The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

-- For seventeen years of my life (from 1992-1998 and 2004-2014), I lived and ministered at the Parish of Most Holy Trinity-St. Mary in Brooklyn, New York.  The feast of the Most Holy Trinity has a special place in my heart!  

My Sisters and Brothers:

Today the Church celebrates the great feast of the Most Holy Trinity!  And so, on this “Trinity Sunday” we hear Jesus’ Gospel proclamation to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit . . .” (see Matthew 28:19).  As evidenced by the words of Jesus in this passage, the “Trinitarian formula” has been used by Christians since the very first days of the early church.  Even so, for many it’s difficult to grasp the concept of a “Trinity–or three persons in one God.”


As I personally reflect on it, I like to recall the words of that ancient and well known Latin hymn “Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.”  The modern English rendition of this song reads “where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found.”  I also very much like the Spanish version which reads “donde hay amor y caridad, se encuentra Dios.”  In each of these languages, the words of the song speak to me, and I believe they give me some insight into the nature of the Trinity; I imagine the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity, “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” as existing in a kind of “perfect relationship” of charity and love.

The Church teaches us that the “three persons” of the Trinity “subsist in one nature” (that’s to say, there is just One God – “One God in three persons”).  As we try to contemplate the meaning of this, we might recall that the actual word “Trinity” isn’t found anywhere in the Bible (and as a side point here, we might note that the word “Bible” isn’t found in the Bible either!).  However, we believe Christians have pondered the concept of the Trinity from the earliest days of the Church. The word “Trinity” has been specifically used by theologians since at least the fourth century, and has been used in order to explain a basic Christian understanding of who God is (i.e., "One God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit”).  Based on this, and if we can then say that “the Trinity is a harmonious, charitable and loving community of persons,” how might this effect the way in which we live our daily Christian lives?

Is there no better way to live out our Trinitarian faith than for one another to be a reflection of the Trinity’s perfect example of charity and love?  I believe the one answer to both of these questions is that we are called to follow the example of the Trinity, this relationship, this “community” of charity and love, in the way that we relate to other human beings, especially those with whom we come in contact every day (i.e., our family members, our classmates, our co-workers, our clients, our neighbors, our fellow travelers on the road, and so on).  If we effectively live in harmony with others, and demonstrate charity and love in the way that we live our lives, then I believe we can very truly reflect the love of God and the “community of charity and love” that is the Trinity.

As Christian men and women, and in fellowship with one another, we are made in the image and likeness of our Trinitarian God!  We need one another in order to lead faith filled lives that are complete, life-giving and joyful (and that are characterized by the way we demonstrate charity and love for one another).  And so, on this Trinity Sunday, let us recommit ourselves to the God of charity and love, and to all of our brothers and sisters.

May we always remember our obligation to live in harmonious relationships with others and to form a perfect community of relational charity and love that truly reflects our Trinitarian God!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Feast of the Pentecost

My Sisters and Brothers:

     It is said that this Great Feast of the Pentecost is a commemoration of  “the birthday of the universal Christian church.”  As we begin our celebration of the Mass on this day, we pray together the following words: “O God . . . sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth . . .” (from the Collect or “Opening Prayer,” at the Mass during the day).

     With this in mind, let’s recall the account given in the Acts of the Apostles today in which we are told that people from all over the world had gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.  These scriptures tell us that “there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem” (see Acts 2:5).  Such men and women of faith, from near and far, had customarily gathered at the temple every year for the ancient Jewish Feast of the Pentecost, one of seven annual religious festivals, this one for which they would commemorate the giving of God’s law to Moses on Mount Sinai and also mark the annual beginning of the wheat harvest.

     The word “Pentecost” literally means the “fiftieth day,” and so this feast was observed fifty days after the second day of Passover.  Christians count in a similar manner, and so they observe the Feast of the Pentecost fifty days after the celebration of Easter Sunday.

