Holy Family Catholic Church-Birmingham

05/31/2026

05/28/2026

To All,

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, when we call attention to our belief that God is Three Persons in One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is hard sometimes for us to grasp, since we experience each other and all creatures as individual, separate beings.

What I try to remember is that the doctrine of the Trinity is how we Christians articulate what we believe to be God’s revelation of God’s self through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ disciples experienced Him as the Son of God. They experienced the Holy Spirit as God, which we heard last week. As good Jews, they also believed in one God, not a pantheon of gods in which the Greeks and the Romans believed. So, even though I could look up my notes from seminary and get all into the language of the theologians and philosophers of ancient times, this doctrine, as mysterious as it is, comes from the experience of those who followed Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.

Another thing to remember is that what God has revealed to us about God’s self has been in terms of God’s relationship to us. In our Gospel reading (John 3:16-18), Jesus says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” What God has revealed about God’s self, above all, is love. I see God as a Being of perfect love, a Being of perfect relationship. And as a perfect being of love, God went outside of God’s self and created the universe. The mystery of the Trinity is the mystery of God’s love for us. Again, we hear in our Gospel reading: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

In our first reading from Exodus (34:4b-6, 8-9), after God has passed by Moses, Moses bows down in worship and asks of God: “If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.” It’s not only the ancient Israelites who were a “stiff-necked people.” We all are, but that has not stopped God from loving us and seeking to heal us!

A third thing to remember is that the doctrine of the Trinity reveals who we are and who we are called to be. As was explained to me in a class on early Church history, if we believe that God is One in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we believe that we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are actually created to live in community; to live in relationship; to live in love. That is why St. Paul can write to the Corinthians in our second reading (2 Corinthians 13:11-13): “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

But, oh man, we do not seem to hold much value in what St. Paul is talking about. It is in light of God’s love and how St. Paul tells us how to follow Jesus’ command to love, that I want to address the last verse of our Gospel reading: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Frankly, I usually avoid such verses because I go back to the words quoted above about God not sending the Son to condemn the world.

In these times, we seem to rush to condemnation. Take your pick: immigrants, trans people, people of color, liberals, Maga people, etc. I believe that it is God, not I, who has the last word about where people spend eternal life. And even if I were to presume that I know who is condemned, it does not give me a license to mistreat them, or dehumanize them, or forget that God loves them, and that I am still called to love them as Jesus does and the Holy Spirit guides me to. Our belief in a Triune God calls us to love in order to be true to who we were created to be.

I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.

In The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Phil, CP

05/23/2026

To All,

Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost! We mark the time when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles who then began to go to many places and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Because of that, this day is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. All of our Scripture readings speak of the power of the Holy Spirit. Reflecting on the Holy Spirit has much to tell us about how we are called to be disciples today.

In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-11), we have Luke’s account of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, appearing as tongues of fire descending on each one of them. After this, the apostles go out of the place where they were and start proclaiming the Gospel to the crowd of Jews that had gathered there because they heard a loud noise like that of “a strong driving wind.” Even though the crowd that had gathered came from different parts of the world and spoke different languages, they could understand what the apostles were saying.

Remember, these apostles were the same ones, not so long before this, that had locked themselves in a room for fear of what might happen to them after Jesus was crucified. Now they are fearless in speaking about Jesus and the “mighty acts of God.” The Holy Spirit has the power to drive out fear. The Holy Spirit has the power to bring people together. The Holy Spirit has the power to enable us to proclaim the Good News in ways that people can understand.

We may not have received the Holy Spirit in as dramatic a way as the apostles did, but when we were baptized we received the Holy Spirit just the same. The question is whether we are willing to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In our second reading (1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13), St. Paul writes, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” The “benefit” St. Paul mentions is not meant to be some material benefit to us, but a benefit for others.

In our Gospel reading from John (20:19-23), when the Risen Jesus appears to His disciples in the upper room, He first says, “Peace be with you.” Then He says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then, He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit has been given us so that we can love and serve as Jesus commands.

Are we willing to listen to the Holy Spirit? Are we willing to be led out of fear or complacency and into wherever we need to go? Are we willing to welcome people in instead of pushing people away? Are we willing to listen to others so as to be able to understand them and be able to speak in ways that they can understand us, by our actions as well as our words? The need may arise when we are called to make a “loud noise,” so that people can hear about God’s love above all the other voices that are out there.

And are we willing to do all this out of love and compassion? I know that many preachers, referring to the imagery of that first Pentecost, call for “fire in the pews.” And we definitely need that, because manifestations of the Spirit have not only been given to us as individuals but also as a church. But that fire has to be a fire of love, not of hate or destruction! Even as we work for justice, are we not proclaiming God’s love in Jesus Christ?

May we listen to Jesus again: “Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

Come, Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth!

I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In the Holy Spirit. Phil, CP