Today’s Solemnity is the most important for our time. I usually explain that every year. The reason is that we live what is known as a materialistic time. That means that we live in a time where everyone says that all that exists is what consists of matter and energy. Those things which are of matter or energy can be experienced. God cannot be felt or seen, therefore, God does not exist. We meanwhile, live in faith. We believe that the world is not just that which can be touched or seen, that there are realities that are beyond our perception.

So you have two camps, one that says  the world is only as big as my perception says it is. The other says the universe is so huge, that I am only able to perceive a small part of it, even if I could travel throughout it. This is the issue that has believers and non-believers at odds.

This conflict is the reason why the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity is so important. It teaches us a truth about God and ourselves. God is three persons in one God. How do we understand this? we begin by understanding that our perception and abilities are limited.

Let us look at how this plays itself out. In the first reading, we see Moses in the presence of God. His ability to even see God is limited and he is still powerfully transformed. Indeed, he even has to hide his face because the transformation is so radiant that it even changes his very appearance.

Meanwhile, the people awaiting Moses down below, get discouraged and create a false god, the golden calf. Let’s compare the two.

The true God is beyond our imagination, being in his presence is powerfully transforming, it cannot be described. St. Catherine of Genoa describes being in God’s presence was like experience powerful flames upon her body as she is purified and transformed. We see Jesus do powerful miracles the greatest of which is the duration of Christianity itself.

Now there is the golden calf, powerless, mute, idol made of a precious metal. Completely visible and subject to human emotions indeed a reflection of human desires.

This reflects the other importance of our God. He is too big for words. Our idols are smaller than we are. When we pray for things, we expect answers in our own small understanding. However, when we pray to God, often the answers are completely unexpected and bigger than we could imagine. Sometimes they are silent and do not bend to our every whim, for our desires are small compared to the greatness of the Creator of a  Universe of which we are nothing more than a created part.

Our idols are always small, our God is enormous. God is a god of surprise. Idols are gods that are enslaved to human desires and then enslave human hearts. Our God is a slave to no one and brings liberation to those who seek it.

This is why we conform our lives to His commands for the great God speaks out of wisdom that is beyond our ability to discover on our own. We can choose to accept this wisdom or reject it. We accept at our own glory and reject it at our peril. For we humble ourselves before this wisdom that is so great and so much greater than we are.

What is the fruit of rejecting this wisdom and seeking what we alone can find? Even the best of people who do no harm to others become victims of another’s harm in many ways. We can just pick a newspaper up and see the product of man relying on man’s wisdom. Even those religions that seek to destroy “infidels” through deadly violent means are practicing nothing more the same practiced by the same cultures surrounding the Jews.

We have the opportunity to be in contact with the same God that Moses experienced in our daily lives through prayer and through conforming our lives to this powerful wisdom. We  can discover our sinfulness by standing next to His perfection and seek His merciful love in transforming us daily. Or we can find ourselves and idol that we seek to control and that will become our treasure bowing to our whims as long as we succumb to its twisted logic of sacrificing others to bring it pleasure. Those sacrifices can range from avoiding those who will undermine our efforts in finding the greatest of prosperity when we seek prosperity as our idol;  to the distorted practices found on the front pages of newspapers. These are the actions of  those who kill others in murderous rages for they have worshiped false gods who exalted them falsely as they showed them how to blame others for lack of success. These are some of the fruits of idolatry.