FrNikola

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Cycle C

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When I consider the Holy Trinity I remember a conversation over coffee I had with a friend at work before I entered the seminary. She was a recent convert and asked me, “Who’s your favorite – Father, Son or Holy Spirit?”

The Gospel reminds us today that all the Father has, all the Son has, and in turn all the Holy Spirit will declare to his disciples is common. With the Persons sharing everything in common it is easy to think that God is just giving us options to choose from. We can be attracted to each Person of the Trinity for some reason: the Father because he reminds us of our loving origins and always hearkens us to future rest in not just a place, but a home, a home made more than a dwelling by the family we share it with; the Son because he is a true friend and big brother, who was willing to give it all for us, and because he put a human face to God and reminded us of his solidarity with our daily lives and sufferings; and the Holy Spirit because we always feel a need to rise above and beyond the immediate things in our life, to be taken up by the impulse of inspiration, to feel and be free from the confines of day to day living.

However, we can’t forget that God is One in Three Persons, which is the hallmark of Christian faith, or we risk writing off God in one way or another by considering the Father as aloof, utterly transcendent and beyond our daily lives and interests, authoritarian; considering Jesus Christ just another rabbi or wise man, sharing some human teachings with us and giving good example, nothing more than a social worker; or considering the Holy Spirit as just another one of those flighty inspirations and sentiments that never results in anything, just a free spirit.

Today’s readings and Gospel remind us that everything we are, everything we hope for, and everything expected of us and that we expect from God comes to us from the whole Trinity. In the First Reading we see the Trinity relishing in the creation of the world – the wisdom of God is speaking and reminiscing of the moment of creation. He describes himself as the forerunner of God’s wonders, before the earth was made. And in these words we are reminded that God the Father made the world with his Son in mind, gazing upon him in eternity with love. The Son in turn, begotten by the Father, as we profess every Sunday in the Creed, delights over creation and the human race. This hearkens back to the first chapters of Genesis, when the Spirit of the Lord hovers over the face of the deep, ready to begin creation with “let there be light” and when he creates man, he breathes his own spirit, a Spirit of life, into man to make him a living being, wanting to create men in His own image and likeness. We see that spirit of play and artistic relish that reminds us of God’s total freedom to create us, without any need and restraint, and with us in mind as his true masterpieces, made in his image – by showing him to others, and likeness – by sharing the life he has in abundance.

In creating man the Trinity had an even more special masterpiece in mind, a masterpiece that would in part craft itself. He gave us the freedom to conform our lives to this masterpiece of life that he wanted to see brought about in each one of us. In faith and love we could trust in him to show us the way to be a true masterpiece, a masterpiece of moral beauty, truth, and love. When Adam and Eve sinned they chose their distorted image of God as the model to imitate, and the image of God was disfigured in them. As a result, just as God warned them before eating of the fruit, spiritual death ensued. Nevertheless, God’s relish in us and desire for our glory would not let the story end there.

So, as the Second Reading reminds us, God became man to show us that true masterpiece and image of God that he had in mind from all eternity for us. As Paul reminds us, through our Lord Jesus Christ we have peace and access to the glory of God again. God created the world with his Son’s image in mind, and Jesus, by becoming flesh, by becoming a man, shows us exactly what God had on his mind when he created us. That image of God found in Christ shows us how we can restore the image of God in us again that was disfigured by sin. By Christ becoming man our likeness is restored as well: The flow of spiritual life is reopened by Jesus’ Passion and death, and poured into us by the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, as we profess in the Creed every Sunday. Full of that divine life, we happily put up with the sufferings and struggles of daily life, knowing that the glory of God will come for us.

Finally, as the Gospel reminds us, God is not just the origin of our existence, but the purpose of it as well, the end toward which we’re all headed. It is not the end in terms being finished, it is the beginning of eternal life with the Trinity. Jesus became man and suffered and died to reconcile the world with God, the Father of mercies. He does this by sending the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the disciples during the Last Supper that the Holy Spirit, which Jesus was full of from the beginning to the end of his earthly mission, would come after Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven to constantly keep Christ among us and give us life through the sacraments, as well as guidance and strength to be faithful to the image of God that Jesus Christ had restored in us. As the Lord, the giver of Life, the Holy Spirit continues to keep the Church united around Christ and proclaiming the Gospel to the world through her words and example. Jesus reminds us that the Holy Spirit will not say anything apart from what the Father and Son share. In this way the Trinity is and always will be united as the source of our existence, our hope, and our life.

This week, whenever you make the Sign of the Cross, make it a moment of thanks toward each Person of the Holy Trinity for the work of salvation and happiness that God’s bringing about in us.

