Homily - 2014/06/15 Solemnity of the Holy Trinity Sunday and Father's Day
John 3:16
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach/San Diego, CA
As many of you know, I really enjoy watching
videos on Youtube and Facebook, especially inspirational videos. And with today
being Father’s Day, it brought to mind a couple of Dads, besides my own, that
really stood out to me, and influenced my view on what it means to be a father.
The first being the father of Derek Redmond, Jim Redmond. You might remember
Derek from the 1992 Olympics when about midway through his race, he suffered a
torn hamstring, and determined to finish the race, he continued, hopping along
toward the finish line in pain, and that is when his dad came down from the
stands onto the track and helped him finish the race. His father was there at a
moment of apparent defeat, that turned into a lesson to millions of fatherly
love, and perseverance through difficulties.
The second father is Patrick Henry Hughes’
Dad Patrick John Hughes. The younger Patrick was born blind and has a crippling
disability that has him wheelchair bound. The elder Patrick has sacrificed for
his son by working graveyards at UPS through night, and spends his days participating
in the marching band with his son, guiding his son’s wheelchair in formation
while the younger Patrick exercises his God given ability in music. Patrick’s
Dad recognized that his son has a special gift for music, and through that gift
is able to bring joy into the world, a joy his father gets to share with his
son.
There is another example of fatherly
love that we can talk about, the love of God the Father: God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not
perish but might have eternal life. From John 3:16 is probably one of the most recognized
verses of the Bible. You may have seen it on a bumper sticker, t-shirt, or on a
sign being held up in the crowd at a sports event. John 3:16.
God didn’t send his son down on a
chariot of flames to whoop our butts into shape, to make sure we were doing
wanted us to do… Instead he sent his angel Gabriel to a young girl, who was betrothed
in marriage, a virgin named Mary, and the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be
called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David
his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And
behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and
this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be
impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it
be done to me according to your word.”
It was at that moment, at the
annunciation, with Mary’s consent to cooperate with the will of God, that Jesus
began to dwell among us, in the flesh as a human.
It was a that moment that God the Father, sent the Holy
Spirit to come upon Mary, and at that moment she conceived the Son of God ,
Jesus. A moment that involved The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, God
present to Mary in the fullness of the Trinity, our one God, in three persons.
Today we celebrate the solemnity of
the most Holy Trinity. The expression of how we understand God, as one God in
three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a mystery that surpasses our human
ability to completely understand. But through God’s revelation to us, that is, the
way he has revealed himself to us through history, we have come to understand the three persons
of God. From the Old Testament we have an understanding of God the Father as
the all-powerful God, creator of heaven and earth. And it was 2000 years ago at
the annunciation that Mary knew Jesus, and nine months later at the nativity of
Jesus, when Jesus was born in a manager, that the rest of mankind was introduced
to God in the flesh as God the Son. And throughout the scriptures we have references
to the Holy Spirit, speaking to the Prophets, coming down from the heavens, and
existing in the form of wind over the earth.
It is in each of the three persons,
the trinity, that mankind interacts with God. It is in God the Father that we
are children of God under his authority, guidance, and care. It is through God
the Son, Jesus that we can learn from his example how to live our lives. And it
is through God the Holy Spirit that we are most interactive with God today as
he provides guidance in our lives.
As we celebrate father’s day today,
celebrating our Fathers, Step-Fathers, father figures, and those that inspire
us in their role as fathers, let us remember the love of God the Father,
sending us his only son, so that we may be reconciled with God and live out eternity
with him. Let us use Jesus as an example of how to live out a life of giving to
God the same love he gives to us. Let us also take a moment today to give
thanks to our spiritual Fathers, our priests, who make many sacrifices themselves
so that they can shepherd us into a better relationship with God. Let us
remember in prayer the many fathers who have gone before us, and the families
they have left behind.
If we are ever at a point in our
lives when we are without a human father, remember that we have God the Father
in heaven, who, if the journey ever seems hopeless, will come down from the
stands to join with you on the track to stand with you as you make your way
toward the finish line. And remember that God the Father has gifted each of us
with a special ability, each of us has a God given talent, it would please him
no more than to be with you as you put that talent to use. We would expect no
less from a God that so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