     The Acts of the Apostles tell us that ten days after the Ascension of Jesus and on the Feast of Pentecost, “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs” had gathered at the temple in Jerusalem (see Acts 2:9-11).  It would not have been unusual to see a gathering of such an international and multi-lingual crowd for the Jewish Feast of the Pentecost!  The people mentioned in this account would have come from places that in the modern day include North Africa, Iran and Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Mediterranean coastal areas including Greece and Italy (as we all know, in our own time and about some of these areas, we often hear dreadful news!).  While it is most unfortunate that the Christian faith has nearly disappeared from those places since the time of the early church, the naming of peoples from those “distant lands” in the Acts of the Apostles is in fact a very significant detail.  It demonstrates clearly to us the universality of the Christian church, and that the love of the Father, the saving presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit are given to all men and woman and at every time and place.

     The universal Christian church, whose “birthday” we celebrate today, is for everyone – and it’s even for people who are “different” than us!   The Christian faith, empowered by the great gift of the Holy Spirit among us, embraces all men and women!  Always and with fervor, may we continue to pray that our God will “pour out the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth.”

As we bring the fifty days of this Easter Season to a close on this Great Feast of the Pentecost, let us invoke the power of the Holy Spirit as we recall that Christ is Risen, Truly, He is Risen,  Alleluia, Alleluia!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Love Conquers All Fear, the Seventh Sunday of Easter

My Sisters and Brothers:

     The last words of today’s second reading are “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him [or her]” (see 1 John 4:16).  It seems to me that these words are a wonderful introduction to Jesus’ prayer to the Father as presented in today’s Gospel.  In it he pleads: “Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one . . . so that they may share my joy completely . . . I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one . . . consecrate them in the truth” (see John 17:11b-19).  In the previous chapter of the same Gospel, Jesus had already told his disciples to have “courage.”  He said to them: “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (see John 16: 33b).

     Isn’t it precisely because we “remain” in God’s love that Jesus can assure his disciples that he has “conquered the world” and that they should have no fear?  In today’s Gospel, Jesus pleads with the same loving Father to “protect from the evil one” those whom he sends into the world.  There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was very aware of the regular, ordinary, run-of-the-mill human weaknesses that his disciples had (and certainly we have too!).

     Jesus knows and guarantees to us that love will conquer all fear!  He prays fervently to the Father for the continued faith and strength of all of his disciples, including those of us who remain in the world today!  And of course, because we know Jesus loves us, we desire with all of our hearts to love him too!  We also have confidence that Jesus will always be with us, and that he will provide whatever strength we need to overcome any negative powers or forces we might face in our lives.  We need not fear those things that otherwise promise to threaten our peace and want to destroy our sense of being blessed.  With this in mind, we can therefore pray the same prayer of Jesus!

     We can lovingly encourage all of our sisters and brothers to have confidence that we will always have the protection of the Father.  This is especially true when we are faced with the temptations and struggles of “the world.”  And even though we understand that it won’t always be easy, we can remain sure of God’s loving presence in our lives.  It’s likely that we will sometimes fail to love others as we should, and we may give in to other temptations as well (these weaknesses are also known as “sin”), but we can be sure that even so, God is always with us!  Jesus knew well the realities of human life, and the fact that none of us are perfect, and this is why he pleaded so fervently to the Father on our behalf.

     Let us take confidence in this prayer of Jesus, and let us be sure that each one of us is “consecrated in truth.”   This desire and prayer of Jesus really is about that which enables us to love God and others at our best.  And so let us strive to live our consecration with pure love, with confidence and with joy!  May we always trust the power of our God, he who is love!

Christ is Risen, Truly, He is Risen,  Alleluia, Alleluia!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Perfect Love of Jesus, the Sixth Sunday of Easter

My Sisters and Brothers:

     In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us with the following words: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you . . . if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love . . . love one another as I love you . . . no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (see John 15:9-13).  Doesn’t this teaching summarize the Christian understanding of “perfect love” that Jesus and the Father have for us?  In this passage, Jesus also challenges us to love God in the same way in return.  Wow, that seems like a tall order to me!

     Jesus ties this love for God to the love we show towards other people (you know: that whole thing about “love one another as I love you . . . and love your neighbor as yourself”).  If it’s a tall order to have perfect love for God, then isn’t it true that having perfect love for others is something that is very often even more difficult to accomplish?  This has certainly been my experience!

