Homily – Trinity Sunday

Whenever there is a new birth in our family, (a new nephew or niece) – and we have had many over the years – one of the first questions always is: who does she look like? Does he have his father’s eyes, her mother’s nose, uncle’s smile, or grandmother’s chin? Which of the brothers or sisters or cousins does s/he look like? We have a couple of family experts on resemblances! And then as they grow and develop you start to notice the temperament. And that gets evaluated against genetic lines too, doesn’t it? He gets that tantrum thing from your side of the family. I’m not sure where that came from but no one on our side would act like that. Or – she is such a thoughtful little girl, just like my sisters. Some things of course just can’t be explained in that way and there are other determining factors that shape our lives and our children’s lives: education, their peers, the media, popular culture, and global advertising to name a few. Both genes and the environment do matter and they make us who we are.

Today we celebrate a double feast: Trinity and Mission. I would like to think of them as two defining factors of who we are. The feast of Trinity is one which celebrates the inner life of God into which we are drawn. God in essence is a community of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Trinity exist in mutual love and outreach. The Father loves the world and reaches out in creation. The Son, sent by the Father, loves the world and reaches out, giving his body. The Spirit loves the world and reaches out like the wind that blows where it will. In baptism each of us is brought into that life of love and outreach. Each one of us is invited into the life of the Trinity in contemplation and then sent out into the world in outreach. In this way our lives and the life of the community resemble the life of God. As we sit in silence, as we contemplate the Word and as we see the Father in creation, as we dwell with the Trinity we take on the love and outreach that is intrinsic to the being of God.

So we can never really celebrate Trinity without celebrating Mission. This is a very Trinitarian thing to do. To be a partner to local churches and communities: helping to build capacity in local communities to be self- sustaining and advocating for religious freedom to allow communities to celebrate and be drawn into the life of Father, Son and Spirit.

This week, let’s remember that we are a people of Mission and a people of Trinity. Spend a few moments in quiet to be drawn into the circle of life and love of God. Take on a small act of outreach – which could be as small as smiling at your neighbour. Just like a newborn you might remind them of the God they have experienced or known once before.

By Brendan Reed