Feast of the Holy Trinity: Mathew 28: 16-20- A SYMBOL OF RELATIONSHIP.
Today, we celebrate the Solemn Feast of the Holy Trinity, which is a mystery very difficult to understand with our human capacity.But we need to understand the Trinity as the model for our Christian families: we are created in love – to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in love.Our families become truly Christian when we live in relationships of love with God and with our brothers and sisters.
Let me share with you the life story of Florence Chadwick, who was a world-famous swimmer, the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.Florence attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.After swimming for about 10 hours in thick foggy and chilly weather, she was physically and emotionally tired, and finally, she told her mother, who was in a boat next to her, that she could not swim any further.When they brought her to the shore, she realized she was only just one mile from her destination.
Two months later, she tried to swim again and to reach her destination, in the same foggy and chilly weather, but this time she kept an image of the shoreline in her mind.Even though she was tired and exhausted this time too, she kept going on and she reached her goal because this time she had an image of her destination in her mind! During the news conference, she said, “All I could see was the fog and I could not see the shore. I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have reached the destination the first time.”
Sometimes, you and I get weary and want to stop, and the future seems cloudy and foggy, but we should remember that right beyond the fog, there will be a shore, the shore of our destination, in this case, the shore of the Trinity.We live our lives in a fog of trouble, worry, doubt, health problems, and the loss of loved ones.All these things create a fog in our lives, and sometimes we end up focusing on the fog because we cannot see the shore of our destination.The Trinity is not completely invisible.The Trinity is our original goal and destination.Every prayer we make includes the three persons of the Trinity.We pray to God the Father, through his Son Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.
In today’s gospel, we have seen that the disciples saw Jesus on the mountain and they worshiped Jesus but they “doubted.”This is very human: having faith and doubts are parts of discipleship. When we have doubts in our faith lives and our prayer lives, we should not get too disappointed. During these times of doubts and confusion, Jesus is with us so let us try to be closer with Jesus. When the disciples doubted, Jesus was not bothered by their doubts. Jesus gave them more responsibilities – to go out to all the nations and share the good news of salvation.
As people of faith, Jesus wants all of us to take up this task of sharing the gospel message with others.Like the disciples, we all feel sometimes wonderful in our faith and spiritual lives, but at the same time, we feel confused and have doubts in our faith and spiritual lives. But one thing is sure: God is with us in all our doubts and struggles and in all our joyous and happiest moments.
Let us try to share the gospel message of love with others, wherever we are.We may not be able to go to all the nations, but we can do it in our own homes, communities, and workplaces.Let us live and be people of hope in our everyday lives. Let us remember the words of Florence Chadwick: “I think if I could have seen the shore, beyond the fog, I would have reached the destination.”