[A Homily of Fr. Matthew Kelty, O.C.S.O. for the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity (B):  (Mt 28:16-20)]


Deepest of Mysteries


The word seems to have gotten about in short order—I mean the coming of Christ into this world. The more so when one reckons how any word got about in those days. Like a grass fire the word spread through the Mediterranean world, the Roman world. Paul in Rome, James in Spain, Thomas in India.

Who is this Jesus I hear about? And what is He up to?
Well, He is a prophet, now a carpenter in Galilee, like the prophets of old. He goes about preaching peace and mercy and justice and forgiveness. He heals. He raises from the dead. He talks of the Kingdom of God. Gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, cleansing to the leper.

And what became of Him?
He was put to death by His enemies. He claimed to be the Messiah, the One who is to come. And His claim was rejected by Israel.

And that was the end of it?
No way. Three days after His death, He rose from the dead. He spent 40 days in His resurrected life teaching His disciples.

And then?
And then He returned to His Father, promising to send the Holy Spirit.

This gets even worse. So God was His Father?
Yes, He was the Son of God by His own claim. He was the Second Person of a Trinity. The Third was the Holy Spirit Whom He and the Father sent after nine days to be with His community, the Church, to guide it to the end of time.

This gets worse and worse. There were then three gods?
No. One God, three Persons. The eternal, the immortal One.

And those who hear Him, follow His teaching, will serve Him here and live with Him hereafter?
Exactly.

You realize this is very wild?
It is indeed.

And the further you go, the wilder it gets.
So?  And He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
His presence on earth continues in the sacramental life, especially in the sacrificial Meal, the Sacrifice of the altar, in which His passion, death and rising are continued in a mystic fashion, the bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood: Presence, Good and Drink, Sacrifice for His faithful. Until the end of time.

This, in a few crude words, is the Faith that swept through the Mediterranean world, the Greco-Roman world. And continues to do so through all the world. For prayer and study of the story, Old and New codices, led only to deeper conviction. It was all of a piece. It all fit together. And it all made sense. And that despite of, or perhaps because of, the extravagance of its claims.

And the early Church was especially drawn to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. This, the deepest, fundamental, most profound of all Christian truths captivated the early Christian mind, led to endless study, theories verbalizing the unexplainable. Not to say endless dispute, condemnation, heresy, and to fresh enunciation in creed, fruit of councils. To all, it was the most absorbing of interests. We are indebted to them, these early theologians, for beautiful doctrines on the most profound truths.

In other words, religion has a passionate attraction for man. And notably the Catholic religion. And the story continues. And we are part of it in a very special way. All of which baffles me, intrigues me, overwhelms me, delights me.

Fr. Chrysogonus did the music for most of our liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist. That would include three versions of the Te Deum. In one of them is a musical interval which is basic to a well-known song. I asked Him if he was aware of that and he said he wasn’t. A coincidence of word and music. “Day be day”, mi, sol, la.

If I have it right:
Three things I pray, dear Lord.
Three things I pray:
To know You more clearly,
Love You more dearly,
Follow You more nearly,
Day by day.

And, as you know, I apply it to the old Baltimore Catechism, and its first question:

“Who made you?”
    “God made me.”
“And why did God make you?”
    “God made me to know Him,
    to love Him
    and to serve Him in this world
    and so be happy with Him in the next.”

And with that, of course, the Sign of the Cross in which we put

the hand to the head: “In the Name of the Father,”
And to the heart:  “And of the Son,”
And to the shoulders: “And of the Holy Spirit.”  

For the head —“to know You more clearly,”
For the heart—“to love You more dearly,”
And for the shoulders—“to follow You more nearly.”

For the shoulders carry the Cross of Christian service.

Like the first people who heard of the Christian Faith so many centuries ago when Christ first came, we are a deep people, an immortal people, to whom the profound mysteries of our Faith have profound meaning and serve as a great enrichment to our lives. There is no greater happiness than to love God—and it is forever.   Amen.

         *      *       *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *