Dear Brothers and Sisters,
What a good news we hear in this Word of God today on this feast of the Holy Trinity. All power in heaven and earth has been given to me, Jesus says. This is a great good news! If there is something that I cannot do, there is someone who can help me. It can be done by one who has the power to do it. He is Jesus Christ. You want to travel around the world; well, he will not help you do that, but if you need something that will help your marriage or benefit your life, he can do it. To give you a lot of money will destroy you, but he will help your son to get off drugs or to stop an adulterous relationship. You cannot do it on your strength, but there is someone who can. It is easy for us to become slaves or overly attached to some idol or bad habit. Often, we find it impossible to love someone, to be chaste, or to have another child; he has the power to do it. He can help you rebuild your marriage, help you with a sick child or parent, overcome a particular sin. Couples are called not only to love one another, but to respect each other. Love without respect is not love. Christ has the power to do all of this!
Young people who come to see me often think their parents are a mess and they are wondering what they can do. I don’t know what to say so I tell them to live their baptism. If you want others to change, let the Lord change you. Let yourself be loved by the Lord. There is no doubt that he loves you. There is often just one problem and that is the idea you have of God, as a genie in your pocket. Throw that idea in the garbage; that is the best thing you can do and open your ears to the preaching, to the Word, and to the sacraments; they can help you. They will give you a fresh start and help you to lean on the right person.
How wonderful it is when someone who has not known God, nor had a religious training hears a Word from Scripture, and its freshness and beauty touches him and begins to change his way of thinking. The problem is when we come with a natural religiosity and our ideas about God that we received from our parents or grandparents or teachers are infantile. This way of thinking is absorbed without noticing it. Natural religion is like doing business with God. If I am good, he will give me good things. So, Lord, I will go to church, but you have to change my mother, for example. This is very far from faith. Natural religiosity is based on fear, and we all have this tendency.
What is the Holy Trinity? Honestly, I have no idea and I took many classes on it and didn’t learn or remember much. God is a trinity, and he is love, which is expressed by communion. I don’t need to say anything more. We have made our faith about knowing things. There are many theologians with doctorates in theology or canon law or whatever, but many don’t have faith. Pope Francis said we need more pastors, and less doctors. What a great truth! I did some further studies, but it did not help me. The Lord has to give me a doctorate in humility.
Many come to the Eucharist, to Mass, to learn something new, which is not bad, but the important thing is to leave with a word that will help you to fight this week. A word that will help you to live chastity, or not to lie, or not to judge, or a word that helps you understand the other. You need Christ who is the Word of God. This is what you need, not to learn how many processions there are in the Trinity.
I don’t want to speak about the Trinity. I am hoping you live the Trinity. The Trinity is communion between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; a communion so perfect that there Is only one God. You cannot live communion without a community. It is a community of people of various ages and backgrounds who come together only for one reason: to grow in faith. It is impossible for me to love if I don’t see someone who loves. I cannot forgive unless I see someone who forgives. I cannot die to myself for someone who doesn’t exist. I can’t die for humanity, which is nonsense. To love your spouse or your parent or a child or a friend is to die for them. A Christian gives his life for the other. He cannot give his life for an imaginary person. The others in a community are sinful people, like me, and I am called to love them as they are. Engrave in your head those words of Jesus: love one another as I have loved you!!
When you are afraid, let yourself be loved by the Lord. When you cannot love the other as they are, ask the Lord to help you. This is the Trinity; to live our baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is way to faith. Some parents only want their kids to be great in soccer! It is a very little ideal for their child. If you want your child to have faith, don’t have a godparent who is living with someone without marriage or who never goes to church or who loves money and is very worldly. Pick someone who wants to live the faith!
Baptism is not magical, and we have this mentality that if we learn a few things, then we have faith. I have a magical wand in my hand and all of a sudden, my child is not playing video games for six hours a day, or she suddenly gets off of drugs, or is the best kid in the class, etc. This is not faith. Throw away this idea of God and of the sacraments.
You can experience the joy of the Trinity, that God loves you, will always love you. He is not a God who hates you because you had a bad week. He is not a genie in a bottle who does what you want. He is not a God you need to fear, a legalistic God who punishes you when you break the law; this is not the God of the Scriptures. This concept of God is horrible. Don’t live with this concept of God. God loves you immensely and will always love you. This is the Trinity: to live in this communion with these three persons and with the brother or sister in your community who is closer to you than someone in your family.
Prostrate yourself before the love of God and you will see him in Galilee. What is Galilee for you? It is where the Lord freed you from something, a boring life, an attachment to sin. He took you to a mountain and there you will see the Lord. What is this mountain? The suffering that you have today; through it you will see the Risen Lord. Prostrate yourself. Some doubted but that is normal; don’t remain in doubt, ask for help, and get rid on this infantile idea you have of God. One day you will see the Trinity in all its glory. God loves you even in your deep misery. God is love. This is the Trinity! May the Lord grant it to you!