We do not often think about the Holy Trinity. Yet, it is something that is an integral part of our lives as believers. Every time we do the sign of the cross, every time we pray the “Glory be”, we always refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Moreover, we were all baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. Why is today’s feast so important for us?

I won’t attempt here to give an explanation of this mystery – three persons, one God. Scholars and theologians have written huge books trying to explain the trinity, and I do not think it is our scope here to give a scholarly or a deep theological explanation.

It is said that once, St. Augustine was walking by the seashore contemplating the mystery of the Holy Trinity. There he saw a little child running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a shell to carry water from the large ocean and pour it into a small hole that he had made in the sand.

Augustine came up to him and asked him what he was doing. “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole,” the boy replied.

“What?” said Augustine. “That is impossible, my dear child, the sea is so great and the shell and the hole are so little.” “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do,” said the boy, “understand the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small mind!”

Still, there is a reason why the Church gives this feast so much importance. Because what I believe about God is going to help me understand who I really am.

In one of the stories of creation which we find in the first book of the bible, there is a verse which I really like. First, when it was time for God to create us humans, God says “Let us create mankind in our own image, in our own likeness”. Then, the book continues: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created hem”.

When we say that we are created in God’s image, it does not mean that God looks physically like me! We are in God’s image in our togetherness, in our communion with each other. That is why today’s feast is so important. The little that we can understand about the Holy Trinity can help us understand the implications of all this. We believe that the persons of the Trinity are all equal and distinct. Yet, the communion is so strong that it is one God that we speak of, not three.

Being created in God’s likeness, we are all equally important and distinct personalities. We are different to each other, not better than any other. And yet, we are not created for loneliness. We need each other. We are made for relationships, for communion.

Unfortunately, this communion has been broken by our sinfulness. We remember that, again in that very first book of the bible, sin brought division in us. There was division between man and God (Adam and Eve hide, because they are embarrassed), division amongst themselves (Adam blames Eve for his wrongdoing), and division between man and nature (Eve blames the snake, and working in nature now becomes painful). Having seen this, God immediately promised to remedy this situation – a promise which was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection reconciled us once more to God, amongst ourselves, and with nature.
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When I think about myself as a human being, remembering that I am created in God’s own image, I remember that I have been created for communion, to build relationships. It is there that I find my fulfilment.

"He breathed on them”.

What an image! So simple, and yet so powerful. There is nothing dramatic in what Jesus did with that small group of apostles, gathered together with Mary, on that particular Pentecost day. Breathing is something we constantly do in our life, very often without even thinking about it. And yet, it is life. I remember as a child in summer, growing up on a small sea-embraced island, we would go to the beach and hold competitions as to who would stay longer under the water surface. One could hold on as long as possible, but eventually we would need to pop up for some air.

The disciples of Jesus had been locked up in that room, full of fear – a fear which paralyzed them. Because of that fear, they could not live. They were as good as dead. When Jesus comes to visit, he gives them two gifts, perhaps the two things that they really needed at that particular moment in their lives. First, he gifted them with his peace. They were troubled, their hearts were turmoiled, and fear had engulfed them. Jesus’ presence did not change anything that was happening out there. Those who were against them would still be against them, and those who were determined to get rid of this new sect of followers of Jesus of Nazareth, would still be doing their utmost to do it. In spite of all this, Jesus’ presence brings peace. A peace which empowers them to face all those problems without being crushed by them. As St Paul would say in one of his letters, reflecting on his own personal experiences, “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.

And then Jesus gives life to that life-less body, by breathing on them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he tells them. His gift is his own Spirit. And God’s Spirit is not a spirit that crushes, enslaves or suffocates. It is a life-giving spirit. It enabled those disciples to go out of that room and do what they were supposed to do. All this brings to mind another story in the Bible, which was at the beginning of everything. Reading one of the creation stories in the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, we see God forming an image of man made out of clay. It was only a life-less statue. Then the creator “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” This is what happened again on that day of Pentecost. It was a new creation, a new beginning.

How often in our lives do we find ourselves like those disciples! Perhaps paralyzed by our own fears, or enslaved by our own mistakes or those of others. Like those disciples in the upper room, we feel lost, confused, not knowing what to do or, if we knew it, not having enough strength to do it. Today’s liturgy reminds us that we have been given something which is supposed to help us in moments like this. The Holy Spirit which we all received in our baptism is the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise that he would never leave us alone. This Spirit of God gives us peace in troubled moments. It gives us wisdom to understand what we should do in difficult situations. It gives us courage and strength when we know that, on our own, we fall short of expectations.

