Homily for the Most Holy Trinity

May 31, 2026

Here’s something to think about…

I am your (church, or community, or family)… Make of me what you will; I shall reflect you as clearly as a mirror. If outwardly my appearance is pleasing and inviting, it is because you have made me so. If within my spiritual atmosphere is kindly, yet earnest; reverent, yet friendly; worshipful, yet sympathetic; divine, yet humanly expressed---it is but the manifestation of the spirit of those who constitute my membership.

But if you should, by chance, find me a bit cold or dull, I beg you not to condemn me, for I imitate the kind of life I receive from you. Of this you may always be assured; I will respond instantly to your every wish practically expressed, for I will reflect the image of your own soul. Make of me what you will.

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This reminds me of things they say about owners of dogs. If the owner is grumpy, negative, impatient and dissatisfied with just about everything, chances are his dog will be the same. If, on the other hand, a person is kind, gentle, cheerful and hospitable, chances are the dog will be sweet, cuddly and playful.

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Now, right at the beginning of the Bible, we are told that we human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. What’s interesting to note is that, down through the centuries, and in our own day, God is presented in very different ways, often to justify one’s own position. For example, some have used God to justify going to all sorts of wars. In our own nation, many seem to think that our nation was created for white Christians, and all others are secondary citizens at best. How do we get to the truth?

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Well, we’re in luck because today’s liturgy focuses our attention on one of the deepest mysteries of our faith: what God is like on the inside, at the very heart of God’s being. We’re celebrating Trinity: three persons, but making up only one God.

What does that tell us about the very being of God in whose likeness we are made? The first thing I’d say it means that God is not a lonely old soul, living apart in total splendor and holy isolation. No, Trinity means that in the very heart of God there is a community of love that is eternally shared, from the Father, to the Son, and back again, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus came among us to teach us what God is like, what’s the first thing he did? He didn’t lock himself away in a lonely monastery on a hillside. No, at the start of his public ministry, he gathered a group around him to form a community, to learn about the ways of God, and to imitate what they had learned.

Then, Jesus and his apostles walked the dusty roads and encountered people where they were—not in palaces or parliaments. He went about restoring community. He healed contagious lepers, daring to touch them, that they might leave the sidelines of life and come back into the society that shunned them. He refused to accept the idea that suffering and handicaps were punishment for sin. He associated with tax collectors, even calling Matthew to become part of the inner circle, to show that people don’t have to remain victims of their choices. Jesus humbled himself repeatedly, reaching out to those at the bottom, and helping them realize that they were God’s children, too.

Pope Francis reminded us, over and over, that Jesus chose to build bridges between people, not walls. Jesus wanted to overcome differences, not aggravate them. And he taught that, just as he and the Father are one in the Spirit, that is what he expected of his followers.

In a recently released encyclical letter, entitled Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo writes, “At the heart of the Christian understanding of the human person lies the great biblical affirmation that men and women are created in the image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26-27) of the Triune God. Created for relationships, every human person is planned and willed by God to enter into communion with him, with others and with creation. Human dignity does not depend on a person’s abilities, wealth or position in life, nor on the right or wrong choices made; instead, it is a gift that precedes and transcends every person, endowed by God as an expression of his unfailing love….” (#50).

This idea of Trinity, God being a community of persons, intimately sharing love, is very basic to our faith. We honor the Trinity every time we make the sign of the cross. We hold up the pattern of Trinity when we baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Remember the insight with which we started our reflection: I am your (church, or community, or family)… Make of me what you will; I shall reflect you as clearly as a mirror. If outwardly my appearance is pleasing and inviting, it is because you have made me so.

We are called to be a genuine reflection of God, in whose image and likeness we are made. The question is: are we an authentic image—or a forgery meant to advance private agendas or deeply held prejudices?