Rejoicing in Love
“Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.”2 Corinthians 13:11
The first Sunday following Pentecost Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We will perhaps hear homilies at Mass about the essence of the Trinity, about how our God is three divine Persons in One God, and many different analogies explaining the life of the Trinity and how each of the three Persons are distinct yet one. We may hear how St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, explaining each of the leaves to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet all held together by the one and same stem. Or maybe we will hear how St. Augustine described the Trinity as a community of love where the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit as the Love that is present. Whether we prefer the theological explanation of the Oneness of the Trinity or the emphasis on the personal attributes of the distinct Divine Persons of the Trinity, at the core of why we celebrate Trinity Sunday is to remind ourselves of one very simple but profound truth: that God is Love and that we were created in that love, for that love, and so we rejoice.
Let’s not treat the Trinity as a concept to be grasped or a problem to be solved, but rather a mystery to be appreciated and experienced. God is love and we who are made in His image and likeness and are baptized share in this very love. Just as the Trinity is a community of love we, the Church, should also be a community of love for we ought the reflect our Creator. So, are we people of love? In order to truly love, we must first allow ourselves to be loved by God. It is only in encountering God in His love and mercy will our hearts be able to beat not simply for ourselves, but for God and His people.
Brothers and sisters, I pray you will allow God to love you today. I pray that you know and believe that you are loved. When we have come to encounter this love — in prayer, in the sacraments, in our daily living — our lives will be changed. Our fears will be calmed by faith. Our hatred will be washed over by mercy. Our selfishness will be undone by the sacrifice of the Cross. Our despair will be lost in hope. Our darkness will be scattered by the Light. In other words, as St. Paul said, it will truly be Christ who lives in us. And, when we know that it is Christ — Love and Life itself — who lives in us, how can we not rejoice?