     I think we all agree that our Christian faith calls us to give of ourselves, and to love others, in imitation of Jesus . . . and we believe that he has even “laid down his life for us” (see 1 John 3:16).  While most of us will never be called to such a profound level of sacrifice for others (although police officers and firefighters come to my mind on this point!), we might ask ourselves “how much am I truly willing to give of myself, and to have love for others?”  In answer to this, I’m compelled to recall the Scripture passage that reads: “But God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (see Romans 5:8).  It seems to me that we can only begin to imitate the manner in which Jesus loves us when we commit ourselves to having the most basic kind of “respect” for all people.  Isn’t this especially poignant when we give of ourselves, and show love towards, those who are “un-loveable,” different and/or who have different values and ideas than we do?  And isn’t that actually what the Lord Jesus has done by giving his life for us?

     If we can authentically love those who are difficult to love, then it seems to me that only then will we be able to understand the demonstrable “perfect love” that Jesus and the Father have for us.  In a way then, we might say that those in our lives who are difficult to love “show us the way to the Father.”  Isn’t that ironic, but so true!   Once we figure out the whole “love one another as I love you” mandate of Jesus, then I believe we can enthusiastically take the next step which is that of committing ourselves to a life of service to others, especially to the most needy.  The service that we do for others, born out of Christian love, might be demanding, but isn’t it an obligation we must embrace?  Isn’t it also something we are called to do with generosity of heart?

     May we always be eager both to give and to receive the love of God.  May the manner in which we live our lives, especially the way we relate to our brothers and sisters on the journey, always reflect the love of the Father!  May people know us as followers of Jesus by the way in which we show that love for God, and in the manner we respect and serve one another, especially those who are most in need!

Christ is Risen, Truly, He is Risen,  Alleluia, Alleluia!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Called to Bear Much Fruit, the Fifth Sunday of Easter

My Sisters and Brothers:

     The Easter Season is all about celebrating the life we share with Jesus!  As we reflect on today’s Gospel and the analogy it gives about the grapevine (see John 15:1-8), we might ask ourselves: “In our lives, how can we be ‘connected’ to Jesus, as grape branches are connected to the vine?”

     I think the first and obvious answer is that we must be people of prayer who have a deep and personal relationship with Jesus.  In this way we are able to receive life and strength from him who shares his life with us.  I think the second answer is that we must be connected to the community of believers and share in its life as well.  As many grape branches grow on the same vine, so we are many, and we share one source of life.  This common identity should enable us to live together in harmony, and to share in the life of our church and its mission.  I believe the third answer to this question brings together the answers to the first and second.  That’s to say, we will clearly demonstrate a connection to Jesus, and to the way we share in his life as members of a community, when we place ourselves at the service of others, especially the needy.

     Simply put, as Christians we must embrace the teachings of Jesus in our hearts, in our words, in our relationships with others, and in our daily practices.  Isn’t it true that if there are no fruits, or demonstrable good works in our lives, then surely we cannot claim to be connected to Jesus and/or to the community of believers?   Accordingly, we are reminded by Jesus about the consequences of not bearing fruit, and of being separated from him.  He says that such people will be like those branches cut off from the vine by the vine-grower and “thrown into the fire” (see John 15:6).  The implication of this is obvious to us.  Consequently, each one of us might do well to examine our consciences and ask ourselves:  “What are the demonstrable good works, or those fruits that I bear, in my Christian life?”

     Today’s Gospel challenges us not to be concerned only with our own needs, but rather it also calls us to look beyond ourselves.  As faithful followers of Jesus, we must always work for the good of others, and we must do things that clearly demonstrate his very life at work within us.  Jesus tells us “whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (see John 15:5).

     May Jesus continue to strengthen us in our personal lives of faith; may he fortify our relationships with one another, and may he always inspire us to dedicated service on behalf of others, especially for those who are most in need.  By what we say and do, and as we continue to celebrate Easter, may we joyfully proclaim the life we share with Jesus!   

Christ is Risen, Truly, He is Risen,  Alleluia, Alleluia!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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