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May 28, 2021The more we discover God, the greater becomes the mystery of his presence and love. The considerable knowledge of the Church can never dispel the mystery of ages. Mystery means that we can never say the final word about God; there is always more to discover, there is always more to share, there is always more to experience. In that sense the mystery of God invites us never to abandon the endless task of growing to understand the power behind the world we live in. And each year, Trinity Sunday calls us to reflect on the life of God.
As Christians our principal entrance into the mystery of God is the person of Jesus. He is the way, the True and the Life. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Word made flesh among us. As Jesus said to the apostle Philip: ‘’He who has seen me has seen the Father.’’ Jesus is God’s adventure among us. To make our journey to God we begin with him. And the Good News we heard today tells us that Jesus has promised to accompany us until the journey to God is completed: ‘’Know that l am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’’
In the person of Jesus, the mystery of God has a face, a voice, a language, a love, a life. In the pages of the Gospel, we meet Jesus’ friends and enemies, his enthusiasms and dislike; we are caught up in his struggle for what is right; we are challenged to keep alive the values he cherished. In the three years of his public ministry the light from light shone among us. In Jesus we are still able to taste and see the goodness of God. God’s particulars are revealed in him. ‘’He who has seen me has seen the Father’’ To look on the Son of God is to begin to understand the mystery of God.
The feast of Pentecost that we celebrated last week reminded us that we cannot begin to understand the truth of God unless we are gifted with the power of the Spirit. Even the apostles could not recognize the full truth about the Jesus they knew and loved without the gift of the Spirit. To reach the Father we need to go via the Son. So, it is the mystery of the Trinity that is at the heart of the Christian life of faith. Which is why we begin and end everything in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s second reading reminds us that we are not God’s slaves living in fear: we are children of God, heirs as well. We have been granted the privilege of inheriting the glory of God, we have the right to belong. So, we can move around with the easiness of sons and daughters who have to share in our Father’s children are of similar strain. If we are all made in the image and likeness of God, it should come as no shock to realize that it takes a lifetime to work out and understand each other. We know that we learn best about people when we really want to know them for ourselves, refusing to be satisfied with second-hand accounts. Our love for people prompts us to know them better; our love for God urges us to deepen our understanding of him.
Loving is the highest form of understanding. Our journey towards God and towards each other is made along the same road. And when we journey that road in love and respect, the way we travel assures us of our destination. That is the Gospel.