Holy Trinity Sunday

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity.  Our guest celebrant today was Father Ken Hedrick, a retired priest now living in Mississippi.  His homily touched me, and I asked permission to post it on this blog.  Enjoy!

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 No one thus far has really understood the concept of the Holy Trinity and we won’t either, no matter what theological constructs we employ in our prayers.  That’s why we call the Trinity one of the mysteries of our faith.  But the truth of the matter is that God never chose to reveal the reality of the Trinity as a doctrine.  The word “trinity” never even appears in Scripture.  Jesus did not ever invite his apostles to accompany him to a quiet place so that he would teach them a short course on the Trinity.  Instead, God, in the Scriptures and in Christ, chose to reveal the Trinity not as a doctrine but as an experience.

God the Father.  God as Father not only creates our lives, God cradles us with a parent’s protection and care, with a Father’s discipline, with a parent’s guidance.  As you recall times when you have felt cared for and watched over, when you felt a protection not of your own or this earth’s doing, when you felt supported in difficult times, guided from the waywardness you were tempted to pursue and onto the way of righteousness, when – through the love expressed in the sacrament of marriage – you have helped create new life on this earth, then you have experienced the revelation of God the Father. 

God the Son.  God as the divine Son and Savior is with us as brother and companion.  When you recall times you felt the burden of guilt lifted and new possibilities open before you in the second chance that was offered, when you found peace even in moments of challenge and tragedy, when you found the courage to sacrifice for what was right, when you took the hand of another in spite of your own weakness, when you shed a tear at another’s misfortune or hurt and you offered support, then you experience the revelation of God the Son.

 God is present to us now as the Spirit of life.  When you recall times when you did not give in to doubt, frustration or despair but knew you could journey on, when you heard a word of guidance that redirected and re-energized your heart, when you stood up for right with courage, when the voice of your conscience pricked you and changed your behavior or your attitude, when you felt solace in your time of grief, when you were moved to pray in your time of need, then you experienced God the Holy Spirit.

 The Holy Trinity: not a theological mystery to be figured out, but a revelation of a relationship to be experienced, the relationship of a community of love.  May we open ourselves to all that this experience has to offer us as we seek wholeness and holiness of life.  May we also renew our baptismal pledge to help others experience, in every aspect of this parish’s life and ministry, the community of love that the Trinity reveals and into which God, Father, Son and Spirit, invites us and all to enter, no matter what the next translation of the Roman Missal might have us saying.