The Holy Trinity: Love, Relationships, and Obligations

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

As I thought about writing a column for the weekend on which we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity, I asked a priest for some thoughts or suggestions. Here is his reply:

I always think of the Holy Trinity as the feast of community. God teaches us how to love and live in relationships of marriage, family, community, and friendship, through complete self-giving. Signs of the Trinity are all around us. We see so many who are drawn into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — which is love — through their complete selfless giving.

As I reflected upon those words and upon the mystery of the Holy Trinity (on Monday evening and Tuesday morning), I attended a meeting of the New Jersey “Board of Bishops” later on Tuesday morning. At that meeting, we discussed the topic of lifting the dispensation from the Sunday obligation to attend Mass that had been in effect since last March at the beginning of the pandemic. I think that most have heard by now that we decided to “… lift the dispensation of the Sunday and Holy Day Mass obligation beginning on Saturday, June 5, 2021, and Sunday, June 6, 2021, Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ” [see the full statement].

After that meeting, my thoughts returned to my column for the weekend of the Holy Trinity and I asked myself the question, “Does the mystery of the Holy Trinity teach us anything (or speak to us) about our obligation to attend Mass on Sundays?” The more that I thought about the question, the more I thought that this could end up being a very lengthy column!

My priest friend had said, “Signs of the Trinity are all around us. We see so many who are drawn into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — which is love — through their complete selfless giving.” Some of you may know that one of my favorite Scripture passages (Jn. 4:8) consists of three words, “God is Love.” I believe that, as we celebrate the great Mystery of who God is — one God, yet a Trinity of persons, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” and in that Trinity we come to know the meaning of love, we can ask ourselves, “What am I willing to give or do for love (for God and for others)?”

For so many of us, to give God one hour on a Saturday evening or on Sunday is the furthest thing from an obligation. At the same time, we understand that part of loving God and loving others, as Jesus loves us, is giving that hour once a week to do what Jesus has taught and called (commanded) us: “Do this in memory of me.” Do parents care and sacrifice for their children because they are obligated to do so? When we love another person, is it an obligation to spend time with them?

We know that Jesus gave us the new commandment at the Last Supper, “Love one another as I love you.” (Jn. 15:12) How do we learn to love God and one another as Jesus loves us?

Somewhere on my journey, I think it was during my years in the seminary, I heard the phrase, “the Mass is a School of Love.” Those words and that description have stayed with me over the years — and could be the subject for another column. Somewhere on that same journey, I fell in love with the Mass — not only the gift and miracle of the Eucharist, hearing Jesus tells us how much he loves us; “Here’s my Body, take and eat;” “Here is my Blood, poured out for you, take and drink,” and the spiritual nourishment of receiving him in Holy Communion, but also the gathering together as God’s family, sisters and brothers, the community of believers, hearing the Living Word proclaimed, and reflecting on it together in prayer, the Our Father, the Sign of Peace, the music, all of it.

While you may use different words, I would guess that many reading this column would have similar feelings about the Mass and what it means to attend (participate in) Mass every week, or for some, every day. I also would guess that those of us who feel this way continue to wonder and ask the question, “Why do so many of our fellow Catholics fail to see or appreciate the beauty and gift of the Mass, the Source and Summit of our faith?” Why do as many as 70 percent of Catholics (pre-pandemic) choose not to attend Sunday Mass? Many studies have been done and opinions have been offered to try to explain or understand the reasons for the decline in Mass attendance over the past 20, 30 or 40 years and some of those explanations make sense. There is still a part of me that struggles to understand how and why this happened. There is another part of me that believes there can be a revival in an appreciation of the meaning of attending Mass and actively belonging to the “community of believers.”

My hope and prayer is that this could be a moment in time for this revival. I believe that a joyful return to Mass coming out of this pandemic could be an opportunity for us to share with our brothers and sisters what it means to gather as the “Body of Christ” to celebrate the Eucharist. This is certainly an opportunity for us to invite family, friends, neighbors, and others to join us at Mass. As parish communities, we can strive to do all we can to help everyone feel welcome and at home — as with any family, we will need to do so with patience and mutual understanding, remembering always that “God is Love.” At this time, we might also remember that an important part of love is fulfilling or being faithful to our obligations.