Transforming Our World—Again
Solemnity of the Holy Trinity (22 May 2016)
Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J.
Eucharistic worship allows us to celebrate events in the life of Jesus. Jesus revealed God in our flesh and blood in the events of his life. Today we celebrate Jesus revealing God in the power of Holy Spirit. We celebrate our one God creating and saving us as Three Persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Today personalizes Pentecost: today welcomes us to savour what Pentecost began, the empowering of Jesus’ disciples in every age.
The power Jesus gives us is more real than atomic power, political power, social power. Jesus’ Spirit makes all other powers possible. Jesus’ Spirit guides humans to use powers for the good of all peoples and all creation. Jesus’ Spirit helps humans overcome power that destroys so human life and the planet’s life may flourish—and to flourish as created.
By living our human life fully Jesus revealed a life em-braced by Holy Spirit; he revealed living by the Spirit. St. Paul reminded us that as Jesus revealed he offered us what he revealed—an attitude and way of living—and who he revealed—Holy Spirit. Jesus did that not in any show-and-tell fashion but as witness to God’s heart and as agent of the gift of Holy Spirit and Spirit living: through Jesus we have gained access to this gift in which we stand. Our gift is right relationship with God.
As in other relationships God in Jesus by Holy Spirit desires us to collaborate with God. Pope Francis sharpens the desire of our triune God. “God,” Francis has said, “wishes to work with us and…counts on our cooperation.”1 Jesus gave us his Spirit to empower us to collaborate with our triune God. The more we give ourselves to the Spirit the more alert and ready we are to cooperate with the ever-creating Spirit.
We give ourselves to the one who is always available. St. Paul has written us that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. His choice of poured out is in sync with the tradition of Pentecost: God has poured out what you see and hear—the apostles speaking in languages anyone could understand.2 The word conveys no accidental spilling but an intentional self-emptying.
Mutual self-emptying, mutual sharing is how we describe the relationship among Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is intentional. In the words on Jesus’ lips in the gospel: Everything that the Father has is mine. They desire we share in it. Jesus again: Holy Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Declared: not given as a secret to hoard; given so we may continue to make known what Jesus reveals to us and among us, his selfless, transforming Spirit-love. Jesus’ Spirit is the source of our Christian power. It has transformed our world and can transform it again with our cooperation.
In your daily 15 minutes with Jesus this week
- Rest in our triune God with worship to help you: trace the sign of the cross on yourself several times as you say the Divine Name slowly.
- Ask the disciples, who cooperated with Jesus in their imperfection to present you to Jesus.
- Chat with him: praise him for dying, rising and giving us his Spirit; ask Jesus to help you experience your baptized life nourished by his eucharist in a more loving, active and generous fashion.
- Ask Jesus for grace to cooperate more readily with his Spirit abiding in you.
- Close saying slowly the Lord’s Prayer. Saying Jesus’ words, Our Father, reminds us Jesus revealed God personally and that like risen Jesus, his Father brings us more alive by their Spirit in us.
Link to this homily’s Spiritual Exercise
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- Laudato Si, 80.
- Acts 2.33.
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Wiki-image: The Holy Trinity icon in art PD-US Tabernacle by Herzi Pinki CC BY-SA 3.0
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