The Most Holy Trinity, Solemnity
There’s a story that’s told about an old Amish woman who went with her family to a mall for the very first time. The Amish family was mesmerized by the dozens of stores, the lights, and the food court. Then, for the first time ever in her entire life, the old Amish woman saw an elevator. She watched closely as an elderly man approached the elevator doors and entered. The doors closed. Moments later, the doors opened and a strikingly handsome young man, who looked almost exactly like George Clooney, exited the elevator. Right after that, the woman saw another elderly man get on, and a minute later a man who looked just like Brad Pitt stepped out. Almost immediately following this, a third elderly man went in, the elevator door shut, and out came a Ryan Gosling look-alike. At that point, the Amish woman’s daughter approached her and said: “Hey Mom, isn’t this place great?” “Yes,” said the old woman. “Quick, go get your Father.”
Transformation.
That’s what our faith is really all about. And few things transform us more than the relationships in our lives. Our parents, our spouses, our children, our grandchildren, our siblings, our friends – little else impacts us as much as our most dear and devoted relationships … especially our families.
And today’s solemnity is all about a central feature of our faith life:
The belief that our God is a Community, a family of Love. Our God is a relational God: Parent, Child, and the Love that exists between them.
This belief, which we profess publicly every Sunday at Mass, means in practical terms that the God who created us, who sustains us daily, and who will one day welcome us into eternal life with “Them,” is not a God distantly removed from us.
On the contrary, our God is a God so close and so near that “They” are present in the very depths of our being – especially present in what matters most to us: our families.
We witnessed this on our TV’s last weekend with the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Millions delighted in seeing these two people commit themselves to a life of love, along with all the pageantry and spectacle that only a royal wedding can provide. All this, plus elements of an African-American church service to boot!
Rev. Michael Curry’s mesmerizing words spoken to the couple, and to all of us, emphasized “the redemptive power of love” – “the power to change the world.”
Transformation.
Rev. Curry then asked each of us to imagine:
“Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine our neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. When love is the way … then no child will go to bed hungry …. When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream, and righteousness like an everlasting brook.”
When love is the way … transformation can take place.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that we also witnessed on the same weekend a horrifying problem that we Americans – unlike any other country in the world – are now faced with: mass shootings.
Our American society today is being ravaged by the violence of guns – particularly guns pointed at school children. Families are being torn apart by senseless murders. Love is being demolished by violence.
Something has to change. We all know that. Hopefully, the unspeakable sorrow that too many families have endured due to this horrific violence will ultimately demand change – and achieve change.
Our God of relationships, our family God – Father, Son, and Spirit – is always quietly, secretly urging us, pulling us forward into becoming people transformed into living replicas of the Trinity … becoming people dedicated to “the redemptive power of love.”
Transformation.
Years ago, an Archbishop originally known to be fully a part of the establishment in El Salvador – someone who could be counted on to not make waves or challenge the powers that ruled that country with an iron fist … changed.
He was transformed – by the “redemptive power of love.”
Reportedly what converted Archbishop Romero, what shoved him toward becoming a priest who stood up for the poor and against the military dictatorships that were involved in assassinations and tortures and countless other social injustices – what reformed the Archbishop was one thing: the families he served.
What converted Archbishop Romero was the terrible damage he saw in these families who were always at risk from the threat of violence – the kind of violence that ultimately killed the Archbishop himself while saying Mass. Romero has since been beatified and will be canonized later this year.
We know the “magic” that the aged Amish woman witnessed with the elevators doesn’t happen in real life. Rather what most brings about change in our lives is the “magic” the impact our relationships have on one another – especially our families.
What changes us is the “redemptive power of love.”
That’s what Jesus teaches us again and again in the Gospels. It’s our family relationships – especially our relationship with the Family of God – that will pull us out of ourselves and give us a bigger heart than we ever dreamed possible – a heart filled with the “redemptive power of love.”
Transformation.
It’s the essence of our faith. But it involves the great risk of embracing a Love that is ultimately personified in the most deep-seated and far-reaching of all relationships ever:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Family of God.
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
