Homily

The feast of the Trinity, which the Latin liturgical calendar celebrates after Pentecost Sunday, opens the long, final period that completes the liturgical year. This season is called "Ordinary Time" because it contains no particular memory of the life of Jesus, whom we have "seen" ascend into heaven. Nonetheless this season is no less significant than those that precede it. We could even say that the feast of the Most Holy Trinity casts its light on all the days to come, all the way to the beginning of Advent, as if to extend through time the habit of beginning all of our actions and all of our days "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." If we look briefly at our habits of mind, we have to admit that the mystery of the Trinity is not something we consider especially significant for our lives or our way of behaving. It matters little, whether in the doctrine of the faith or in ethics, that God be Three in One. At most it is considered a "mystery" that we can not understand.
But by once again bringing this great and holy mystery to our attention, the Holy Liturgy comes down to meet our smallness and our chronic distraction. I said "again bringing" because in reality this mystery is present in and accompanies the entire life of Jesus, beginning with Christmas. Indeed, it accompanies the entire history of humanity, from creation itself, as John writes in the prologue of his Gospel: "In the beginning the Word was with God" and "all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being that has come into being" (Jn 1:2-3), as John writes in the prologue of his Gospel. The evangelist reveals to us that the moment of creation is already radically marked by the communion of the Father and the Son. So much so that we could say that every human reality is made from communion and for communion. Why, after having created man, does God say: "It is not good that the man should be alone"? The answer is simple. Because God had made man, "in [his] image and according to [his] likeness." And God, the Christian God (but we have to wonder how many Christians believe in "Jesus’ God"!) is not a solitary being, who sits on high, powerful and majestic. The God of Jesus is a "family" of three persons who love each other so much, we could say, that they are one thing. But that is not enough. They have not kept their joy for themselves. They have poured it out on the men and women of the world. John writes, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (Jn 3:16). The Son was not sent out of an obligation, but out of an overabundance of love. The Trinity is nothing other than this mysterious overabundance of love, which is poured out of heaven onto the earth, passing over every border, every boundary, and even every faith. It is like an irrepressible energy for whoever welcomes it. The Holy Spirit pushes and draws towards God, towards the life of God, which is the fullness of love. The Trinity, this incredible "family," chose to enter into human history in order to call everyone to be a part of itself. This is the final horizon that the mystery of the Trinity discloses to us today. And this horizon is doubtlessly the most burning challenge made to the Church, indeed, to all of the Christian Churches, and, I would like to add, to all religions and to all men and women. It is the challenge to live in love, even when the drive towards individualism, ethnicity, clan, nation, and group seems to be prevailing. The Trinity overcomes all boundaries and in every case relativises them to the point of destroying them. This is the challenge of living in love.