Homily for Trinity Sunday

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
     Why do Churches become targets of peoples’ anger? Why do secular leaders seek opportunities to be identified with religious items and holy places? On the one hand, buildings represent institutions and structures that some view as perpetuating prejudice and injustice. On the other hand, the aura of religion suggests moral authority, righteous living, and higher goals.
 
     On this Trinity Sunday, we need to acknowledge that we are living in the midst not only of a health crisis, but also in the midst of what Archbishop Gregory has called the “virus of racism.” This evil is rooted both in fear and in the notion that one’s own race is somehow superior to another’s. Nothing could be more contradictory to the message of today’s Scriptures. The overwhelming witness provided is that of a God who wants nothing more than to be intimately involved in our everyday lives and to share with us the love that is the very life of God.
 
     People who vent anger on religious institutions or seek to use them for personal gain likely misunderstand that God is not simply a “lofty idea” or “ethical choice” (as described by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) but “an encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Ponder with me the true nature of our God, as reflected in the Word just proclaimed.
 
     Moses had just encountered the living God in the clouds on Mt. Sinai. As he bowed down before the awesome presence of God, Moses begged God to “come along in our company.” (Exodus 34, 9) The God of the Old Covenant was not the distant “prime cause” of the philosophers, nor even the “source of all being,” but the “companion” of a people on a journey to a promised land. When we used to gather in great numbers at athletic events, on occasion, people would carry before the crowd a sign with the verse “John 3, 16.” At first, I wondered what these “fanatics” were trying to tell us. Then I read: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God is a parent who freely chooses to give away an only child. I cannot image the anguish this must cause for parents! Some approximation of this occurred in my family when in 1958 my uncle and aunt saw their eldest child leave home for a convent with the expectation that she might never see it again. God initiates the process and provides the ultimate example of love. Why? “So that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” The gift is not simply a promise for tomorrow but a reality to be lived today. We humans are being invited to participate in the very life of God. Therefore, we have a fundamental dignity and are empowered to see this God in our neighbor. Such was the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and of many saints of old. So imbued were they with this belief that they were willing to risk their own lives for this basic truth and higher calling.
 
     Throughout the final weeks of the Easter season, we heard from the “Farewell Discourse” of John’s Gospel the reminder from Jesus to his apostles that he would have to leave them so as to send them another “Advocate” – the Holy Spirit. The witness of Paul in his letters and of Luke in the “Acts of the Apostles” testifies to the power of that Spirit in the building of a strong body of believers, known as Church. Although there are to this day many divisions among those who call Jesus “Lord,” there are also (as mentioned in the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church) many “ecclesial elements” within all these groups tending towards catholic unity. (Lumen Gentium #8)
 
     The world truly longs for our witness to the presence of a loving God. Even the misguided actions of those who use and abuse religion and holy images indicate the high esteem these realities warrant because they connect us with the one who is our hope. The prayer of Paul at the conclusion of his Second Letter to the people of Corinth reflects his desire that they accept God’s invitation. May it be our prayer also for one another!
 
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you all.”
(2 Corinthians 13, 13)

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Bill Foley