May 26, 2024

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Cycle B

Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20

I cannot multitask. I would like to be able to be more productive by doing several things at the same time, but I can’t. I take solace in the fact that researchers who have looked into the ability of humans to multitask have found that almost everyone else can’t do it either. That doesn’t stop people from trying, which is why there are as many traffic accidents as there are. Someone told me that a great definition of the word multitask is the ability for a person to do two things very badly at the same time. This is my experience. And Father Oscar knows this. A few years ago I became distracted and spilled a cup of wine all over the altar. When the church was renovated earlier this year, Father had the entire back wall behind the altar done in tile, all of the way to the top. Now we have a backsplash that is big enough even for me. The wooden altar and the carpet are gone and now we have marble and slate. Like you parents who try to child-proof your homes when your child starts walking, Father has almost made the place Deacon-proof.

I say almost, because I still struggle to talk and do something with my hands at the same time. One area where this comes into play is when I am doing sacraments, especially baptisms. As many of you have probably heard from other dioceses, some baptisms have been invalidated because a priest or deacon used an incorrect wording during the words of institution. The correct wording is in our Gospel today: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit” [Matthew 28:19 NABRE]. These are the words that Christ gave us to use, and use them we must if we are to be correct. So I am very careful when I say them, just as Father Oscar and other priests tend to slow down and be very deliberate when they say the words of consecration for the Eucharist.

As a result of the Second Vatican Council, many things about the Mass and other sacraments changed, the most significant of which was the ability of doing them in one’s vernacular language. However, some over-eager clerics took too much license with this modernization and made unauthorized changes. One of these was to start baptizing in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier. Today being that feast day each year where we take time out to celebrate the mystery of the Trinity, we should take a look at this: why would this not be an acceptable way of referring to the Trinity? Is the Father not the Creator, the Son not our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit that power within us that helps us to become holy? Yes, yes, and yes. But that is beside the point. There are two good reasons why we don’t do this.

The first one is straightforward. Our Church, the Roman Catholic Church, tells us to use the formula contained in scripture that Jesus gave us to use. No exceptions. This is the teaching of the Church because it is the teaching of Christ, period.

The other reason however is more to the point today. The formula of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier is indeed an accurate portrait of one of the functions of each Person of the Trinity, but at baptism, we don’t want to talk about functions. The person at baptism is joining the Church. He or she is entering into a relationship both with God and with the Church, all of us. Therefore, what is important is this new relationship, and the formula for the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not what they do but who they are, their relationship to one another and to us.

The Father was our Creator, who created us out of his love, but now he is our Father, who continues to love us and care for us. The Son is begotten of the Father, and due to love of the Father came to earth and indeed did redeem us. But having done this, he is our Brother, the Son of the Father who has made us also sons and daughters of the Father. The Holy Spirit, working within us, is helping us to become sanctified, become holy, but this is merely the work of the love of the Father and the Son for each other and for us.

In other words, it is the relationship that is important, not the functions. When I introduce my wife and son, I don’t ask people to meet my cook and my car washer, although this would be accurate, since Nor cooks most of the meals at our home and Ben will wash my car, when he wants some spending money. But what they do is not the point; I tell people what they are to me – that is most important – my loving wife and son. So today, on this celebration of the Trinity, we need to ask ourselves: what is my relationship to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Do I have a relationship which is based on love or one that is based on what they can do for me, their ability to help me when the chips are down?

Saint Paul talks about this in the second reading. In baptism, we “did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” [Romans 8:15]. Now in Roman times, when there were no last wills and testaments and the law dictated who would inherit the family’s wealth, adoption was the legal way of adding someone to your inheritance, and the adopted person had a full share along with any other natural children. So Saint Paul is echoing the point that baptism fundamentally changes our relationship to God, and we inherit the Kingdom of God if we stay in the love of our Father, and of the Son, our Brother, and obey the Spirit of Love that we have received.

One final note on the importance of relationships. Monday is Memorial Day, that day that we remember those who have given their lives in defense of the country or in the line of service. I don’t think that most died to protect an acre of land or an abstract ideal like democracy. No, I think most people that join the military do so because of their relationship to the people around them. They want to protect their family, friends, and neighbors. After communion, our Knights will demonstrate a flag folding ceremony as it is done at the funerals of service members. While they are folding it, our narrator will turn it from mechanical job of stowing a banner into a meaningful ceremony by describing the many relationships that are interwoven into bonds that we have with our service members. If all a flag becomes is a four by six piece of colored cloth, by all means you don’t have to stay for this. If it represents something more, stay and let’s honor our relationships to those who have given their all to the relationship.

As we continue with the celebration of the Eucharist, may this communion strengthen our relationships with God and one another. May we listen to the Spirit of adoption that is within us, prompting us to draw ever closer to God and one another. If we can do this, we will be able to call God the Father “Abba” and truly mean it.