Homily for May 26, 2013

Homily for Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day

The Bishop of a remote diocese was making his rounds of visits to the parishes and institutions within the diocese.  He learned in a small very remote parish that there we three monks who had built a shack on a small island just visible from the coast line.  He decided that he had to visit and meet these monks and hired a boat to take him over for the day. 

The Monks were delighted to see him and joyfully shared their simple mid day meal with him.  He asked them about the prayer life they shared.  The monks explained that none of them could read or write so they simply gathered each morning and evening to chant: “O God, you are three, we are three, please bless us.”  The Bishop felt bad for their ignorance and thought them the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven...”  After which they accompanied him back to the boat for his ride back to the mainland. 

As he sat in the boat for the ride back he was feeling pretty good about teaching them a formal prayer and thanked God for the chance to teach the monks.  Suddenly, he heard his name being called, looking up he saw the three monks walking on the water toward the boat.  He and the boat man were shocked and sat there stunned as the monks climbed into the boat. 

They said: “Bishop we loved that prayer you taught us be we each remember it differently.  Please teach it to us again; so we can pray correctly”  The Bishop said, “never mind the prayer I thought you just keep praying: ‘O God, you are three, we are three, please bless us.’”

My brothers and sisters, there are many Christian mysterious that Christians like me (people who actually are into analyzing stuff) try to logically figure out.  But, much of our Christian heritage and beliefs are far more experiential than they are deducible by logic.  The Holy Trinity is one of these beliefs.  It is not really a logical explanation of how God is to be understood, it’s a description of how our ancestors experienced God. 

They had the tradition of their Jewish predecessors in faith that the “Lord God is one and there no other.”  And they had their own traditions about Jesus’ teaching and example like the one we heard in today's’ gospel reading where Jesus talks of the Father, himself and the Spirit like three different persons.  However, He never calls himself or the Spirit other God’s.  Rather He speaks of their “Oneness.”

In today’s gospel readings John gives somewhat of a functional description of the Holy Trinity: Jesus and the Spirit have “all that is the Father’s” and pass it on to God’s people.  This scene takes place after the Last Supper when Jesus is telling the disciples about the mission they are to undertake.  They have much more to learn, but they are not yet ready to comprehend it.  The Spirit will expand on what Jesus has told them and guide them through their ministry.  Whether the word comes from the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, it is from the same divine power and wisdom. 

In our first reading Wisdom, “understanding” is personified as a woman.  It poetically describes her as “brought forth”: the Hebrew word presents an image of being birthed or begotten; not made, created or manufactured.  She is of God in a way that is unique.  The first Christians viewed this kind of Old Testament literature as describing the Holy Spirit.  Wisdom is the first of God’s great self expressions; before creation.  She was with him in all the other works of creation!

My sisters and brothers, rather than trying to make sense out of the traditional belief in one God who is three persons, let’s focus on the experience of being filled divine Spirit.  Simply asking God to empower us to live the mystery!