Every year, I preach that the reality of this day, and coincidentally the name of the parish, is the most important solemnity for modern times. The reason I preach this is simple: The reality of the Holy Trinity is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. The doctrine itself celebrates the clash between the secular world and the Catholic world.

I came to understand this week, just how serious is this clash. More on that later in the homily.

What the doctrine of the Holy Trinity teaches is that we believe in three persons who constitute the one God. So we do not believe in one person and one God nor do we believe in three persons and three Gods. We believe the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all are God, but each are God as well. As Jesus says: “I and the Father are one.”

That is about all we can understand, which makes this day so important in today’s world. The reason is that secularism that surrounds us is rooted in the perception that all that exists is all the human can comprehend.

However, if we have a doctrine about something that we understand exists but does not fully comprehend, then we open the door to realize that there are realities that exist in the universe that are beyond our ability to perceive them. If you understand that simple fact, you open the door to the faith. If you reject that simple fact, then you will listen intently at the feet of some of the most ignorant people the world produces who have many others hanging on to their very word because they have doctorates and making a living preaching that there is nothing that exists that we humans cannot perceive. We cannot sit at their feet and not absorb their ignorance.

This week many were shocked and others jubilant when the nation of Ireland approved gay marriage. Immediately afterward, forces that sought to approve gay marriage now are seeking to approve abortion in that nation. Others are saying this is a referendum against the Catholic Church. Senator Marco Rubio declared that there are those who want to make the Catechism of the Catholic Church hate speech.

I did some research this week, I did, after all, study biblical archaeology at Harvard University. Many people will cite the bible’s prohibition against various actions some of which were approved in Ireland this week. So much of our morality comes from the Bible. But I realized, no one discusses whether or not the other cultures also had similar prohibitions. In fact, they did not. Many of the cultures surrounding Israel had elements of their culture that freely practiced what the God of the Jews labeled vices and more. For example: they had a multitude of gods. Some practiced human sacrifice, divination, various sexual practices, infanticide, etc. All of which are prohibited by the Bible.

So why are such practices embraced by all the surrounding cultures except the Jews and later the Christians?

It is not that the Jews and the Christians are out of the loop, it is the other way around. The morality of the Bible is one that calls us to a higher standard of living as Jesus leads us to the fullness of humanity. This is what salvation is when we become fully human and fully alive in Christ. We cannot do that if we do not make the choices that lead us to our destiny in union with the Trinity. Look at the teachings of the Bible. St. Paul called what we do similar to running a race and called us to take the athlete as our model and focus on the finish line. The Bible cites the people of God as a Holy people whom God leads to a greater sense of justice and truth. He also told us to live at a higher standard than the laws around us.

Over and over again you can find in the Bible that we have a choice. We have a calling and a vision to the fullness of human existence which can only be found by listening to that which is greater than the human, who is God. We learn in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity He is greater than what we can comprehend.

At your baptism, each of your received the vocation to live your life in relationship to God at a higher standard than the rest of the world so that the rest of the world will see your life and seek that which is greater than worldly ideas in the wisdom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is our mission.

Go back to the book of Romans and you will see mapped out there what is happening in the secular world. That is the point. Catholics get worried when they see people celebrate what they feel is the diminished influence of the Catholic Church. That is because Catholics do not read the Bible enough, if they did, they would know the Book of Revelation enough to realize we are not the ones who should be scared and that our mission as Catholics is to lead people to the fullness of human life in Jesus Christ, not into the judgment of God.

Today’s solemnity is not only a reminder of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, but why what we do is so important.

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts on Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google Plus as +Fr. Robert Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook