Trinity Sunday – Year A
Saint Cecilia Catholic Community
May 31, 2026 – 10:30 AM
Deacon Sharon Kay Talley
Exodus 34:4B-6;8-9 | Daniel 3:52-56
II Corinthians 13:11-13 | John 3:16-18
+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Perhaps the deepest mystery of our Catholic faith is the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Three Persons, yet only one God! Not three Gods; not one God wearing three different masks, but one divine communion of love.
Our Gospel from John is another abstract mystery: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish, but might have eternal life.”
This verse has always been my favorite one in the Bible since I was introduced to Christianity when I was seven years old. I was a second-grader at that time at Burnet Hill Elementary School in Livingston, New Jersey. We read a Psalm from the Bible, recited the Lord’s Prayer, and saluted the United States flag every morning.
Since I was the only child in my class who could read the Bible at that time, I was given the assignment of reading a Psalm every day. Since there were approximately 165 school days and only 150 Psalms, I asked my teacher, Miss Leroy, what I should do after all the Psalms had been read. She told me that I could read from Proverbs or another Book of the Bible, but could not read from the New Testament since about 65% of the students were Jewish and they did not believe in the New Testament. I felt that was quite a shame, so one day I stood in front of the class with the Bible opened to the middle, where the Book of Psalms is located, and I recited John 3:16 from memory. This resulted in quite a discussion when the class lined up for recess and Greg Burns, a Jewish classmate, came up to me and stated, “Sharon, I didn’t know that!”
Regarding the Holy Trinity, most people say, “I can’t understand the Trinity”. And, truthfully, no preacher can fully explain it. If God could fit completely inside our minds, He would not be God.
Jesus reveals the Holy Trinity to us as a relationship into which we are invited. And today’s Gospel gives us the heart of that mystery in one sentence:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”
Every person of the Holy Trinity is present in this Gospel:
The Father loves.
The Son is given.
And elsewhere, the Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts so that we can live in that love.
The Holy Trinity is about self-giving love. The Father gives everything to the Son. The Son gives everything back to the Father. The Holy Spirit is the eternal bond of that love.
Every human heart longs for love, for belonging, for communion. That longing exists because we were made in the image of the Holy Trinity. We were made not merely to survive, but to love and to be loved.
This is why loneliness hurts so deeply. This is why division destroys families, parishes, and communities. We are created for communion.
The Holy Trinity teaches us that love is not weakness. Love is the very essence of God.
Yet our Gospel reminds us that divine love is costly. Real love always gives. Caregivers, spouses, and parents understand this. Love costs something.
The Father gives His Son.
The Son gives His life on the Cross.
The Holy Spirit continues to pour grace into imperfect hearts.
The Cross is not a sign that God stopped loving the world. The Cross is proof of how far that love will go.
Sometimes people imagine God as distant, angry, waiting to condemn. But listen carefully to today’s Gospel: “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
If we claim to believe in the Holy Trinity, then our lives must reflect trinitarian love. That means:
–In families, we choose forgiveness over resentment
–In parish life, we seek unity rather than gossip and division
–In society, we remember that every person carries the dignity of being loved by God
–In daily life, we stop living only for ourselves
The Holy Trinity calls us beyond selfishness.
Our world today often tells us that happiness comes from self-protection, self-promotion, and self-centeredness. But the Holy Trinity reveals the opposite truth. Life is found in self-giving love. That is why saints become radiant as they learn to live the very life of God. Every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we proclaim this mystery:
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” These are not just words, but a declaration of identity.
We belong to God the Father who created us.
We belong to God the Son who redeemed us.
We belong to God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.
So today, perhaps the best response in trying to explain the Holy Trinity is gratitude. Gratitude that we are loved by the Father. Gratitude that we are saved by the Son. Gratitude that we are guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
Ask yourself one simple question:
“Does my life reflect the love of the Holy Trinity?”
Do people encounter patience, mercy, generosity and communion through me?
In the end, the strongest proof of the Holy Trinity is not found in theological formulas, but in transformed lives.
May we live every day in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Amen