Trinity Sunday - You are Loved into Existence and into Eternity

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          The center of the universe is love. “love always wins.” (I would add: “even when it loses.”)

          And as we discover it in ourselves as well, we see that Love is the center of our identity. If you want to know what something was made for, whether a plant, an animal, a car, or a baseball, look for what that thing is doing when it is at its best and fullest. That's when you can tell what it's truly made for. At our best and fullest (aka not when we are operating out of dysfunction or illness or in some extremely unhealthy or rare situation) we see the human person living a life of loving relationship with others. This is perhaps one of the simple proofs that we are created in God's image and likeness.  And this makes us unique among all creation.

Our first reading from Proverbs reminds us of all the beauty that God made in the world. And it is truly magnificent. We can all perhaps find different things in nature to admire, but I am almost certain there is at least one thing that could keep you mesmerized for quite some time by its beauty and intricacy like the structure of plant or animal life, or by its vastness and echoes of the infinite like the galaxies or the ocean sunsets, or by its simplicity and purity like a pristine lake or a snowflake.

These things are amazing, but Proverbs tell us that they are nothing compared to the pinnacle of creation: the human person.

Realize this: with all that beautiful stuff in the universe, only the human person did God unite to Himself in the flesh of Jesus. God took our human nature into himself, and that is the mystery we celebrate today with Trinity Sunday. Simply put: Jesus is God; he wasn't just another one of us or a really special angel or something. He was God Himself. God became man so that mankind can become God. (that's what the life of Grace ultimately leads to, and what heaven really is.)

God did this because of his love for you. Proverbs says that God “delights in” you!

We often think that love is some nice generic love. But that doesn't hit home with us, because it isn't love and it isn't a real relationship. It's like when everyone gets a trophy or a sign that says “you're special.” Even children develop a knack for telling the difference between trite phrases and more heartfelt words of praise and affirmation, and they hunger and strive for the things that can win that praise. In that way, we adults are really often just big kids who have our talented ways of hiding and masking the same deep desire for praise, and we don't think God loves us unless we are “awesome” and “perfect” and a “gold star” Catholic.

But that's a lie. God doesn't love you only when you have it all together neatly wrapped up and tied with a bow and sparkles. God loves you when you are still in the midst of your mess and your heart is in pieces and your life looks like my office desk (not a pretty sight).

          The fact that you exist is actually proof of this, for at every moment God lovingly chooses you. But even more so by your baptism: when you are configured to Christ Jesus, you are Beloved by the Father.