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Reflection on Holy – June 7, 2020 “The grace of our Lord Christ, the love of , and the communion of the be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:13)

Scientists tell us that our universe began with a big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago, and that a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second afterwards, the volume of the whole universe was only as big as the point of a pencil, and that its temperature was a billion times a billion times a billion degrees hot. When the Bible tells us that God said, “let there be light, and there was light,” we now know the magnificent power of God that stands behind those words. Psalm 148 says, “Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights… praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all shining stars… Let them all praise the Lord’s name, for he commanded, and they were created.” The great scientist Albert Einstein had an awareness of the utter complexity of the universe, and was awed by the brilliant intelligence behind it, for example, by the fact that the relationship between energy and can be expressed by a simple formula such as E=mc2. For many centuries and millennia of human history, people were awed by the majesty of creation, and of the Creator behind it, whom they felt the need to appease. They had a sense of the divine, but it was really the Bible which was the first to proclaim God not only as all powerful, but also as a just and merciful Lord. He led the Israelites to freedom out of slavery in Egypt and made a covenant of mutual faithfulness with them on Mt. Sinai. God gave them the Ten Commandments as a guide, and called prophets to remind them, and priests and Levites to lead them in prayer of the psalms and worship in the Temple. There is also talk of the Spirit of the Lord which God sends upon the prophets and others to announce his will and prepare for the coming Messiah. In the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, as St. Paul writes in Galatians 4, “to ransom those under the law so that we might receive adoption… as children of God, crying out, Abba, Father.” Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus revealed himself as the true Son of God, and at pivotal moments in his public life, Jesus was accompanied by the Holy Spirit, at 2 his baptism in the Jordan River, where the Spirit hovered over him like a dove, during his 40-day fast in the desert, where he had been led by the Spirit, and even after his resurrection from the dead, when he appeared to the Apostles and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” while confirming them in their ministry as leaders and guides of his holy church (John 20:22). II When we pray, we ordinarily begin with the sign of the cross, signifying that we are about to enter into a sacred space and time, where God is, in all God’s infinite majesty and mystery. We can speak of God as trinity, because Jesus Christ our Lord has told us about his loving Father, who sent him for the sake of our salvation, and the Holy Spirit, whom he will send as our Paraclete or Comforter. At Mass, the sign of the cross is followed by a greeting, actually a blessing, often in the form taught by St. Paul, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:13). This blessing is all the more powerful since the priest is not acting in his own name but in the name of the Lord whom he represents at the altar. In his priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus again and again spoke of the Father’s love for him and his for the Father and their love for the disciples, for us, and indeed for the whole world, “that they may all be one, as you, Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us… that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them even as you loved me…before the foundation of the world” (John 17:21-24). This truth is also found in 1 John 4:16 – “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” When we see that God is love, we see God in relationship. Love, to be fully expressed, needs a beloved, someone who returns that love. From all eternity God has been and will always remain a community of unimaginably intense mutual love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it is that same love that explains why God created the universe and especially ourselves as creatures able to respond fully with our own minds and hearts in love. God’s love is not only the reason for creation, but also for our salvation. St. Paul expressed it so beautifully and personally when he said, “Now I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me; I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). This is true of each one of us, and we joyfully express our gratitude and love in return. 3

We worship and praise God as Trinity today for many reasons, especially because God created the world in such a way as to allow us to continue his work of creation. As we read in Genesis 1, God created us in his image and likeness, blessed us, and gave us the charge to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. As God’s image and likeness, we were not meant to exploit nature for our selfish purposes, but to have a providential care for the needs of all, not only of our fellow human beings, but also of all God’s creatures on earth. Science, once again, and all the branches of learning, teach us just what that means in the concrete, and we are awed by the responsibility which God entrusts to us. At times it may seem overwhelming, but God also promised his continuing presence and assistance. At the , when Jesus offered up the bread and wine as his own body and blood in sacrifice, he said, “do this is in memory of me” (Luke 22:19), signifying his continued Eucharistic presence on our altars and in our hearts for all time. He also promised to send the Holy Spirit. We call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us individually and collectively to make good decisions in the midst of our own sinfulness and of the many crises of injustice in today’s world. We pray, “Come, O Holy Spirit, … heal our wounds, our strength renew, on our dryness pour your dew, bend the stubborn heart and will, melt the frozen, warm the chill, guide the steps that go astray, Come O Holy Spirit, Come” (from the Sequence). The Holy Spirit is constantly at work in us, and will guide us in our thoughts and actions, but we will hear his voice only if we listen in persevering prayer. We have already received the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and inspiration; we must put them into practice. With the fire of courage in our hearts, and the dovelike gentleness of compassion in our souls, we can make this world a better place for all to live. We each have our part to play to advance the requirements of justice, mercy, and peace. God reaches out to us as loving Father and Creator, as beloved Brother and Savior, and as wise Advocate and Guide. Our hearts are filled with gratitude and love, and we begin and end each day in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.