A mom and dad welcome their child into the world.  For the new-born, Mom and Dad are the source of all life and love – complete and total, unconditional and unlimited.  Mom and Dad are powerful figures of order and stability to the child.

But as the child begins to struggle to stand up, to walk and run on his or her own, to form words and express ideas, Mom and Dad become teachers and guides – the child learns what he or she should and should not do.  By the time the child reaches his or her teens, the relationship with Mom and Dad becomes strained, as the son or daughter enters adulthood and begins to rebel against the limits set by Mom and Dad.

And then the child comes into his or her own as an adult and takes responsibility for his or her own life.  The adult son or daughter becomes a Mom and Dad – and, with a child of their own, they realize all that their Mom and Dad did for them – and why.  And they seek to provide the same for their new-born.

When Mom or Dad dies, the son or daughter will hear someone say to them, “Your Dad would be very proud of you” or “That’s exactly what your Mom would do.”

And the child-now-adult-now parent realizes that all that they have and are, are gifts from their parents.

The love that we experience growing up mirrors the unique love of God, who is Father, Son and Spirit.   In the image of the Trinity, we realize the many ways we experience that love in our lives: God the Father who breathes life into us as well as the wonder of all creation; God the Son who teaches us how to live that life meaningfully and purposefully; God the Spirit, the wisdom of God that inspires us, with gratitude and humility, to be the means of the love that binds us as brothers and sisters to one another.

Today’s feast of the Trinity invites us to re-discover the many ways in which the love of God is revealed in our lives: in the life God breathes into our souls, in every wonderful work of creation formed by the hand of God, in the love of God dwelling among us in the love of family and friends.  The reality is that the idea of God lies beyond the grasp of our time-bound, limited human understanding.  It will always be a mystery – but signs of that mystery fill our lives, shards from the great light that is God illuminates and consecrates our homes and hearts.  In realizing such wonder, may our disappointments in life and our obtuseness to God’s presence be transformed into an awareness of God’s love and a spirit of gratitude for the precious gift of life we have received only because and through that mysterious love.