Here is the text of the reflection I shared this weekend with the gathered community: some thoughts for Trinity Sunday and a payer for Fathers' Day.
Last weekend, we completed our observance of the Easter season, and today the Church stops to ponder one of the central mysteries of our faith. We believe that there is one God, but that there are three ways in which our God has been made known to us.
In today’s gospel passage, we see a part of the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, a very respected elder in the Jewish community, but he had no doubt heard some of the teachings that Jesus had shared with those who had gathered in the Synagogue or in the Temple, and he had a few questions to ask. Because he was a leader within the Jewish community, he couldn’t afford to ask his questions in broad daylight, so this conversation took place at night, presumably at some distance from prying eyes and ears. Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus’ understanding of who God is; I have a feeling that some of us have similar questions even today. Like Nicodemus, we too choose to ask them, sometimes in the quiet of prayer, and sometimes in the dark of night, in secluded places where we think that no one else will see us.
The important part is that when Nicodemus asked the question, Jesus had the answer waiting: God, who created the entire world, so loved what he had created that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Here, we see an explanation of two of the three persons of God – the Father, who created the world and who loves every aspect of the world, including us; and the Son, who came into our world in order to show us that our God wants to be close to us, to live with us, to be part of our every-day lives – our joys and our struggles. This in itself is good news, but there is more to the story too: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Some of us may have grown up with an image of God that was less than favorable. In former generations, God was portrayed as someone who punished us for wrong doing, for sin, but a close reading of this passage of the scriptures reveals a different relationship: God sent his son Jesus into the world so that the world might be saved … so that we might come to understand the depth of love that God has for us.
God has been trying to communicate this truth about his love for all creation ever since the time when he first created the world and all that is within it. The reading from the book of Exodus tells us that God even tried to show this tender love to Moses when he descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name – The Lord. In the time of Moses, as in our time, to reveal one’s name is a sign of trust, one of the first signs of a willingness to build a relationship with someone else. God made the first move, revealing his name to Moses, and from that point on, Moses knew that he had been chosen to enjoy a special relationship of trust with God. God always makes the first move, inviting us to enter into a relationship of trust with him. Are we willing to take such a leap of faith?
The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit, the gift that was sent by God the Father and by Jesus his Son to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Last weekend, we celebrated that wonderful feast, and some of our young people celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. They heard the Bishop say to them: Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the day of our Confirmation, each one of us receives the gift of the Spirit, and from that day onward, it is this third manifestation of our God who lives within us, who teaches us, who guides us, and who helps us to be courageous witnesses for Christ.
Today, we celebrate Father’s Day. Let us pray today for all our fathers, for the men in our lives who are witnesses of Christ’s love for us. We pray that the Spirit’s gift of wisdom will be given to our fathers, so that they may always be examples of faith for their children and for all others who look to them for guidance. We pray for all fathers who have known the pain of watching a child of theirs suffer either because of physical ailment or because of poor choices in life. We pray for fathers who have lost children due to abortion, for fathers who are silenced because of fear imposed by the expectations of society. May Mary our mother intercede on behalf of all our fathers, and may the Holy Spirit, the gift of our God always inspire our fathers to be examples of faith for us today.
One God, three persons
Last weekend, we completed our observance of the Easter season, and today the Church stops to ponder one of the central mysteries of our faith. We believe that there is one God, but that there are three ways in which our God has been made known to us.
In today’s gospel passage, we see a part of the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, a very respected elder in the Jewish community, but he had no doubt heard some of the teachings that Jesus had shared with those who had gathered in the Synagogue or in the Temple, and he had a few questions to ask. Because he was a leader within the Jewish community, he couldn’t afford to ask his questions in broad daylight, so this conversation took place at night, presumably at some distance from prying eyes and ears. Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus’ understanding of who God is; I have a feeling that some of us have similar questions even today. Like Nicodemus, we too choose to ask them, sometimes in the quiet of prayer, and sometimes in the dark of night, in secluded places where we think that no one else will see us.
The important part is that when Nicodemus asked the question, Jesus had the answer waiting: God, who created the entire world, so loved what he had created that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Here, we see an explanation of two of the three persons of God – the Father, who created the world and who loves every aspect of the world, including us; and the Son, who came into our world in order to show us that our God wants to be close to us, to live with us, to be part of our every-day lives – our joys and our struggles. This in itself is good news, but there is more to the story too: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Some of us may have grown up with an image of God that was less than favorable. In former generations, God was portrayed as someone who punished us for wrong doing, for sin, but a close reading of this passage of the scriptures reveals a different relationship: God sent his son Jesus into the world so that the world might be saved … so that we might come to understand the depth of love that God has for us.
God has been trying to communicate this truth about his love for all creation ever since the time when he first created the world and all that is within it. The reading from the book of Exodus tells us that God even tried to show this tender love to Moses when he descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name – The Lord. In the time of Moses, as in our time, to reveal one’s name is a sign of trust, one of the first signs of a willingness to build a relationship with someone else. God made the first move, revealing his name to Moses, and from that point on, Moses knew that he had been chosen to enjoy a special relationship of trust with God. God always makes the first move, inviting us to enter into a relationship of trust with him. Are we willing to take such a leap of faith?
The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit, the gift that was sent by God the Father and by Jesus his Son to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Last weekend, we celebrated that wonderful feast, and some of our young people celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. They heard the Bishop say to them: Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the day of our Confirmation, each one of us receives the gift of the Spirit, and from that day onward, it is this third manifestation of our God who lives within us, who teaches us, who guides us, and who helps us to be courageous witnesses for Christ.
Today, we celebrate Father’s Day. Let us pray today for all our fathers, for the men in our lives who are witnesses of Christ’s love for us. We pray that the Spirit’s gift of wisdom will be given to our fathers, so that they may always be examples of faith for their children and for all others who look to them for guidance. We pray for all fathers who have known the pain of watching a child of theirs suffer either because of physical ailment or because of poor choices in life. We pray for fathers who have lost children due to abortion, for fathers who are silenced because of fear imposed by the expectations of society. May Mary our mother intercede on behalf of all our fathers, and may the Holy Spirit, the gift of our God always inspire our fathers to be examples of faith for us today.
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