by Fr. Tommy Lane
Our celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter, and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, contain so much that we could benefit from more time every year to reflect on and absorb what God has done for us. We have this extra time by reflecting today on the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. That extra time for reflection continues in our celebration of Corpus Christi next Sunday which gives us another opportunity to ponder Jesus giving us the Eucharist on Holy Thursday. Our celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday after Corpus Christi gives us another opportunity to reflect on Christ’s salvation for us on Good Friday. So, our celebration today of the Most Holy Trinity, of Corpus Christi next Sunday and of the Sacred Heart the following Friday, allow us to continue to draw spiritual fruit from the Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.
As we reflect on the Holy Trinity, we know the Trinity is a mystery too big for our minds to understand. But we can grasp bits and pieces of the mystery. The Father, to show his love for us, sent his Son Jesus who became one of us to convince us of his love for us. Not only that, but Jesus took our sins on himself on Calvary. Jesus has already done it all for us; it is up to us to accept the gift God offers us. God did not just do all that for us in Jesus and then leave us—God continues to be present to us in our daily lives through his Spirit. The Spirit is God’s closeness to us, God with us helping us every day. We see that in our second reading today: Paul wrote that we did not receive a spirit making us afraid but a Spirit of being adopted sons and daughters of God so that we can say, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15)
The word “Abba,” a word in Aramaic, the language of Palestine at the time of Jesus, is similar to our word “Daddy.” That is the way we are to look on God, as our Abba or Daddy. That one short word tells us so much about God and God’s gift to us. Paul said we received a Spirit of adoption;in other words, when we were baptized, we were adopted by God as his sons and daughters. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and the Father spoke and said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:21) Since we were all adopted as God’s sons and daughters when we were baptized, we can imagine the Father saying over us when we were baptized, “You are my beloved son / you are my beloved daughter, with you I am well pleased.” No wonder that Paul says we can say “Abba,” Daddy, to God. He is our Father, Daddy. Spending time in prayer every day with Abba, Daddy, is a necessity for everyone. We can pray to Abba, Daddy, and pray to Jesus who became one of us to take our sins to Calvary, and the Spirit is God’s continuing presence with us.
The whole of the Bible, with all its events and incidents, is teaching us something about God, about the Trinity, and God’s wish for us. I would like share one incident in the life of King David which we never hear in Sunday readings. The First Book of Samuel tells us David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; see Acts 13:22). So, if we want to know something about the heart of God, about the Trinity, look at the heart of David. We know of David’s sins, but they are obviously not after God’s own heart. But David did have his good qualities that tell us something about God’s own heart. We read in the Second Book of Samuel that David’s son, Absalom, revolted against him and David had to go on the run to save his life (2 Sam 15-18). Messengers came to David. David asked the first one, “Is young Absalom safe?” (2 Sam 18:29). Absalom had rebelled against David and David had to flee for his life, yet when a messenger came, David’s question was, “Is young Absalom safe?” The messenger did not know and when a second messenger came to David, he asked the same question again enquiring if Absalom was safe (2 Sam 18:32). The messenger had to break the news to David that Absalom had been killed. David wept and wept. David wept when his own son, who had brought him such pain, died violently. We were told that David was a man after God’s own heart (in 1 Sam 13:14).This is what God is like; God wants our best even when we rebel. Putting it in our human language, God weeps for us when we rebel and get ourselves into trouble. God is always hoping for the best for us. God always wants the best for us. God is always our Abba, Daddy.
Receiving God’s best for us begins with our baptism. In our Gospel today, we heard Jesus asking that all be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). We can imagine the Father saying over us as we were baptized, “You are my beloved son / you are my beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased.” Baptism was a very special grace of the Holy Trinity on us that took place once with lasting effects. Also, we bless ourselves in the name of the Trinity every day. When a priest gives a blessing, it has a strength. Catholic priests share in the priesthood of Jesus so when you are blessed by a Catholic priest you are blessed by Jesus. Every Mass concludes with the blessing of a priest and if anyone leaves Mass early, apart from reminding us of Judas who left the Last Supper early, that person misses out on the blessing of the priest which is the blessing of Jesus. God wants our best even when we rebel. God is always hoping for the best for us. God always wants the best for us. God is always our Abba, Daddy.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2021
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The Most Holy Trinity: Abba, Emmanuel, Helper
Year A: The Holy Trinity rescuing us 2023
Year A: We are drawn into the love at the heart of the Trinity
Tear B: The Most Holy Trinity: belonging to the Holy Trinity since Baptism
Year C: Father who sought me, Son who bought me, Spirit who taught me
Story: St. Augustine and the Mystery of the Trinity