Build deeper meaning into relationship with God

A priest was walking down the aisle at a funeral and realized as he approached the casket that he did not remember the name of the person in the casket, or even their gender. He needed to know this information, both for the prayers being said at the funeral Mass, and the homily.

Thinking quickly as he approached the casket, he nodded at one of the pallbearers that he knew was a relative of the deceased and asked, “Male or female?’ The pallbearer answered, “Cousin.”

Life has many mysteries. Science tries to solve many of them, and it is interesting that as we come to understand some mysteries, we discover even more. Understanding or knowing is not easy! Relationships are even more difficult not just gender but name, and personality, job, interest etc. Yet, without relationships in our lives, life would be unbearable and impossible.

Our relationships unite us with others and yet we know we are separate from them. We are one with them, yet we have our own individual lives and identity as a person, girl or boy, husband or wife, cousin or in-law and it goes on and on.

Where does the Trinity fit in here? In the Trinity, there are three persons! They are in such intense relationships with one another that although they are distinct persons, they are perfectly united in every way; they are One. There are no boundaries; there is nothing that separates them, except they are not the same person. There is no mine or yours in this relationship!

Jesus says so clearly in the Gospel today, “Everything that the Father has is mine.” The Holy Spirit will take what is Christ’s and declare it to his disciples. Everything that belongs to the one belongs to the other, yet each is not the same as the other.

The only exception, it seems, is that the Second Person of the Trinity took on a human nature, but that is a mystery to contemplate and pray over as we try to imitate Him. To add to the mystery, Jesus while in a human body also remained Divine. So that in the sense, he was two distinct persons, both in his relations as part of the Trinity and as a human Godhead.

It is love, joy, peace and care that fills all relationships. This joy is so abundant it overflows; it overflows to such an extent that God wants to share God’s joy with us. God invites us to take part in that relationship of Father, Son and Spirit. The love of God overflows in us as we share the gifts of creation, love and the spirit of forgiveness and peace all words that represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our challenge is perhaps to do so with such faith, hope and love that it does not matter who we are but that we are the Trinity in action.

As Catholics, we are always making the sign of the cross, and often we seem to do it in a sloppy or habitual way. Take time this week to reflect on what you are doing before making the sign of the cross, so that the deep meaning of this relationship may grow in you. Thus, may the gifts of creation, sanctification and salvation of the Father, Holy Spirit and Son grow in each one of us and in our mystery of relating to each other.

One of the main mysteries of our faith is that of the Eucharist, where Jesus tells us when we take Communion, he indeed becomes one with us and we because of the same Eucharist becomes one with one another. Faith, indeed, has many mysteries of a loving, caring, peace-filled forgiving relationship.