Homily – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Year C)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinity is the greatest mystery we contemplate because it God himself. One God in three Divine persons. The word Trinity never appears in the Bible. It is our word that we use to try to understand the nature of God. Many have attempted different analogies in order to make the Trinity more easy to understand, but all fall short. You cannot explain or understand infinity. God is beyond our total comprehension because we are finite creatures. We will spend all of eternity, if we die in a state of grace, contemplating God as he is. This is called the Beatific vision. And we will go from glory to glory as we contemplate and worship in awe the Divine Majesty. And this Blessed happiness will never end.
A lot of ink has been spilled and a lot of time given in order to make attempts to explain the nature of God and the three persons. This homily will not be one of those. I certainly believe that these are worthwhile matters but there is something more pressing I want to encourage you to. It is one thing to know a lot about a person but is another thing to know that person. To know someone and to love someone is a lot different than analyzing them. We want to know about God certainly. The devil knows a lot about God. But more importantly we want to know God and have a relationship with each of the three Divine persons.
Our first reading shows us a bit of a glimpse of the third person of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Spirit has been with us from the beginning as God’s inspired word tells us. In Genesis God’s spirit hovered over the waters at the creation of the World. In Today’s readings we are told that the Holy Spirit was poured forth. These images of water are no accident. From all eternity God chose these images to speak to us in ways we can understand. Our bodies are composed primarily of water. We die very quickly if we don’t have water. Water is life as some ancient cultures tell us. We pray for Water in the from of rain to bring us food and life. Water is used to clean, and to purify.
St. Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us all of creation testifies to the glory of God. God uses creation to tell us about himself in ways we can understand. In the very nature of water itself, God endows meaning to tell us of our relationship with him. It is through the waters of Baptism that we gain spiritual life. It is through them that we are purified of the stain of original sin. Baptism is the moment in which we are reborn and the Holy Trinity, the divine life of God himself, comes to dwell within us. In Baptism we become temples of the Holy Trinity and in a special way of the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us and makes us Holy. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us to all truth. It is the Holy Spirit that takes what is Christ’s and makes it ours. As we celebrated last Sunday the descent of the Holy Spirit enables us to live out the divine commands of God that keep the Divine Life alive in our hearts. That is why we ask the spirit to come upon the waters of the Baptismal font to make them Holy. That is why we Catholics use water so much in our lives. We cross ourselves with it when we enter the Church to remind us that we entered the Church, the Body of Christ, through our baptism. We sprinkle it to remind us of our baptism and the need purify ourselves of sin and to keep that flame alive in our hearts. We cross ourselves with it when we leave the Church reminding ourselves that we Christians are sent to the World to teach all nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, so that all of creation may be brought back to God. We sprinkle the casket at funerals to reminds us that we died with Christ in baptism and rose with him in Baptism and we will rise with him again to be judged by our deeds. We use it at exorcisms to drive out the Devil as the stain of original sin was driven out at Baptism and we renounced Satan. We keep it in our homes and bless our homes with them to cleanse them of all impurities as God used Water to cleanse the earth from sin in the flood. But it all begins in the waters of Baptism where the Blessed Trinity comes to dwell in our souls. That is the gift given to us. God comes to live inside of us.
Unfortunately it is a gift that is underappreciated by all of us. It is a gift that some people choose to throw away when they commit mortal sins. They set their hearts on things that are not of God and they choose to expel God from their hearts to pursue other desires. Sins of Fornication, adultery and sexual impurity, sins of anger and hate, sins of abortion and murder, sins of pride and envy, sins of gluttony, materialism, lust and sloth. The Divine Godhead will not tolerate living in this filth. If we choose these things over the indwelling of the Trinity then God respects our decision and leaves. We throw out the one thing that gives our souls life. And we throw it out of our own choosing. Some will try to convince themselves that they still love God. But Love is to will the good of the other. We cannot choose these sins and choose God at the same time. And the result of our choice is spiritual death.
That is why it is so important to cultivate the spiritual life. That is why it is so important to pray. That is why it is so important to obey God and his Church. These are our protections against the snares of the devil. When we were baptized and we received the gift of divine life dwelling in us. We were also given instruction on how to keep this gift. Listen to the words of the ritual itself. You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking? Parent’s and God parents: You must make it your Constant care to bring him up in the practice of the faith. See that the divine life that God gives him is kept safe from the poison of sin, to grow always stronger in his heart. If your faith makes you ready to accept this responsibility, renew now the vows of your own baptism. Reject sin; profess your faith in Christ Jesus. This is the faith of the Church. This is the faith in which this child is about to be baptized. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into everlasting life. Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He is to walk always as a child of the light. May he keep the flame of faith ALIVE in his heart.
The words are clear and meaningful. Cultivate, renew, keep God’s commands, reject sin, responsibility, entrusted, the practice of the faith, in word and deed. We are told the means of caring for the precious gift given to us at baptism. We must take the action.
It is my responsibility to offer you tools and assistance. I need to provide access to the sacraments. I need to preach God’s word. I need to teach the faith. But all of us are called to use these means of sanctification. I am in the process of trying to plan to provide you with as many helps as I can. Those include bringing back the devotional life to the sacred heart and other devotions, the blessings of families in their homes, regular access to the sacraments, bible studies, votive masses to the Holy Spirit, the blessing of farms and instruments of work and so forth. I will do my best to provide you with every tool I can to keep the faith alive in your hearts and to nurture the divine life given to you at baptism. I will provide the sacrament of penance to restore that life to you if you should lose it. I will do my best and God will make up for my shortcomings with his grace. All that will not be enough though if we choose not to use the means.
To use another water analogy. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. God provides us with the life giving water we need to survive. But we can refuse that gift. God provides us with the means of keeping it alive in our hearts, but we can choose to let it be blown out and replaced by other things. God gives us the seed, he give us the land, he give us the water and he give us the SON (point to the crucifix)… We choose provide the cultivation, or we choose not to. The choice is yours. Choose well.