Sunday :22th of May 2005

Trinity Sunday.
Fr. Teddy.

We celebrate today the greatest mystery of our faith, which can never be proven intellectually or scientifically. In faith we believe that there are three persons in one God. We were baptised into our Christian faith in the name of God the Father, our Creator, God the Son our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit who is God's living power in us.

In today's Gospel (John 3: 16-18) we hear Jesus tell Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. So God cared so much for people that he came and lived among us as a human person called Jesus, and through his Holy Spirit he is alive in each one of us.

Explaining and celebrating the Holy Trinity is not easy. We think of the legend about St. Patrick using the shamrock to illustrate the mystery to our ancestors. We note that dialogue with Jews and Muslims is very difficult with regard to this feast. The liturgical calendar places it after the Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. It is a kind of theological summary or reflection of the previous feasts. Holy Week reflects in a special way on Jesus Christ, Easter reminds us of God who raised his son from death, and Pentecost commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The feast of the Holy Trinity is in some way a climax of this special time of the liturgical year.

I suppose the main challenge this feast throws up for us believers is the challenge to learn more about our faith. Most of us are left to depend on what we learned at primary school. This was excellent at the time but of course as we grew up and faced the complexities of modern living, changed times and culture, we find that our childhood understandings of our faith are no longer adequate. Then some just throw their faith out like they do Santa. Others hold on to it like dear life even though they may struggle desperately to articulate it. That is why it is very important as St. Paul says to be able "to give some reason for the hope that is in us".

I would very much encourage people to try to learn more about their faith. If you are a parent, for example, it is important to be able to deal with the hard questions your teenage children will put to you. It is equally important to be comfortable enough in your faith to be able to cope with the hard times life will inevitably throw up for you. You can find encouragement, inspiration and stimulation in reading something, ranging from, for example, The Messenger, The Irish Catholic, The Furrow, The Tablet to The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I am encouraged to learn that there are people in this Parish who have taken courses in various aspects of Theology and Religious Education etc. I would love to hear from such people and maybe we could meet sometime to have a chat about ways that we could work together to promote more widespread knowledge of the faith and particularly to encourage Adult Religious Education.

Let us remember that each time we make the Sign of the Cross, we acknowledge our belief in the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today we come to celebrate that great mystery.

Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And ever shall be,
World without end, Amen