Saints of God…the Lord be with you!
There is so much we will never know about God in God’s very Self. But there are some things we can know. To me, the most important fact we can know about God is that God is a Relationship of Love. Some great early theologians once said that if God were one “person”, God could love only Himself; God could be self-centered; if God were two “persons” God’ love could be exclusive. But the fact that revelation says that God is One God in Three Persons, means that God in God’s very being is open to love the other. God desires to love even that which is not divine, hence creation; and God loves creation so much that God, through the Son becomes part of creation in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and continues to be in creation through the Holy Spirit given to us Gift. Hence, the best thing we can know about God is that GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:7).
This is all very “heady” stuff. In today’s Gospel (John 16:12-15) Jesus says that the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” But the question becomes what is the truth that the Holy Spirit will guide us to? I think the answer to that is found in the second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (5:1-5). “The love of God has been poured into our heart through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Since GOD IS LOVE, the love of God is in fact GOD’S VERY SELF. It doesn’t get more optimistic than this.
The effect of this love changes us. We become “children of God” (1 John 3:1). St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading that “we have peace with God.” The challenge is to live in peace with one another. Paul continues, “we boast of our afflictions knowing that afflictions produce endurance, endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint.” Again, there is a challenge in this since we are called to help those who are undergoing affliction since Jesus helped those in His own time who were afflicted. And the good news dear Saints of God in Sacred Heart Parish is that you accept the challenge. Hands of Hope, Giving from the Heart, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Bikes from the Heart, the Liturgical ministries, the Women’s and Men’s Prayer Groups, our catechists and O.C.I.A. team, and so many others are a way of living our Trinitarian life in the world. I’ve often say is that being Catholic means that we are not called simply to worship the Holy Trinity, but become involved in and live the life of the Holy Trinity in the world today.
So on this most Holy of Solemnities, BE a witness in word and action to the Love of our God who is a Trinity of Love.
– Fr. Steve
