The Most Holy Trinity – 2019 (C)
 
The American writer, Robert Green Ingersoll, once said: “Reason, observation, and experience—the holy trinity of science.”
 
Think for a moment about all the things we know something about through reason, observation, and experience.  For example, we know all sorts of things about the human body: how it works, and what it’s made of, and even what goes on inside our cells.  We know about our planet: its age, its composition, even about the furnace that’s raging far below our feet.  We know about our universe; technology; science, business—the list is long.
 
It’s really quite astounding when you stop and think about the depth of human knowledge. 
 
And yet, most of us didn’t acquire any of this knowledge firsthand.
 
Others were curious.  Others made hypotheses. Others worked and worked and worked to understand a little bit more than they did before.  And fortunately, they didn’t keep it all to themselves. They shared it with the world.  They revealed things that we could never discover on our own. 
 
And isn’t that kind of what God does?
 
Today, we gather to celebrate, worship, and give glory to the Most Holy Trinity: our God— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  And this (as you well know) is not some sort of peripheral teaching of the Church.  It is central.  It is essential.  It is foundational. And it’s why we remain in awe and wonder each time we pray, each time we reflect on the Paschal Mystery, each time we sit in quiet contemplation.
 
And we wouldn’t know any of it, had God not chosen to reveal himself to us.
 
Our understanding of the Trinity (no matter how limited it may be) helps us to understand just what an incredible God we have.  A God who couldn’t contain his love --- and created the world. 
 
A God who called a people to be his own, a people who were privileged enough to experience his guiding hand, his Law, and his saving power.  A God who spoke through prophet after prophet after prophet.  A God who became one of us, shared our life, and poured out his for our salvation.  A God who has never left us --- but who dwells in the world and in each human heart through his Spirit.
 
That’s the incredible God we have!  And we wouldn’t know any of it had he not revealed it to us --- revealed it in love since the dawn of time.
 
And yet, we know there is more to the story.  For truth to be told, we wouldn’t believe what we believe, we wouldn’t treasure what we treasure, had someone not chosen to reveal this same God to us. You see --- God is continually revealing himself to the world.  That much is true.  But the way God principally goes about it is through each of us --- through you and through me.
 
This past Thursday, Bishop Pierre DuMaine died —after many years of declining health. As I reflect on his passing, I’ve come to appreciate with great fondness the abiding influence he made on my life. He was the most treasured spiritual father I have ever had.
 
He accepted me as the first class of seminarians for the newly created Diocese of San Jose almost forty years ago. He handed to me my college degree. He ordained me to both the diaconate and to the priesthood. He assigned to me to my first parish and was the first to entrust me with the office of pastor.
On the day of my ordination, he asked me: “do you promise obedience to me and my successors?” And with the passing of time, there have been other bishops to whom I have renewed that covenant.
 
And yet, there is something special about the relationship between a priest and the bishop who ordains him. It was his hands that were placed on my head; his hands that anointed mine; his hands that offered to me the chalice and paten to be used to offer sacrifice to God.
 
Throughout the formative years of my priesthood, I “looked up” to my bishop who was always a good father to his sons. God chose Bishop DuMaine to reveal God’s love to many and to me— and for that, I am forever grateful
 
Today’s feast reminds us of a deep and profound thought: God wants to make himself known to the world --- not despite us, but through us.  WE are called to reveal God to the world --- to each person and in every situation.  It’s on us. 
 
And I don’t simply mean by “ teaching” what the Church teaches, by uttering faith statements or explanations (although this does play an indispensable part of our mission). 
 
No --- I’m talking about the ways we actually reveal God to others, bring God to others, show God to others, enable others to have an encounter with God.  And we do that --- through the forgiveness we bestow; the sacrifices we make; through the generosity we extend; through our understanding, our  compassion, and empathy --- that is, through our love.
 
As St. Augustine said: “The one who is filled with love is filled with God.”