Most every year as we celebrate the feast of The Most Holy Trinity my mind returns to an 8th grade classroom and a tall red-haired nun, in a modified black habit with a short veil, named Sister Mary Janelle. I recall her patiently helping my classmates and myself as we wrestled with the concept of the Holy Trinity: three Persons who were at the same time separate but, yet one.

As she went through theological gymnastics trying to help us understand, ultimately, she conceded that it was a mystery…a mystery with a capital “M”. At the time my classmates and I felt it was a bit of a “cop-out” on her part…but now 50 years later I have come to see her wisdom, and have come to be comfortable with, and truly enjoy the concept of resting in the “Mystery” which is The Triune God.

We live in a society that demands to know all things, to have concrete explanations for everything, and to have it right now! All we have to do is “Google it”! But the reality is, that ultimately God is beyond the fullness of our understanding. Today I realize that I am part of a religious tradition that has passed on a faith; a faith filled with mystery and awe in our God. There is a consensus of our ancestors that holds sacred “revealed truths” that are essentials of our faith that will always lie just beyond our capacity to fully understand them.

At the core of the reality of the Holy Trinity is the concept of relationship, of interconnectedness. It teaches us about the relationship of the three Persons of the Trinity -- not just in their interconnectedness, but also in The Trinity’s relationship to us and our relationship to one another, in and through this Triune God.

Remember in the Gospel of John the indwelling nature between the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are key elements of John’s theology. In the Gospel Jesus says I am in the Father and the Father is in me…and we will send an Advocate, and this Advocate -- the Holy Spirit -- is from them and in them. It is this same Holy Spirit whom we receive at Baptism and Confirmation.

And so, we need to remember that This Divine indwelling goes beyond just the Holy Spirit for, as Jesus proclaims “I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you.” (John 14: 20). We share in that Divine Indwelling; we are fill with Divinity. Think about that for a moment…let it sink in, God bearers. And so are our sisters and brothers also God bearers -- how does that impact how I see them and feel about them and ultimately, how I treat them.

The Holy Spirit has been sent into our hearts to lead us headlong into The Mystery…to live out in concrete terms what we say we believe even though we do not fully understand.

Our lack of understanding has no impact on The Mystery itself… The Mystery, God, desires us and loves us just as we are…conflicted and wrestling with our faith. One of the most important realities is that we remain engaged…wrestling with our faith… engaged with God and engaged with each other, “all others”!

Remaining engaged in the struggle for understanding and keeping open hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit, the bringer of wisdom, ultimately brings us closer to God and closer to one another.

And what wisdom and understanding is the Holy Spirit trying to bring us today in the midst of the national chaos that we find ourselves thrust into?

Guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, how do we continue to shine a light on the darkness of the sin of the systemic racism and bigotry that is woven into the very fabric of our nation?

What wisdom and insight is the Holy Spirit trying to impart to us as to how to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, South Sudan and so many other nations that are at war or on the brink of war and suffering from the horrors of famine.

What wisdom is the Holy Spirit seeking to impart to us on how we might grow closer to the Triune God through putting Jesus’ commandment to love one another into action in our daily lives with ALL our sisters and brothers, even with those with whom we disagree?
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May you be blest in and through the indwelling of Divinity within you. 

Fr. Tim

Happy birthday to the Church, to this parish community of Our Lady Queen of Peace and to the Spiritan Community. We are thankful for the Holy Spirit’s coming upon Mary and the other disciples on that amazing and shocking Pentecost day so many centuries ago. An event that unleashed a religious revolution that has, down through the centuries in one way or another, impacted the whole world.

We are thankful for our courageous Black Catholic sisters and brothers who, filled with the Holy Spirit, went to Richmond to meet with the bishop and ask for a parish of their own where they could worship in dignity and be treated with love and respect. And, we are thankful for the Spiritan Congregation who responded to the call from the Bishop of Richmond to come to Arlington and work with the first Black Catholic Families to start a new Black Catholic Parish community.

We offer a prayer of gratitude for all the parishioners and clergy who have gone before us, filled with the Holy Spirit and labored to build and grow this wonderful diverse and welcoming Catholic community.

St. Augustine said that the Spirit blows where the Spirit wills… not exactly comforting if you are someone who likes things neat and orderly or if you prefer to have life all figured out and neatly packaged. Most of us would prefer to see life’s decisions as right or wrong, good or bad…as if everything in life were black and white. The problem with life is that most of the time we are living in the grey-- everything is not always black and white!

This is where the Holy Spirit offers counsel; the challenge is to be open to the Spirit’s counsel! The Holy Spirit blows where it wills and inspires and guides whomever it chooses, whenever and wherever it chooses.

Most of us get used to a particular routine and we find comfort in doing things in a particular way and we find discomfort when our routine gets changed by outside influences or when we are forced to do things in a different or new way. It is no different in the church: we all get comfortable in the way we worship, in the way we pray, in the way we sing, in what we sing…and, then when change comes and we suddenly are set off center, we feel “off balance” at the change or new ways.

I am sure that many in the church today see ‘the Pope Francis’ challenge to live a radically gospel centered life’ as a change from what they were used to; a change in what they thought it meant to be a Catholic.

In answering the Gospel’s call, Pope Francis called us out of the church building and into the streets to be a “field hospital” where binding up the wounds of the poor and brokenhearted is a priority.

Pope Francis, following the call of Christ, calls us to be a welcoming presence to immigrants and refugees, to seek out the lost and forsaken, to “be” the word of peace in the presence of war, to “be” the word of love spoken to the lonely and marginalized of the world, to “be” the word of justice and equality spoken in the midst of racial injustice and exclusion, and to be a sign of mercy to those bowed down by life’s burdens.

As well, we are called to be care takers of creation; to take responsibility for the way we live on the planet -- personally, communally, nationally and internationally.

While all of this seems overwhelming, we need to remember that we are not called to do all this by ourselves but rather as a community filled with, and guided by, the Holy Spirit. It is in and through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit within us and around us that we are able to do all good things! As we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost let each of us ask ourselves: to where and to what is the Holy Spirit calling me in my life?

Happy 80th anniversary Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Parish! And happy 322th anniversary to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit!

Happy Pentecost, and all God’s blessings to you all!
Fr. Tim