Homily for the Most Holy Trinity, C

Ever since I heard the news of Brian Wilson’s death this week, I keep hearing over and over in my head, “God only knows what I’d be without you.” The song reassures us that love will never end. “As long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it. I’ll make you so sure about it.”

I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, June 15 @ 7:30/9:30 am

the 7:30 am Mass will be live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/

frjoedailey@gmail.com

Transcript

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. 

Jesus said to his disciples, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine. For this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you." 

The Gospel of the Lord. 

Ever since I heard the news of Brian Wilson's death this week, I keep hearing over and over in my head, "God only knows what I'd be without you." The song reassures us that love will never end. As long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it. I'll make you so sure about it. 

Our first experience of knowing God is more like unknowing. In the presence of beauty, watching the sun set or lying beneath the stars, we are drawn beyond ourselves into the hidden presence of God, woven into the very fabric of creation.

 In fact, our first knowledge of God comes not from the Bible, but from God's first word, creation itself. As Paul writes in Romans 1, verse 20, "Ever since the creation of the world, God's invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what God has made." 

The author of Proverbs describes Lady Wisdom, who is present with God from the first moment of God's creating, playing on the surface of God's earth and delighting in the human race. God is not distant or aloof. God is with us, and for us, and ahead of us. 

When the children of Israel are exiled in Babylon, God said to them in the words of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11, "I know the plans I have for you. God only knows. Plans for your well-being, reserving for you a future full of hope." The following verses, 12 to 14, become especially beautiful. "Then when you pray to me, I will hear you. When you feel your desire for me, you will find me. When you want me with all your heart, I will let you find me." 

In the prologue of the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word who was with God from the very beginning of creation. The Word became flesh and dwells among us. Everything that is in the Father becomes visible in the Son. Everything that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I told you that the Spirit will take what is Mine and declare it to you. 

Jesus is not simply the Savior. Jesus is the Creator. As we read in John, chapter 3, verse 16, "For it was in this way, you see, that God loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life." In his farewell address at the Last Supper in John's Gospel, Jesus uses the image of a woman in labor about to give birth. Think of it. This is a terribly dangerous moment whereby a woman puts her life and health extraordinarily at risk in order to bring a child into the world. You could say that this is what the act of creation looks like. Someone being prepared to die in order to breathe out their spirit so that everyone else can be brought to life. In Jesus dying and rising, we are given new birth. 

In 1 John, chapter 3, verse 2, we read, "Beloved, we are God's children now. What we will be has not yet been revealed." Christian identity is always known and unknown, given now and yet to be sought. 

The Spirit of Truth will declare to you the things that are coming." The Greek word for declare is anangello. Angello, angel in English, is message or news. Anangello has to do with reporting back or sending news back. That means the Spirit has been there. That means that the Spirit has been there. Or using the language of Trinitarian theology today, we might say that the Spirit is present in all times and places, including the future. 

These things that are coming refer to the crucifixion and resurrection. If there is anxiety about the future, about things that are coming, the message to the disciples is to be assured that through the cross and resurrection, the future is in the hands of Jesus. 

Paul captures this same dynamic when he insists that we could also boast in our sufferings. Paul is sure that grace is hiding inside of suffering. Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. Pope Francis used these words from St. Paul as the title for this jubilee year, "Hope Does Not Disappoint." 

We can trust these words. Trust is a beautiful word. It literally means to believe together, con fiden in Latin. We do not hope alone, but in the community of faith. When I have doubts, another person may have the confidence to support me. When they lose hope, I may be able to help them. So the more perilous the future, the more urgent it is for us to seek the common good together, and not to lock ourselves into our own survival. 

God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. God only knows what I'd be without you. ♪ I got only ♪