy Spirit
put what
they needed in their ears. Have you ever cried because you were
sad? Of course you have. That’s prayer, too, you
know. On
9-11, so many people came up to me and said, “Father, I can’t
pray. All I
can do is cry.” Why are you crying? What are you saying in
your
tears? You’re saying, “I’m afraid. I’m so sad for these
good people
who died. I’m afraid of this world of terror.” Isn’t that
prayer? If we put that into words, wouldn’t that be prayer?
The
tears themselves are perfect prayer. The words fall short.
Augustine said, “Prayer sung
is twice
prayed. Prayer that is cried is ten times prayed.” We see
it in the
moments of joy. We had a wedding yesterday, and we got the groom
to
cry. It was good, wasn’t it? They’re hard, some of those
guys. Sometimes, they won’t cry. They’ll just go
(cough).
Someone must have told little boys, “If you cry, you die.” That
was the
Holy Spirit. He was telling his wife he loved her, in the most
perfect
way, by shedding tears of joy because he was her husband. You
know, its
better when we see God with our hearts. It’s true of human
relations. I have found husbands and wives who constantly analyze
each
other to be very uptight. But if you just accept the uniqueness
and the
mystery of your spouse (“Yeah, he’s unique!” “Yeah, she’s a
mystery!”),
if you do that with your heart, you understand her or him better, don’t
you? Our heart’s a great tool to know and to love.
So, that’s the Trinity.
No we don’t
understand, but we do know the Trinity. We love God, and today’s
feast
tells us to relax in God’s presence. We’re his children, and as
the
second reading said, “What are you worried about? You have
connections in
high places.” Your Abba, your daddy, is God. Seek God with
your
heart, and seek him in praise. Sometimes people come to see me
and they
say, “You know, I don’t know if I have faith. I don’t know.
I used
to, I think, but I don’t know.” Sometimes I tell them, “Just go
away by
yourself and give praise and glory to God. Stop thinking and
start
praising God. Just go into the forest. No one will see you
and they
won’t accuse you of being a charismatic. Just give praise to God,
and let
the charisma of the Spirit that’s in you give praise to God. Then
you’ll
believe, because you’re doing what you were created to do, to give
praise and
glory to God. Give Him glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Glory be
to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was
in the
beginning, it is now and ever shall be.
World without end. Amen.