Trinity Sunday always occurs one week after Pentecost. There have been many images of the trinity . . . e.g. St. Patrick gave us a 3-leaf clover, the Deaf community has a special sign for trinity [demonstrate: 3 into 1]. But here is a new image. I want everyone to hold out a finger. Notice I didn’t say “the” I said “a” finger; this is not the time to express what you think of my homilies. Now notice with your finger that it has 3 joints and three sections. It is ONE finger, but with three parts. That is a good image of what Trinity is . . . God is one, yet has three parts which are connected together.
But the Trinity feast is not just about concepts, it is about relationship! The Trinity is primarily about how the 3 parts (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) relate to each other and relate to us. As I have told you in the past, think of the different parts/aspects of God each relating to us. But at various times in our lives we rely more on one than the others:
God the Father - God for us
God as Jesus - God beside us
God as Holy Spirit - God within us
Or think of God as a big hoop [draw a hoop in the air] God the Father moves into God the Son who moves into God the Holy Spirit who moves into God the Father, and on and on.
The three aspects/parts of God are relating to each other, to us and inviting us to look at how we relate to each other.
This coming Tuesday, I am celebrating 30 years of priesthood and in all my years as a priest there is one aspect of relationship that seems to be the MOST important component of ANY relationship. Can you imagine what that is? It’s trust. And nothing corrodes trust faster than lying. Think of a moment in your life when someone you love lied to you? What happens after the lie? What is lost? It was probably TRUST.
And this loss of trust can happen between: friends, parents to kids, kids to parents, co-workers, neighbors, literally anyone. If you have lost trust, what is left?
It reminds me of the story of the four students who were taking Chemistry at Duke University in North Carolina. All of them were bright and had good grades so far. Well these four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to visit some friends and have a big party. They had a great time, but after all the hearty partying; they slept all day Sunday and didn't make it back to Duke until early Monday morning.
Rather than taking the final then, they decided that after the final, they would give the professor a story about why missed the final. They said that they visited friends but on the way back, had a flat tire. As a result, they missed the final. The professor agreed they could make up the final the next day. The guys were excited and relieved. They studied that night for the exam. He placed them in separate rooms and gave them a test booklet.
Each quickly answered the first problem, worth five points. Cool, they thought! Each one in their separate rooms thought this is going to be easy. Then each turned the page. On the second page was written: For 95 points: Which tire?
When you lie . . . all sort of bad things can happen. And sometimes we have to remember to tell another lie to cover up the first lie.
Lies can basically be divided into 5 areas:
1. Lying to cover up some wrong doing (this is most common)
2. Lies which are false excuses for getting out of something, or not doing something
3. Lies that don’t tell others how we really feel.
4. Lies to boost someone else’s ego (also known as the “White lie.”)
5. Lies that are altruistic, like not telling someone how really bad things are.
Whatever kind you use . . . they are all bad! No wonder it is one of the 10 commandments.
People have been manipulating information, stretching, denying, withholding, slanting or distorting the truth since God asked Adam if he ate the apple.
Summer is almost here, and this is a great time to start doing things differently. Look at your relationships . . . are they the best they can be? Are things falling apart or starting to crumble?
Trust is vital. And you can regain trust by doing trusting things, by being trust-worthy. If others can see you working on little things/areas . . . it leads back to big areas.
And the biggest relationship to concentrate on . . . is not others, it is not yourself, it is with God.
God is for you, beside you, within you. God won’t lie to you. Don’t lie to God. Start now!
Don’ try to cover up bad behavior, or make excuses, or not tell God how you are truly feeling.
Don’t give God half-truths. God wants a close relationship with you. Give God your whole truth and your whole trust.