Readings: Proverbs 8:22–31; Psalm 8:4–9; Romans 5:1–5; John 16:12–15. See also Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

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7th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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At the beginning of today’s First Reading James tackles how we should face suffering, illness, and good times: prayer. Prayer is not just for when we’re down; our prayer simply changes based on our circumstances. In good times we praise God, the source of all blessings. In times of suffering, we pray for strength to endure our trials and for healing. However, we don’t just pray for ourselves; our prayer in time of suffering is very powerful, which is why the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (alluded to in this passage), when administered, is a consecration of its recipient’s sufferings for the spiritual benefit of others, as well as a moment when the whole Church commends him or her to the Lord. Even if physical healing does not result, the afflicted person receives spiritual healing.

James also reminds us of the effectiveness of a righteous man’s prayer. The secret to effective prayer is to seek God’s will, to ask that it be done and to collaborate in its accomplishment. Elijah proclaimed a drought at the Lord’s command to punish Israel for its sins, and, when the Lord willed it, summoned the rain to end the drought. It wasn’t just his agenda. It is through this union of wills that we are able to seek out those who stray from the truth and sin so that they too can be spared spiritual death.

Whether physically healthy or not, spiritual health is the most important and we must strive to ensure everyone’s spiritual health. Let’s offer up our sufferings today and help anyone spiritually ill to be restored to health through our prayers, the sacraments, and a holy life.

Readings: James 5:13–20; Psalm 141:1–3, 8; Mark 10:13–16. See also 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday.

7th Week of Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading James encourages the first Christians not to complain about each other, using the prophets and Job as examples to follow and warning them that if one party goes on trial seeking justice, both parties go on trial before the just Judge. Job and the prophets may seem to have complained at times about the situation in which they lived, but the true cause for their glory was that they suffered for the sake of truth.

Job suffered one tragedy after the other in his life, but other than asking why and arguing with his friends about whether it was God’s punishment for something he’d done (it wasn’t), Job never blamed God or denounced him for the evil he had suffered. Prophets almost invariably clashed with the political authorities of their time, since they’d been sent by the Lord with an unwelcome message, but they didn’t quit in the face of injustice or hardship.

When you are suffering, when times are difficult, remember that perseverance is precious in the eyes of God, and that is more important than anything your neighbor may have done to you.

Readings: James 5:9–12; Psalm 103:1–4, 8–9, 11–12; Mark 10:1–12. See also 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday and 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

7th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year II

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If Our Lord taught us to store our treasure in Heaven where rust and moth do not corrupt (see Matthew 6:19-21), James in today’s First Reading makes a call to conversion for the rich by describing the darker side of the coin: the consequences of putting treasures over people and not storing up the treasure that really matters, the “treasure” described in today’s Gospel of love and concern for others. For those who put wealth first, all their fine clothes and things will decay and vanish, and their real “retirement” account will be the outcry of all the people they’d wronged in the path to earthly wealth, an outcry that will be heard by the Lord.

The social doctrine of the Church describes the importance of everyone receiving what they need to live and grow as the universal destination of goods: “‘…The earth, by reason of its fruitfulness and its capacity to satisfy human needs, is God’s first gift for the sustenance of human life’ (Centesimus Annus, 31). The human person cannot do without the material goods that correspond to his primary needs and constitute the basic conditions for his existence; these goods are absolutely indispensable if he is to feed himself, grow, communicate, associate with others, and attain the highest purposes to which he is called. The universal right to use the goods of the earth is based on the principle of the universal destination of goods. Each person must have access to the level of well-being necessary for his full development…” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 171-172).

Let’s do an audit today of our time, treasure, and talent, and see how we can invest them not only for our spiritual growth, but for the growth and well-being of others as well.

Readings: James 5:1–6; Psalm 49:14–20; Mark 9:41–50.

7th Week of Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year II

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James in today’s First Reading reminds us that career planning can only get us so far, because we really never know what the future holds. We can plan the perfect college degree, the perfect career, only to suddenly fall head over heels in love and start a family, be struck down by cancer or an accident requiring extended treatment, discover a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life, or lose your job. Many people throughout the world today don’t even have a level of what we’d call normal stability, living in a broken family, poverty, or persecution and can’t even guess what the future holds for them.

Every good thing in our life is a gift from the Lord, and, as Job teaches us, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away (see Job 1:21-22). That’s not a truth to live in fear if we practice faith, hope, and love. God wills the good and helps us achieve it, but we can also help him achieve good as well by asking him what would please him. That’s why whenever we make plans we must be open to God’s will, knowing that he is a loving Father who has his children’s best interest in mind. Being in a Fortune 500 company or in a hospital bed suffering through chemotherapy are both opportunities to help others through our talents and our sacrifices.

Spend some time in prayer today considering the expression, “God laughs at man’s plans”; is there anything you’re planning for life that God may think is a joke? Ask him.

Readings: James 4:13–17; Psalm 49:2–3, 6–11; Mark 9:38–40. See also 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday.