06/01/2026
Today's Divine Word Missionary Moment: A reflection on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Relationship in the Mystery"
Good morning, Church!
Today, the Church throughout the world stops to celebrate one of the deepest, most profound realities of our faith: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We are talking about God being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the life-sustaining Spirit of Love. Three distinct Persons, yet One Divine Being.
Now, if you ask the theologians to explain that perfectly, they’ll write you a 500-page book, and at the end of it, you’ll still walk away shaking your head. Because in the end, the Trinity is a real mystery. There is only so much our human language can say about God. Our minds are simply too small to comprehend His majesty, His greatness, His power, and His wonder. Our hearts are too small to fully contain His love, and our lives are too short to search out all His works.
But church, even though God is a mystery... we know that God is! And a part of my sermon today reflects on that part of God that we do know, that we do trust, and that we do believe in!
Let me tell you a story about a little girl named Elizabeth.
There was a teacher named Kay who taught third grade in a large elementary school. One morning, all the teachers were suddenly called to the staff room for an emergency meeting. They had to hurry over, leaving their classes unsupervised for just a few moments. Now, everyone was worried, but nobody was sweating it quite as much as poor Mrs. Whiting. Why? Because Mrs. Whiting taught the first graders, and her class was notoriously mischievous, lively, and unruly!
When they got to the teachers' room, Mrs. Whiting’s instincts kicked in. She said, "I think I had better listen in and find out what’s going on in my classroom." She turned on the intercom system. And sure enough, church, her room was in absolute chaos! Children were yelling, jumping on chairs, and throwing things. But right in the middle of the noise, one little voice shrieked out above all the rest of the uproar.
Mrs. Whiting recognized that piercing voice instantly. She picked up the microphone, took a deep breath, and in her sternest, most authoritative teacher’s voice, she commanded: "Elizabeth, sit down!"
Immediately, the entire classroom fell dead silent. After a few seconds of pure stillness, a small, humble, meek voice answered back through the speaker: "Okay, God." Now, the teachers in the lounge burst out laughing. They knew all about intercoms, microphones, and school wiring. But little Elizabeth, from her perspective down in that classroom, could think of only one logical explanation for a booming voice coming out of nowhere, calling her out by name, and knowing exactly what she was doing wrong!
We might laugh at Elizabeth. We think we’re more sophisticated than that. But let me ask you the question that story begs us to ask today: What do you really know about God? Because Elizabeth actually got something right that many theologians miss. She recognized that there is a Voice above the noise. She recognized that there is a Power that sees us, knows us, and calls us by name.
Yet, despite His massive power, God cares for us. God cares for us as if we were the only one to care for—so great is our God and the love He has for each one of us!
As Black Catholics, our spirituality has always understood this beautiful tension. We understand the majesty and the grandeur of our Catholic liturgy—the incense rising, the formal prayers, the high altars, the mystery of the Eucharist. We know that God is transcendent, holy, and high above us. But our history, our culture, and our survival have also taught us that this same transcendent God is intimate. He is the God who walks with us, talks with us, and meets us in the chaotic classrooms of our lives.
Like the old folks used to say: "He’s high, but He stoops low." That brings us directly to our first reading today in Exodus 34. Moses is up on Mount Sinai. And notice what the scripture says: Moses gets up early in the morning and climbs the mountain, carrying two stone tablets. And then, the Lord descends in a cloud and stands there with him.
Think about that imagery. God doesn’t just stay at a distance. God descends. God comes down to where Moses is. And as God passes before Moses, God proclaims His own name. He defines Himself. He doesn’t give Moses a math formula about the Trinity. He gives Moses His character.
The Lord proclaims: "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."
Church, before we knew God as a theological doctrine, humanity knew God as a relationship. Moses sees this great, mountain-shaking God, and what does Moses do? He immediately falls to the ground in worship. But look at what Moses prays in verse 9. He says, "If I find favor with you, Lord, please come along in our company." He acknowledges that the people are stiff-necked—they are unruly, just like Mrs. Whiting’s first-grade class! But Moses begs, "Forgive our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."
Moses was saying, "God, You are awesome, You are powerful, but please don't stay up on the mountain. Come down into the company of Your people. We need You in our midst."
Moses wanted an anchor. He wanted something real. Because out in the world, people change, motives are mixed, and people try to bend the truth to fit their own needs.
I read a story recently about two brothers. These brothers were incredibly rich, but they were also incredibly wicked. Both of them lived on the wild side, and they used their great wealth to cover up the dark side of their lives. On the surface, to the neighborhood, they looked like upright citizens. They both attended the same church almost every Sunday, and they contributed very large sums of money to the collection basket.
Now, their church had a pastor who preached the Truth from the Word of God with great courage. He didn't water it down! Before long, the church attendance had grown so much because of this powerful preaching that the church needed to build a brand-new building.
Suddenly, one of the wealthy brothers died. The pastor, who always preached the raw Truth from God’s Word, was called upon to preach the funeral. The day before the service, the surviving brother slipped an envelope into the minister's hand. Inside the envelope was a note that read:
"Here’s a check to pay for the entire amount you need for the new church building. All I ask is one favor. Tell the people at the funeral tomorrow that my brother was a saint!"
Well, the pastor gave the brother his word that he would do precisely what he asked. That afternoon, he walked right down to the bank and deposited that massive check into the church’s account.
The next day, the funeral rolled around. The church was packed. The pastor stood before the casket, looked out at the congregation, and said with firm conviction:
"This man was an ungodly sinner! He was wicked to the core! He was unfaithful to his wife! He was hot-tempered and ruthless in business! He was a hypocrite in church!" The surviving brother froze in his seat, sweating bullets. But then the pastor took a deep breath and concluded: "But... compared to his brother, he was a saint!"
[Pause for congregation laughter/reaction]
Church, we can try to play games with words. We can try to buy our way into righteousness. We can try to manipulate the narrative. But in the midst of our world today, where truth shifts like the wind and people change their tune depending on who is paying the bill, God is an anchor for our soul. He is a fixed point of reference for our decisions. He is the axis around which our lives must revolve!
In Malachi 3:6, the Bible tells us plainly: "I the Lord do not change." You don't have to buy Him off. You don't have to manipulate Him. God's truth, God's standards, and God's love stand firm forever.
And praise be to God, brothers and sisters, because that unchanging God is the one who shows up for us! When we turn to the Gospel of John today, we see the ultimate expression of His fixed, unmovable love. God didn't just visit us in a cloud on Mount Sinai. God took on flesh and dwelt among us.
We hear the words that are so familiar we sometimes skip right over the gravity of them: "For 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."
Look at the movement of the Trinity right here in John 3.
The Father loves. The Son is given. And as we know from the wider Gospel narrative, the Spirit is the one who breathes that eternal life into our hearts.
The Trinity is not a distant idea but a living relationship. God exists in perfect unity as an overflowing communion of love. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and that living love is the Holy Spirit.
And here is the shouting news of the Gospel: God did not keep that love to Himself. The family of God was extended to include you and me. God invites us into the inner circle of Divine love. It’s a relationship that looks out for you, a relationship that provides for you, and a relationship that sustains you. That’s why I am in a relationship with the Triune God!
John writes that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Let's pause right there. Because in our world today, and historically for Black people in this country, we know what it feels like to walk into spaces and immediately feel condemned. We know what it’s like to be judged before we speak, to be viewed with suspicion, to have doors closed in our faces, and to be counted out. Look at what we are witnessing right now in our society. Look at the recent redrawing of Congressional maps that began immediately after the Supreme Court decision right here in our own State of Louisiana—a political battle that has since spread throughout most of the red Southern states. Yes, Church, we know what it is like to have to keep on fighting just for our basic right to vote! We know what it is like to struggle for our voices to be heard and to demand fair representation in state and national decision-making bodies.
But the Gospel tells us that when the Almighty God looks at you, His primary motive is not condemnation—it is salvation. It is rescue. It is love. No matter how the world tries to draw the lines to shut you out, God has already drawn a circle of love to bring you in!
I have come to know, Church, that there is no relationship in this life that compares to being in a relationship with God.
God is our purpose in life. God is our source of comfort. God is our wisdom in confusing times. God is our strength and our hope. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
Human relationships are beautiful, but they have limits. Family will be there at times, and friends will be there when they can. But people get tired. People get busy. People change their minds.
But God? God is with you all the time, and He carries you through it all. That is the relationship we need most in our lives, Church!
If you aren't so sure today that a relationship with this Triune God is important, let me remind you of the difference between how the world treats you and how God treats you:
When the world kicks you down, when your friend dumps you, and when troubles weigh you down—God will pick you up!
When the world leaves you out, when society tries to put you out, keep you out, or strike you out—God will lead you to a brand new, better place in spite of them!
When the world tells you that you are a loser, when folks talk about you, discourage you, and call you names—God is going to give you a brand-new name, a brand-new reason in a new game, and He will make you a winner!
When the world thinks you are weak, when they write you off because you don't have the wealth or the status—you can look them in the eye and echo Saint Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10: "I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong!" Go ahead and tell me I'm weak, world! Because all that does is clear the stage to show God's strength working in me!
My relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit convinces me that God is ever-watchful. And because He is ever-watchful, His relationship gives us comfort in times of distress. He gives us strength when we are weak. He gives us hope when we are on the edge of despair. He gives us peace right in the middle of chaos, and He gives us life at the very moment of death.
That’s my God, Church. That is the Trinity we worship today.
He isn't just a concept in a textbook. He is alive, He is active, and He is working in your life right now.
Can I get a witness today? Our God is awesome! * He can move mountains!
He will keep me in the valley, and He will hide me from the rain.
He heals me when I am broken, and He gives strength where I’ve been weakened.
Forever He will reign!
Our God is awesome. He is the Savior of the whole world. He is the Giver of salvation. By His stripes, we are healed! Today, whatever you walked into this church carrying, know that you are forgiven. His grace is the only reason we are living.
So praise His holy name!
He’s Mighty!
He’s Holy!
He’s Great!
He is our deliverer, our provider, and our protector. He is our God—Creator, Redeemer, and Empowerer. The Holy Trinity.
Don't let the mystery confuse you; let the relationship change you. Trust the Father who created you, lean on the Son who redeemed you, and move in the power of the Holy Spirit who sustains you.
Our God is awesome. Amen?
Amen!
