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The Blessed Trinity and the Holy Eucharisty

Homily

Sunday, June 11, 2006, Trinity Sunday

St. Joseph Parish, Detroit

            The last time we had a Sunday in Ordinary Time was just before Ash Wednesday, March 1. Since then, we put ashes on our head as a sign of penance for our sins. We Entered the rigors of Lent, eager to make penance for our own sins and the sins of other poor sinners. We participated liturgically in the passion and death of our Lord, his descent into hell, and his glorious resurrection from the dead. We praised divine Mercy, we honored St. Joseph, we crowned the Virgin Mary with roses for May. We went out on the mission entrusted us at the Ascension to go out to all the world to spread the Gospel, and our hearts were filled with grace and gifts at Pentecost.

            I wish to spend the summer Sundays meditating on different aspects of the Holy Eucharist, since the Eucharist is the source and center of the Church, for it is the Son of God in his body, blood, soul and divinity. Each Sunday will, in the liturgy, bring out different aspects, which we will contemplate in the light of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharis is why this parish is here, it is why it is open and by the grace of God will remain so, it is why we work and live, it is the reason for everything.

            Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. Next week is Corpus Christi, with the feast of the Sacred Heart on that Friday, and the Immaculate Heart the next day. At the end of the 10:30 Latin Mass next week, we will have a procession within the Church walls, and I have written a bulletin article to discuss this further with all of you before next Sunday comes. Ordinary Sundays follow, and we will continue to fan the flames of love for God by meditating on the mystery of the Eucharist.

            What thoughts does Trinity Sunday bring to mind regarding the Eucharist? The Catechism enlightens us, “We carry out the command of the Lord, [‘Do this in remembrance of me,’] by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In doing so, we offer to the Father what he has himself given to us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ” (CCC 1357).

            In a word, the Eucharist is all about the Trinity. It is the Son of God who offers himself, we only offer him to the degree we participate in the Church, his Body. The Father received the sacrifice. It is accomplished through the Holy Spirit.

            Since Jesus is the Word through whom the universe was made, the “whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father” (CCC 1359) through the Eucharist, as a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” of the whole Church (CCC 1360).

            The words the priest say are really Jesus’ own words, and it is through “the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit” that the conversion of bread and wine into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice of the Eucharist.

            Indeed, to the degree that Jesus Christ is God, and shares the same substance as the Father and the Holy Spirit, the entire Trinity is present in the Eucharist. But the body, blood and human soul of Jesus Christ, who by the incarnation became man, belong exclusively to the Son of God, for neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit became incarnate.

            And so from the consideration of the relationship to the Eucharist, we can draw these conclusions for our spiritual lives:

1. We must strive to live in a state of grace. By grace we unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Jesus for the salvation of the world. Jesus, the Word, the Incarnation, is the key to understanding the spiritual sense of everything in the world which is and which happens.

2. We are to thank and praise God the Father. This is why the Epistle to the Hebrews reads, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15). Our lives must be one continuous act of love for our Father. God deserves nothing else, for he created us out of love, he blessed us with the goods of his creation, he sent his son to save us when we sinned, and has given us every spiritual gift through the Holy Spirit, so great is the Father’s love for us!

3. We need to entrust all the progress in the spiritual life to the Holy Spirit’s action. If you convert, it’s because the Spirit is alive in you. If you do good, it’s because He is alive in you. If you make any advance, change, improvement, or progress in the spiritual life, it is because He did it in you. Be close to Him, and He will make you advance in the spiritual life.

Let us therefore adore the Trinity in and through the Holy Eucharist. Let us learn from the Eucharist everything we need to know to live happy, fruitful spiritual lives. If you are searching for God, come to the Eucharist! If you wish to obtain eternal life, remember the loving words of our Savior, “The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh… he who east this bread will live forever” (Jn 6:51, 58). Amen.