June 12, 2022

Trinity Sunday

Reverent Before God’s Mystery & Majesty

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Once a bishop asked a parishioner what she thought of her pastor. She replied, “For six days of the week he is invisible and on the seventh day, he is incomprehensible.” I pray no one would say the same about me, but “incomprehensible” is a word that certainly comes to mind as we contemplate and celebrate the Blessed Trinity. St. Thomas Aquinas said the “one can know only THAT God is, not WHAT God is.” The great Irish missionary, St. Columban said, “As the depths of the seas are invisible to human sight, so the Godhead of the Trinity is found to be beyond the grasp of human understanding.”

While theologians cast some light on the mystery for us, as to just how it is that God is three Persons possessing one and the same nature, only in heaven will we come to know the full revelation of who God is.

Today, the Psalmist asks, “What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?” (Ps. 8: 5) Certainly before the mystery and majesty of God, we become aware of our unworthiness, the fact that we are but God’s creatures. Yet, faith takes us a little farther along and we also realize that despite our unworthiness, God in his infinite mercy, has made us his children, “crowned us with glory and honor” and as St. Paul attests, pouring his love into our hearts. (Rm 5:5) making us heirs to heaven.

But a response on our part is necessary to attain, to be worthy of this inheritance. Our Lord’s teachings in the Gospel describe the response. Today I would like to mention just one response to awesome mystery and majesty of the Triune God—REVERENCE.

Reverence is the virtue that reminds us that we are God’s creatures and that all we have is a gift, calling for gratitude toward the God who is so generous and merciful. A reverent person realizes that there is something more important, more beautiful, more wondrous in the universe than oneself. It helps keep the ego in check.

We might consider our reverence in this very place—a sacred place—the Lord’s holy dwelling. Do we see it as such, or do we view it as just another place to gather? Do we recognize what takes place here? God is really and truly present here. During the celebration of Mass, we find ourselves between heaven and earth.

Reverence in the Lord’s house should move us to look seriously at our dress, our deportment, our respect for others who expect to find the quiet that is so necessary for prayer.

So often we can be so chatty, so loud, forgetful of where we are. Some people have told me that there are those who carry conversations of all kinds while the Mass is being offered to the point that they had to leave. Last year, at a Confirmation ceremony at which I presided, a sponsor took his laptop to church and opened it during the homily…I doubt he was taking notes! I would not be surprised if people texted while at Mass. Maybe they texted a friend across the aisle, “When is this homily going to end?”

Consider our regard for the Blessed Sacrament. Do we remember to bow or genuflect when passing in front of the tabernacle? I wonder what a visitor would observe here. I hope he or she could say, “This is a reverent parish, a community that possesses, that displays a profound awe, respect, and love in the Presence of the Triune God.