THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
7 JUNE 2020
Saint Paul
loved the Christian community of Corinth.
He preached the Gospel there and invited its diverse community to see
their unity in Christ. Jews and Greeks,
rich people and poor people, slaves and free people responded to his
invitation. Within these divisions were
factions divided by social class, intellectual class, and economic class. Yet all were baptized into the one Lord Jesus
Christ. He expressed his love for them
in writing two letters, affirming the ways in which they displayed that unity
in Christ. But he also loved them enough
to call them on the ways they had failed to live their baptismal promises. He criticized them for abuses in the Lord’s
Supper. He told them to stop arguing
about which gifts of the Holy Spirit were more important. He chided them for being selfish in
contributing to his collection for the poor in Jerusalem. He warned them against accepting false
prophets. He corrected their false
teachings about the resurrection and their arguments about who was the most
Christ-like.
In today’s
second reading, he brings his letters to the Corinthians to a close. His ending makes it clear that he loves them
very much. Ironically, he tells his
fractured community to rejoice. They can
rejoice when they mend their ways and stop arguing. They can rejoice when they make efforts to
reach across their divides to encourage one another. They need to agree with one another. Paul is not saying that they cannot have
different points of view. Rather, they
need to agree with one another on the essentials of the love of God. He urges them to live in peace, respecting
one another’s differences. And he tells
them to greet one another with a holy kiss – not the betraying kiss of Judas,
but the loving kiss of those who live as one family.
Saint Paul
gives this advice, not because the Christian community of Corinth has gotten it
all together, but because of his words in the final sentence – the greeting
which the priest gives at the beginning of Mass. Saint Paul knows the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, a grace that transformed him being a murderous opponent of the Body of
Christ into being its most effective evangelist. Saint Paul dedicated his life to the love of
God, manifested in today’s Gospel statement that God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son. Even in the
midst of his own struggles and persecutions, Saint Paul was sustained by the
fellowship of believers, knit together by the presence and power of the Holy
Spirit.
Saint Paul
speaks this same message to us today. We
live a culture that is deeply divided and turned against each other. We are trying to emerge from a pandemic with
those divisions in full display. We see
with painful new eyes the sin of racism in our country. The many who march in peaceful protest are
harmed by those who are intent on looting and violence. We are fearful for the
future. As Saint Paul gives his message
to us, who are members of the Body of Christ, we know the divisions and
tensions within our Christian community.
We are divided into conservative and progressive camps. We are trying to be healed of the damage done
by the clergy sexual abuse crisis. We do
not always agree with one another.
We are
beginning to emerge from our isolation, and we have the opportunity to
appreciate anew the fellowship which is at the heart of our parish. At the very highest level of being, the
triune Godhead breaks through to heal and strengthen us. Within the Trinity of absolute unity, there
is also absolute diversity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are not only invited to participate in
that Mystery, but the Trinity gives us courage to confront injustice, work for
peace, and learn to respect one another in our differences without fear. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and
the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
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