Trinity And Fathers Day

Today is Father’s Day, when we celebrate our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, those who act as fathers to those who need a father.  Today also is when we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  And we begin with the first reading from Proverbs that is entitled “The discourse of Wisdom.”

What’s missing from the passage that was read is an important pronoun. Not read was: “Does not wisdom call…and raise her voice...For Wisdom is better than corals, and no choice possession can compare with her.”  Wisdom was considered to be a woman.  Now that was a wise decision.

Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and according to our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans, the Holy Spirit is the love of God poured out into our hearts.  In other words, when we love, our hearts fill, and we become wise. Wisdom and love hold the Trinity together.  It’s the glue binding the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a close, loving relationship.

Jesus taught us what God is like through his words, his actions, his very being, making it clear that “God is love.”  If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then we live in a benevolent universe.  God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and is on our side.

The Spirit also compels us to tell the truth.  Our Gospel highlights this.  Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”  

The truth is that Jesus, in person, reveals God’s mercy. Remember that Jesus said in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…” Jesus was and still is the living testimony to the proverb: “He who oppresses the poor blasphemes his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy glorifies him.”

Stated another way, God is our conscience that unsettles us when the Holy Spirit reminds us to share our comforts with those who need our help – something to which we should give careful attention in light of the ongoing Catholic Charities Appeal.

Our one God, 3-person Trinity lifts us up onto our feet to be there for the weak, powerless, and vulnerable, especially children. Our children must be made to understand, through our words and deeds, that whenever they feel hurt and low, we will lift them high.

Here’s a story about lifting them high. A father had a five-year old daughter.  One morning he decided to take his little girl out for breakfast to share special time together and just to talk. So off they went to a nearby restaurant.

They had just gotten their pancakes when her father said: “Jenny, I want you to know how much I love you, and how special you are to your mother and me.  We prayed for you for years, and now that you are here and growing up to be such a wonderful girl, we couldn’t be more proud of you.”  

Once he had said all this, he stopped talking and started to eat and, but he never got the fork to his mouth.  His daughter reached out her little hand and laid it on her father’s hand.  His eyes went to hers, and in soft pleading voice she said, “Longer Daddy…longer.”

He put down his fork and continued to tell her some more reasons and ways they loved and appreciated her, and then again he reached for his for his fork, but it never made it to his mouth. A second time...and a third…and a fourth time he heard the words, “Longer Daddy, longer.”

That father never got much to eat that morning, but his daughter got all the emotional nourishment she desperately needed.  In fact, a few days later she ran up to her mother.  Her eyes sparkled.  She smiled and then said, “I’m a really special daughter, Mommy.  Daddy told me so!”

Jenny was affirmed.  Her father reached out his protective arms and lifted her up. The Father, the Daughter, and the Holy Spirit – we can easily use this wording for the exchange I just described with the daughter saying, “Longer, Daddy, longer.”    

All of us in any type of nurturing role, such as fathers and mothers, need to embrace the Holy Trinity as the way to remind us of the importance of our loving relationships in our lives, especially with children.  We must always lift them high as if they are saying to us: “Higher Daddy, higher!”

We close with a Trinity Prayer written by Father Richard Rohr: God For Us, we call You Father; God Alongside Us, we call You Jesus; God Within Us, we call You Holy Spirit. You are the Eternal Mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things, especially all of us. Every name falls short of your Goodness and Greatness. We can only see who You are in what is. We ask for such perfect seeing. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Deacon David Pierce