Homily for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C
Thus says the wisdom of God:
“The LORD possessed me, the beginning of his ways,
the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
from of old I was poured forth,
at the first, before the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no fountains or springs of water;
before the mountains were settled into place,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
while as yet the earth and fields were not made,
nor the first clods of the world.“When the Lord established the heavens I was there,
when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
when he made firm the skies above,
when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth;
when he set for the sea its limit,
so that the waters should not transgress his command;
then was I beside him as his craftsman,
and I was his delight day by day,
playing before him all the while,
playing on the surface of his earth;
and I found delight in the human race.”— Prov. 8:22-31
June is the season par excellence of God’s love for us. The Church’s liturgy during this month reveals this fact clearly.
I was . . . playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men.
There are many ways of showing love in thought, word, and deed, but there is a particular character to those ways that show the nature of love most deeply. These show a love that does not need or want something from the one loved (although that, too, is a real kind of love: think of the love of an infant for his mother). It is an appreciative love, one that says, “I am glad you are in the world, I am happy to be with you, I want to give you good things so that you can grow and prosper.”
The divine Wisdom tells us of the nature of this appreciative love that created the world and consecrated it by the divine pleasure, declaring it good and very good indeed. Wisdom loves to play with and delight in the children of men. This Wisdom found no better words to describe Wisdom’s love than these childlike affections. What is more charming or consoling for us than to know that our friend enjoys playing with us and delights to be with us, and then consider that our God tells us just this about his love for us?
In fact, all of God’s actions in our regard, even trials we are sent, our crosses and losses, take place in his world only to have us eventually arrive at the play and delight of the divine face and vision.
But how does God play with us and delight in us? By ingeniously devising ways of staying close to us and reassuring us of his appreciative and generous love.
After the grand cycle of Lent and Easter, we enter into a season of celebration of the divine presence and proximity to our souls and bodies. This is the fruit of the mysteries of salvation we have been celebrating. And these feasts bear this out:
The three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity spend eternity rejoicing and delighting in each other and will to draw us into this infinite celebration by pouring out the life of grace into our souls, truly dwelling within us and taking delight in us.
The Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar guarantees that we have always the Savior’s real and substantial presence. This adorable mystery shows us the depth and the intensity and persistence of his love for us.
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the organ of the love of God made man, which is alive and glorious and triumphant over suffering, sin, and death, shows his fiery affection and deep desire for union with us, inviting to enter into his innermost life.
How much we have to gain by meditating upon these sublime and consoling realities! And how great is the mercy we have received in the worship of God according to the ways of Holy Church! Glory to the Blessed Trinity, who delights to live within us, dwelling in the Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!