by Fr. Tommy Lane
There are many events occurring in our world that disturb us. Try to imagine the opposite of that. Try to imagine the biggest amount of love that you can. Try to imagine the most beautiful relationship that you can. That love and beautiful relationship exists and is a reality; it is the love and relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Each of us is called to reflect that love and relationship in the world. The first chapter of Genesis tells us we were created in the image of God, in other words, to reflect that love and relationship to the world. Since our baptism, we share in the love and relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a very special way. We were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We were adopted by God as his sons and daughters on the day we were baptized. So, we are caught up in the love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Since our baptism we have a new family. Since baptism we have a new Father, our Father in heaven. We each have a new brother since baptism—Jesus is a brother to each of us. How many brothers and sisters are in your family? You need to revise that number because since baptism Jesus is your brother, so you have one extra brother.
God has a most wonderful plan for each of us: that we reflect the love within the Trinity to the world, that we be the image of God in the world. To draw us into that beautiful relationship of love in the Trinity, the Father gave his Son Jesus for us. As we heard in our Gospel:
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. (John 3:16)
In our first reading, God described himself as “a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.” (Ex 34:7) God does not want anyone to be lost. God created us to have life and have it to the full. That is why, in the Gospel today, Jesus says he was sent “so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost.” (John 3:16)
Sometimes people ask if God is good, why people go to hell and to purgatory. I answer that God is good, and God does not send anyone to hell or to purgatory; it is we who send ourselves to hell or to purgatory through our own actions. As we heard in our Gospel:
No one who believes in him will
be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe. (John 3:18)
We could think of it like this. When you drive at night and meet an oncoming car that does not dim the lights, you are temporarily blinded for a second or two after the car has passed. When we die, if we are not fit for heaven because of the way we have lived, the light of heaven would be too much for us—it would blind us, and we could not take it. So, to prepare for the light of heaven, we have an opportunity after death to love and forgive in purgatory. Then when we are ready for the light, we can go to heaven. God wants only what is good for us. As the Gospel today says:
God send his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved. (John 3:17)
As we reflect today on the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, that no one adequately explain, I would like you to think of God’s plan for you. You were created in the image of God and since baptism you share in the love and life at the heart of the Trinity. How privileged we are! On TV we often see the honor and glory given to the royal families. Yet their dignity as royals is nothing compared to the dignity of each of us sharing in the life and love of the Trinity. What a pity that we sometimes forget who we really are in the eyes of God.
Try to imagine the biggest amount of love that you can. Try to imagine the most beautiful relationship that you can. That is the love and beautiful relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since baptism, you are drawn into that love and beautiful relationship at the heart of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today we contemplate imaging and reflecting to the world the love and relationship at the heart of the Trinity.
Copyright © Fr. Tommy Lane 2002
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More homilies for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
God rich in mercy, Redeemer of man, Giver of life 2024
Year A: The Holy Trinity rescuing us 2023
Tear B: The Most Holy Trinity: God wants the best for us 2021
We belong to the Holy Trinity since baptism
Year C: Father who sought me, Son who bought me, Spirit who taught me