This is God’s gift to us. Let us never forget what we have been given, and make good use of it in our lives.
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Come, Holy Spirit, renew us once more.
 

There are three things which we all desire in life: love, joy and friendship. If we look back on our lives, we will find that there were moments when we would have done anything to achieve any one of these.

In today’s gospel Jesus speaks of these three things and tells us that we can enjoy them in our lives without much effort. First he speaks about love, telling us that he has loved us just “as the Father has loved me”. Now that’s a big statement to make, because we know that the Father’s love is so huge that we can hardly imagine it. This is because, simply put, God is love, as St John says. God’s love is so big that we cannot separate the one from the other. They are one and the same thing. And Jesus loved us with this kind of love, the extremity of which is shown in the fact that he gave his life for us. There is no greater love than this, he says.

Coupled with this is the fact that, for him, we are his friends more than anything else. Speaking of friendship, the great Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran said: “without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.” And Jesus did exactly that. “I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” As a true friend, he has hidden nothing from us. The great Italian mystic St Catherine of Siena understood this too well when, during one of her conversations with God, she hears him say to her, “If you love me the way a servant loves a master, I as your master will give you what you have earned. But I will not show myself to you, for secrets are shared only with a friend who has become one with oneself.”

This leads us to the third element of our reflection for today: joy. “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete,” Jesus says. Contrary to what some people, unfortunately, may think, this is Jesus’ sole desire for us: that we have joy in our lives, joy in its fullness.

The only condition that Jesus puts for us to achieve all this is that we listen to his commandment, which is “love one another as I have loved you.” This is the paradox of Christianity. In our lives we may seek joy in so many different things, sometimes even bad or harmful things. But Jesus is telling me that, if I really want to have joy in my life, I have to die for others just as he did. It is a love that knows no boundaries, that expects nothing in return, that is not limited by anything – not even by harm or injustices received by others – because it is bigger than all of this.

Today’s gospel leads us to ask some questions: Am I happy in my life? Where do I seek to find joy? Am I comfortable with considering God as friend? Have I truly accepted the fact that God loves me unconditionally, not because I deserve it, but because that is simply how God is? Do I manage to love others with this same kind of love?
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As we continue to adhere to the stay-at-home order, we would do well to use some of our time during this coming week to reflect on these questions, and see where it leads us.

As we read the gospel written by St John, we notice that, unlike in the other gospels, Jesus does not use parables (those stories which Jesus often uses to convey a message). Instead, he uses many images about himself. We have heard Jesus say, “I am the way”, “I am the good shepherd”, “I am the door”, “I am the bread of life”, etc. By the time John wrote his gospel, the followers of Jesus were supposed to have understood that if they want to go anywhere, if they want to enjoy life in its fullest, they can only achieve their desire through him.

In today’s gospel Jesus uses another image which is quite straightforward in its message. Jesus says that he is the vine. Everybody in Jesus’ time could relate to this image, because almost everyone would have had a vine in their small garden. This gave them grapes which in turn, gave them wine to gladden the heart. When Jesus said that a branch that is cut off from the main stalk does not produce fruit, he was only stating the obvious. And so it was when he said that a fruitless branch would be good for nothing and would be thrown into the fire. Simply put, a vine is expected to give fruit – something which is mentioned a number of times throughout today’s passage.

In his first letter, which is the second reading of today’s liturgy, John then tells us what this fruit is: “to love one another, just as he has commanded us”, a love that is “not in word or speech, but in truth and action”. When he told us to love one another Jesus did not mince words or sugar-coat it. He told us plainly to love each other in the same way that he loved us. Obviously, his love was not just “word or speech” but it was truly in action. He gave his life for us, without expecting us to love him first. If we take it seriously, this commandment of Jesus should shake us and make us uncomfortable. Because we all know how hard it is to love someone who does not love you or who even does something that hurts you. That is why Jesus speaks also of “pruning” when he speaks about the vine. It’s a process which might seem painful and cruel, but which is necessary for growth and for a healthier vine.

As a church-community we have recently celebrated Easter. The whole Easter story tells us that, while evil and bad things do exist, Jesus is more powerful than all of that. Listening to Jesus telling us to love like he did, we might be tempted to focus on our weaknesses, on our inability to truly love and forgive, and get discouraged. The Easter story gives us hope, because it tells us that Jesus is stronger than our sinfulness and all our weaknesses. We know from experience that on our own, trusting solely on our strengths and abilities, we cannot fulfil this commandment. Today Jesus reminds us that, while that is indeed true, united with him we can do it.
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This is how we, as Christians, are expected to live. This love is the fruit expected from us, fruit which can truly gladden the heart of the world and of those around us.